Dec-06-2012 By : agxadmin

Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals

• The National Reserve Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) plans to bid for 160,000 tons of aluminum as the first step in a 400,000-ton primary aluminum storage project. The purchasing and storage of 160,000 tons of aluminum will be carried out through competitive bidding among more than 10 shortlisted companies.
• During the first nine months of the year, major steel companies produced 439.5 million tons of steel, 9.18 million tons less than at the same period last year, according to figures from the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
• China’s steel industry will face better conditions in the fourth quarter and next year after posting losses in the first three quarters, Liu Zhenjiang, Vice President of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), said. He added most big and medium-sized steel companies had shaken off losses since October, but their main steel businesses were still suffering. “2012 is the most difficult year for China’s steel industry since the beginning of the 21st century,” Liu said. Chinese steel companies posted total losses of CNY5.5 billion from January to September, compared with total profits of CNY38.7 billion in the same period last year.
• China’s gold consumption will be more than double production by 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said, as consumption is set to surpass 1,000 tons. Since 2007, China has been the world’s biggest gold producer. It aims to produce between 420 tons and 450 tons of gold in 2015. The country is also the biggest gold jewelry producer, taking up about 60% of global production.
• Wuhan Iron and Steel Co announced a CNY15 billion private placement to acquire mining assets from its parent. The company plans to issue as many as 4.2 billion A shares to up to 10 shareholders, including its state-owned parent, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group. The company said the proceeds will be used to buy its parent’s iron ore assets in China, Canada, Brazil, Australia and Liberia, as part of efforts to increase self sufficiency in iron ore supplies.
• Demand for steel in China is expected to rise 4.1% in 2013. The 2013 China Steel Demand Forecast also predicted a decline in iron ore prices due to increasing supplies and slow growth in the global manufacturing sector. The report, released by the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, forecast that steel demand in China will reach 666 million metric tons in 2013. Actual consumption of steel was 640 million tons in 2012, an increase of 3.6% on the previous year. Crude steel output in 2013 will reach 746 million tons, up 4.2%. The report said the figure for 2012 is estimated to be 716 million tons, up 4.5% year-on-year.

 

 

