Bloomberg reports China is considering a sweeping overhaul of its steel industry that would consolidate major producers into two giants, with one located in the north and another in the south, according to people familiar with the plan. Hebei Iron & Steel Group, the nation’s biggest mill by output, and Shougang Group will be combined […]
Category: Commodities
A Chinese shale gas boom is starting, despite global gas glut, according to The Wall Street Journal. China’s state-owned energy companies, their profits decimated by the commodities bust, are pushing ahead with billions of dollars in new investment in shale gas. Leading the charge is China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, which aims to […]
A series of bond defaults in north-east China is exposing creditors’ frustration at the lack of a transparent process for resolving bad debt, the Financial Times reports. President Xi Jinping’s push for “supply-side reform” is centered on cutting excess capacity and paring back credit to so-called zombie companies, many of them state-owned. That is setting […]
China’s output of steel products hit an all-time high last month despite Beijing’s repeated pledges to address overcapacity, raising the risk of trade disputes with Washington and Brussels, according to the South China Morning Post. Steel is already the biggest source of trade rows between China and its trading partners. Chinese and visiting European Union […]
The U.S. on Wednesday accused China of failing to remove export duties on certain raw materials, as agreed when it entered the World Trade Organization 15 years ago, the latest in a series of trade disputes between the two countries, The Wall Street Journal reports. China has kept export duties ranging from 5% to 20% […]