Commodities, Iron Ore, Steel Industry Iron Ore Price
Source: Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese regulators may take steps to curb surging iron ore prices, the state-owned Shanghai Securities Journal said on Friday, without providing details on any actions to be taken.
The report comes after China’s state planner said last week it had sought expert advice on how to deal with rising prices. Read Full Story
Coal, Commodities Coal India, Thermal Coal
With no relief in sight despite coal stocks running critically low and production disruptions looming across the Indian aluminium sector, the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has urged the union coal ministry for immediate resumption of adequate coal rakes for the highly power-intensive Aluminium industry.
In its representation to the Ministry, the AAI has lauded the combined efforts by the Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited in reviving domestic coal production, which has helped ease the coal supply crisis for the Power Sector. The steps undertaken by the Ministry increased the overall daily rakes dispatched from 242 rakes/day in September 2021 to 289 rakes/day in December 2021…Full Story
Coal, Commodities, Power Markets Energy Crisis, India, Thermal Coal
Concerns on coal have also come from political quarters, as Power Minister RK Singh describes the situation as "touch and go" By - Mohammed Kudrati | Boom Live India is running perilously low on coal for thermal power generation, shows data from the Central Electricity Authority. According to their daily release on coal stocks through the National Power Portal, 15 of India's 135 coal-fired thermal power plants have zero days worth of coal, which is as of September 30. On average, the data shows that there is only four days worth of coal stock, that is 8.082 million tons of coal. The data show that the daily requirement for coal across all categories of plants is 1.825 million tons. 104 power plants have critical or super critical supplies, which the data show is eight days or less worth of supplies...Full Story
Coal, Commodities, Power Markets China, Energy Crisis, Thermal Coal
By David Stanway | Reuters
As a severe power crunch roils China’s northeastern industrial heartland, senior officials face mounting pressure from alarmed citizens to ramp up coal imports thick and fast in order to keep lights on, factories open and even water supplies flowing.
With electricity shortages sparked by scant coal supply crippling large sections of industry, the governor of Jilin province, one of the hardest hit in the world’s no.2 economy, called for a surge in coal imports, while a power company association said supply was being expanded “at any cost”.
News organisations and social media carried reports and posts saying the lack of power in the northeast had shut down traffic lights…Full Story
Commodities, Iron Ore, Steel Industry China, Evergrande, Iron Ore Price
By Krystal Chia | Bloomberg
Iron ore’s roller-coaster ride in 2021 shows no signs of easing, with prices ending an unprecedented slump to move sharply higher as investors monitor simmering debt troubles at China Evergrande Group.
The developer’s onshore property unit said it reached an agreement with yuan bondholders on an interest payment, offering some relief after fears over Evergrande’s financial stability sparked a global flight from risk. China’s central bank also boosted short-term cash into the financial system, helping steady commodity markets.
In Singapore, iron ore futures climbed more than 15%, surging back above $100 a ton from their lowest close in 16 months. Events around Evergrande spooked the market earlier in the week and the steelmaking material was already oversold, said Atilla Widnell, managing director of Navigate Commodities…Full Story
By Abigail Ng | CNBC
Iron ore has been in a bull market for more than two years, and it’s not about to end soon, according to Goldman Sachs.
“It would be wrong to say that the bull market for iron ore, you know, is on the cusp of ending,” said Nicholas Snowdon, head of base metals and bulks research at the investment bank.
It will likely only return to a “comfortable position” from 2023, Snowdon said on Tuesday at the Singapore Iron Ore Forum, which is part of Singapore International Ferrous Week.
The bull run started with a supply shock from the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019, but is now a “material bull market,” Snowdon said, referring to the deadly collapse of a …Full Story
Coal, Commodities, Power Markets Australia, China, Seaborne Coal market
By Clyde Russell | Reuters
Seaborne coal has become a quiet winner among energy commodities, lacking the attention of higher-profile crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but enjoying strong gains amid rising demand.
Both thermal coal, used in power plants, and coking coal, used to make steel, have rallied strongly in recent months. And in both cases the driver has largely been China, the world’s biggest producer, importer and consumer of the fuel.
There are two elements to China’s influence on seaborne coal markets in Asia; robust demand as the Chinese economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic; and Beijing’s policy choice to ban imports from Australia…Full Story
Commodities, Iron Ore, Steel Industry China, Iron Ore Price
Iron-ore, one of the hottest commodities in the early days of the raw materials rally, has now become the most volatile as bulls and bears joust over the trajectory of prices.
In a series of wild swings, the ore that fuels China’s vast steel industry surged to a record, collapsed into a bear market and then returned to a bull market in the space of about a month. Its gyrations in the past 30 days mark the mineral as the most volatile of the two dozen most traded commodities around the world.
Iron ore is being buffeted largely by confusion over how government policy will affect demand from steel mills in top consumer China.
China wants to cut steel production but control prices, and to reduce investment but maintain employment, said Tomas Gutierrez, an analyst at Kallanish Commodities Ltd. “As policy shifts to keep the desired balance between these goals, the outlook for steel will improve or worsen…Full Story
Coal, Commodities Australia, New South Wales
By Lou Caruana | Mining Monthly
HIGHER thermal coal prices have prompted the New South Wales government to increase its budget forecast for money raised from mining royalties by $50 million to $1.6 billion in 2021-22.
That means mining royalties are forecast to raise nearly $6.4 billion over the next four years, delivering significant ongoing funding for the NSW Generations Fund.
Mining royalties represent a significant proportion of revenue for the fund, which is expected to grow to $90 billion by 2031 and has delivered investment returns of 8.6% since its inception in late 2018.
NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said mining royalties were helping underpin the NSW government’s fiscal strategy and infrastructure program through provision of strong ongoing revenues into the NSW Generations Fund.
“Once again mining royalties are providing an economic boost to the state budget, with royalty revenues now embedded as a critical component of the government’s fiscal strategy,” he said…Full Story
Coal, Commodities China, China Coal Market
Bloomberg with help by Jason Rogers, Winnie Zhu, and Dan Murtaugh
China’s efforts to control raw materials costs could include price limits on its runaway coal market, underscoring the government’s tough stance on taming inflation.
Beijing is considering imposing a cap on the price of thermal coal as it struggles to contain stubbornly high energy costs ahead of peak demand over the summer. The move would be the latest in a largely successful campaign across commodities that began in April to prevent inflationary pressures harming the economy.
One idea under discussion for coal is to limit the price at which miners sell, according to people familiar with the plan, who declined to be named because the matter isn’t public…Full Story