Short news metals

Nov-08-2012 By : agxadmin

Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals

• Shares of China Molybdenum surged 221% on the company’s trading debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in October as investors felt its initial public offering (IPO) price had been set artificially low. The company raised CNY600 million last month, down from its original fundraising target of CNY3.65 billion owing to weak market sentiment.
• A 16 year old Chinese national was killed and more than 100 others were detained by Ghanaian police for suspected illegal gold mining in the Ashanti region of the country. Chinese Ambassador Gong Jianzhong demanded a thorough investigation into the shooting and compensation for the family of the victim. Ghanaian law allows foreign companies to work independently only on large and open-pit mines.
• China will consume about 45% of the world’s copper by 2015 and 48% of all aluminum and nickel, Vanessa Davidson, Group Manager of copper and nickel teams at CRU, said at a London Metal Exchange conference. That compares with 13% for copper, 12% for aluminum and 6% for nickel in 2000.
• Song Wendai, the disgraced Chairman and General Manager of the Qiankun gold and silver refinery in Inner Mongolia, was convicted by the Bayannur Intermediate Court for misappropriating some CNY86 million in company property, including hundreds of kilograms of gold and silver, and sentenced to death. Before joining Qiankun in 2002, Song had been an administrative official at Inner Mongolia’s high court.
• China lost an appeal against a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling in a dispute over U.S. exports of “grain-oriented electrical steel,” which is used in the cores of high-efficiency transformers, electric motors and generators. China had accused the U.S. companies AK Steel Corp of Ohio and ATI Allegheny Ludlum of Pennsylvania of dumping and imposed duties on imports. The tariffs, which AK Steel said amounted to about 19.5% on its products, potentially affected hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of the grain-oriented electrical steel.
• CF Investments, 75% owned by Chinese billionaire Yu Yong’s Cathay Fortune Co (CFC) and 25% by the China-African Development Fund, has gone hostile with a AUD824 million takeover bid for Australia’s Discovery Metals after the copper explorer’s board rebuffed a similar offer earlier this month. Discovery rejected that offer, calling it undervalued. Yu’s Cathay Fortune already owns 13.7% of Discovery Metals, which owns the Boseto project in Botswana, close to the central and southern African copper belt. CFC also owns 35.5% of Hong Kong-listed China Molybdenum, the largest molybdenum producer in China and the fourth largest in the world.
• Inner Mongolia-based Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co, China’s top rare earths producer, halted some of its smelting and separation operations for a month starting on October 23 to stabilize slumping prices amid weak demand. Baotou, which saw its third quarter net profit drop nearly 90% on year to CNY120 million, will also halt raw supplies to other smelters and separation companies for a month.
• Areva is expected to reach agreement soon on the sale of a 13% stake in its Niger-based uranium mining operation Imouraren to the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. The deal — for “several hundred million euros”— will allow the Chinese company to gain access to the world’s second-largest uranium reserves with a planned production of 5,000 metric tons of uranium per year. News of the expected sale came a day after China announced it had decided to resume construction of new nuclear power plants.
• China’s refined-copper imports increased 17% in September from a month earlier. Shipments were 294,591 metric tons, compared with 251,008 tons in August, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. Exports also rose to 8,016 tons from 1,707 tons in August.
• Demand for silver in China, the world’s second largest user, is set to jump as much as 10% next year, a new record, as investors look to preserve their wealth, according to Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. Consumption may climb to 7,700 metric tons after gaining 6% to 8% in 2012, Analyst Shi Heqing said. About 33% of the country’s demand comes from jewelry and coins, with the rest from industrial use in photography, solar, and electrical appliances, according to Antaike.
• Aluminum stockpiles in China have climbed to the highest level in two years. Reserves in Shanghai, Wuxi and Hangzhou, and in Guangdong province rose to about 940,000 metric tons as of October 22, the highest since September 2010, according to Wen Junxiang at Guangzhou KT Commodity Information & Consulting Co. Stockpiles more than doubled this year to about 1 million tons, the largest since July 2010, said Zhang Chenguang, Analyst at data provider SMM Information & Technology Co.
• Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) posted a third-quarter loss of CNY1.08 billion, compared with a net profit of CNY555 million a year earlier as revenue fell to CNY37.1 billion from CNY41.6 billion.

 

 

