China became the biggest buyer of US crude oil in February, surpassing Canada, at a time when OPEC is cutting back output. China imported 8.08 million barrels of US light crude, nearly quadrupling its January purchases, according to data released by the US Census Bureau Tuesday. That helped boost US exports to a record 31.2 million […]
Category: Commodities
China is planning a new crackdown on steel production in the north-eastern city of Tangshan in a bid to prevent false reporting of mill closures by local governments reluctant to obey shutdown orders. Officials in the northeastern province of Hebei have been sent a government notice, seen by the Financial Times, stating that an investigative […]
China’s coal industry is likely to experience continued across-the-board losses this year, as government-imposed restrictions result in price increases and squeezed profits. “It’s likely that all coal powered (electricity) companies will be in the red this year,” vice chairman of China Electricity Council Yang Kun predicted at the association’s annual forecast conference last Friday. “They […]
China’s largest coal producer China Shenhua Energy rose as much as 20% after reporting its first annual profit growth since 2012 as the price of coal rebounded last year following government output cuts. Net profit for the 12 months to December rose 41.1% to Rmb24.9bn ($3.6bn), from Rmb17.6bn in 2015, the company said. The company […]
An international coalition of aluminium trade associations has called for a global forum to be created ahead of the G20 meeting in Hamburg this summer to tackle China’s soaring output. According to the Financial Times, Russian companies, hit particularly hard by Chinese production, are also backing the initiative by trade groups from the US, Europe […]