Short news metals

Oct-11-2012 By : agxadmin

Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals

• China’s steel output dropped 1.7% year-on-year in August, contrasting with the 13.8% growth in the same period last year. In August, the composite price index of China’s domestic steel products averaged 104.39 points, down 30.78 points from a year earlier. In the first eight months, China produced 481.57 million tons of crude steel, up 2.3% annually.
• Russia’s Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, wants Chinese companies to consider investment in Siberia and joining in bauxite exploration overseas. “Rusal proposes China consider Siberia as an alternative [to domestic projects],” Oleg Mukhamedshin, Deputy CEO for Equity and Strategic Development, told a Metal Bulletin aluminum conference in Moscow.
• Meijin Energy Group Co, a private Chinese coke producer, has offered AUD435 million for diversified Australian miner Western Desert Resources. The Australian miner’s asset portfolio includes iron ore, gold, copper, uranium and other base metals. Western Desert said its board intends to recommend that shareholders accept Meijin’s offer once an independent expert assesses the proposal and in the absence of a superior bid. The takeover offer is subject to regulatory approvals in both countries. Meijin has operations in coal mining, coke production and steel making across China.
• Wuhan Iron & Steel agreed to buy ThyssenKrupp’s tailored blanks division, marking China’s entry into German steel-rolling as it seeks to meet growing demand from carmakers. The tailored blanks unit, which supplies body systems for cars, has two of its 13 plants in Germany. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It “underlines the strategy of the Chinese to get to know processes and work flows to acquire knowledge of high-quality processes,” Hamburger Sparkasse Analyst Ingo Schmidt said.
• China Oriental has agreed to acquire from Jinxi Wan Tong a steel production plant with 2 million tons of annual capacity and related facilities for an appraised value of CNY734.3 million, 24.6% higher than net book value. After offsetting debt owed to itself, China Oriental will need to pay the firm CNY248.3 million. China Oriental leases the facilities from Wan Tong at a monthly rent of CNY25 million.
• Baoshan Iron & Steel Co halted production at its Luojing plant in Shanghai to avoid further increasing its operating losses. It didn’t disclose the capacity involved or when production may resume. The plant, which produces steel plates for shipbuilding and construction, was acquired by Baoshan Steel from its state parent, Baosteel Group, in 2008 for over CNY14 billion. Baosteel said the Luojing plant may eventually be relocated outside Shanghai to regions with lower input costs, such as Guangdong and Xinjiang. Baosteel had some 117,000 employees as of the end of 2011 and posted CNY18 billion in profit last year.
• Copper consumption in China will contract this year for the first time since 2008 as demand falters and inventories climb, before rebounding in 2013, according to Simon Hunt Strategic Services. Consumption will drop about 8.5% to 5.6 million tons in 2012, said CEO Simon Hunt. Next year, usage may grow 5.6% to 5.9 million tons. The drop in China’s consumption may hurt prices and cut profits at mining companies including Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Hunt estimated total copper reserves in China at 3.5 million tons, including reported and unreported stockpiles.

 

 

Short news metals

Sep-14-2012 By : agxadmin

Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals

• Gold imports by the Chinese mainland from Hong Kong dropped for a second month in June as an economic slowdown curbed spending. The mainland bought 67.97 tons, including scrap and coins, down from 75.64 tons in May, according to export data by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong government. The mainland imported a record 103.64 tons in April. Gold demand in China, the second-biggest consumer after India last year, might expand 13% to 870 tons this year, the World Gold Council (WGC) said, trimming its previous forecast for consumption to reach as much as 1,000 tons. Jewelery demand may expand 7.7% to 550 tons, about half the rate of last year’s 13% growth. Demand for bars and coins might gain 24% to 320 tons, below the 38% climb last year.
• Zijin Mining Group Co, China’s top gold producer by output, said a subsidiary has bought more than 50% of Australia-listed Norton Gold Fields, in the first successful example of a Chinese company taking over a large gold mine that is in production. Jinyu International Mining Co, the fully owned subsidiary of Zijin Group, made a AUD180.3 million cash takeover offer in May for the Australian gold mine. Zijin owned 16.98% of Norton before the offer.
• Chu Kong Petroleum and Natural Gas Steel Pipe, one of China’s largest steel pipe producers, plans to spend more than CNY400 million to build a steel plate production line by the end of next year. The move into upstream raw material production could boost its gross profit margin by 6 percentage points from 15% last year. The company, based in Panyu, Guangdong, plans to build facilities at its production base in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, that will be capable of producing 2 million tons of steel plates from billets annually. Chu Kong plans to double its annual production capacity to 3 million tons by the end of next year, from 1.45 million tons at the end of last year.
• Hebei Iron & Steel Group, China’s largest steel producer, has been given the go-ahead to invest in Canadian iron ore developer Alderon Iron Ore Corp. Hebei Steel said in April that it would invest about USD195 million for nearly 20% in Alderon and a 25% interest in Alderon’s principal asset known as the Kami project, located in Canada’s Labrador Trough.
• China Molybdenum has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to list up to 542 million A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It could raise the equivalent of HKD1.59 billion from the Shanghai listing.
• Gold miner Zhaojin Mining Industry will subscribe to 100 million shares in Norseman Gold at AUD0.04 per share as part of a 625 million share placement announced by the Australian miner. Norseman Gold, listed on AIM in London and the Australian Securities Exchange, is a gold producer focused on Western Australia. The transaction is pending the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board of Australia and relevant Chinese authorities.
• United Company Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, is seeking Chinese partners to set up joint venture factories in Siberia. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association. Siberia has one of the world’s biggest bauxite mines while the price of electricity, which is essential to turn bauxite into alumina, is cheap. Producing a ton of alumina costs around USD1,600 in Siberia, compared with USD2,250 in Henan province.
• Nickel pig iron producers in China, the biggest user, have suspended almost 50% of capacity as prices have fallen below costs. The utilization rate was about 51% at the end of August, based on surveys of about 90 producers, which account for more than 80% of the nation’s capacity, said Celia Wang, Senior Market Analyst at Shanghai Tsingshan Mining Investment Co, a unit of Tsingshan Holding Group, China’s largest privately-owned stainless-steel producer. The biggest production cut since 2008 may support nickel prices in London. New additions of stainless-steel capacity in China have drained nickel pig iron inventories and prompted users to seek imports of refined nickel.
• The world’s largest gold miner Barrick Gold is in talks to sell a majority stake in its African unit to China National Gold Group. Canadian miner Barrick is grappling with falling profits, soaring costs and the fallout from what some investors see as mistakes, including the takeover of African copper miner Equinox Minerals last year. African Barrick Gold (ABG) is one of Africa’s largest gold miners, operating mainly in Tanzania. “Discussions are at an early stage, and there can be no certainty that these discussions will result in the acquisition of all or part of Barrick’s holding in ABG,” Barrick Gold said. An offer for more than 30% of African Barrick would trigger a full takeover offer under UK takeover rules.
• Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing clinched its takeover of the London Metal Exchange (LME) after LME shareholders approved the GBP1.39 billion cash offer with 64 out of 67 shareholders who attended approving the sale. The LME is owned by 70 shareholders, mainly investment banks and metal traders. LME Chief Executive Martin Abbott said the deal would secure the LME’s position “as the world’s foremost metals trading venue”. The price HKEx is paying is rather steep, representing 180 times LME’s profit last year. It is the first overseas acquisition for HKEx and its first contracts in commodities.
• China may revive the value-added tax (VAT) rebate scheme for domestically produced high-end steel used for export. Selected steel producers will get a full rebate of the 17% VAT when selling certain types of steel for export-only products at prices exclusive of VAT. The scheme was first introduced in 1998 to encourage the greater use of domestic steel products so that it can replace imported materials; but it was suspended in 2005. Steel products involved represent less than 5% of China’s total steel capacity, and most steel producers are unlikely to benefit as only a few top players are producing such high-end steel.
• China overtook South Africa as the largest ferro-chrome producer this year, according to Merafe Resources, which has a joint venture with Xstrata. China accounted for 33% of the 4.8 million metric tons produced in the first half, while South Africa produced 32%, Johannesburg-based Merafe said, citing data compiled by Heinz H Pariser Alloy Metals & Steel Market Research. South Africa’s market share fell as Eskom Holdings SOC, supplier of about 95% of the country’s power, took back electricity allocated to ferro-chrome producers in return for payments to prevent a repeat of rolling blackouts in 2008. South Africa shipped about 2.1 million tons of chrome ore to Chinese ferro-chrome production plants in the first half. China is the world’s largest producer of stainless steel made with ferro-chrome.
• Former Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhang Guangning has been appointed Chief Executive, Chairman and Party Secretary of Angang Steel, based in Liaoning province. Zhang had a long career in the steel industry. He started as a steel worker at Guangzhou Iron and Steel Enterprises in 1971. He held various senior positions at the company, eventually becoming Party Secretary in 1994. Two years later, he was named Guangzhou’s Deputy Mayor.
• Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) agreed to buy 35.3% of Ningxia Electric Power for CNY2.02 billion to boost energy efficiency. Chalco will buy 23.4% from Bank of China Group Investment for CNY1.35 billion and 11.9% from China Zhongtou Trust for CNY675 million.
• China may end up with 1 million metric tons of copper in its inventory as a result of both high rates of production and import of the metal, according to a note from Deutsche Bank. From 550,000 to 575,000 tons of copper is probably held in bonded warehouses in China.
• Aluminum Corp of China, the world’s third-largest smelter of aluminum, plunged into a CNY3.25 billion net loss in the first six months of this year from a CNY413 million net profit a year earlier due to weak demand and higher costs. The firm, known as Chalco, said finance costs soared 50.9% to CNY2.25 billion.
• Jiangsu Shagang Group replaced Huawei as China’s biggest privately-owned company by revenue. Huawei and Suning Appliance Co were second and third in the All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce’s “Top 500 Chinese Mainland Private Enterprises” listing.
• Baoshan Iron and Steel Co, China’s biggest publicly traded steelmaker, posted a four-fold increase in second-quarter profit after selling two unprofitable units. Nine-month profit may rise more than 50%, it said. Net income surged to CNY8.39 billion in the quarter ended on June 30 from CNY2 billion a year earlier. The Shanghai-based company supplies half of China’s automobile steel. “We aren’t optimistic about the outlook for the third quarter as Baoshan has been cutting prices drastically,” Sarah Wang, Analyst with Masterlink Securities Corp in Shanghai, said before the earnings release. Operating profit at Baosteel shrank an annual 60% to CNY2.72 billion in the first half. First-half profit rose 89% year-on-year to CNY9.61 billion.
• China Zhongwang Holdings, Asia’s largest maker of extruded aluminum products, said demand is increasing as carmakers use more of the lightweight metal in place of steel. Jaguar Land Rover plans to start selling its first all-aluminum Range Rover sport utility vehicle next month, reducing the car’s weight by 39%, while Daimler’s Mercedes is using the metal for its €93,534 SL model. China’s industrial aluminum extrusion market will expand at least 12% this year to 4 million metric tons.

 

 

Short news metals

Jun-14-2012 By : agxadmin

Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals

• Baoshan Iron and Steel Co cut prices as demand from makers of appliances and cars slowed. Prices were cut by CNY400 a ton for July delivery. Most hot-rolled and cold-rolled products were cut by CNY200 a ton. Baoshan had raised prices by CNY100 in January and CNY200 in March and kept most grades little changed in the other months this year. Steel prices in China have fallen for eight straight weeks.
• Gold investment demand in China may gain more than 10% this year. “Investors here want to hold part of their assets in gold to hedge against risks, especially now that the financial crisis has evolved into a sovereign crisis,” Zheng Zhiguang, General Manager of the Precious Metals Department at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said in Shanghai. China will surpass India this year as the largest bullion market as rising incomes bolster demand, the World Gold Council forecasts. Investment demand in China was a record 98.6 metric tons in the first quarter, 13% higher than in the same period in 2011.
• Shandong Gold Group agreed to pay CNY3.75 billion for a 98.5% stake in both Shandong Shengda Mining Co and Shandong Tiancheng Mining Co.
• Gold imports by China’s mainland from Hong Kong rose 65% to a record in April, up for a third straight month. Shipments totaled 103,644.5 kg in April from 62,913 kg in March. In the first four months, imports were 239,174 kilograms from 27,114 kilograms a year earlier, on rising demand. China’s central bank may also be boosting holdings, said Wang Xinyou, Senior Analyst at the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).
• Song Wendai, former Chairman of the Qiankun Gold & Silver Refinery Share Co in Inner Mongolia, has been detained for embezzling nearly 60 kilograms of gold and 1.4 tons of silver, and selling them in his jewelry stores. He is also accused of having siphoned off CNY21 million of state assets since 2003 to set up three companies of his own. Officials said the corruption greatly damaged Qiankun, once the top gold and silver refinery company in China.
• The China Steel and Iron Association (CISA) said the steel inventory in 26 major markets in the country reached 15.61 million tons by June 1, an indication of ongoing oversupply in the market. In April, China produced 60.57 million tons of crude steel, a 2.6% increase compared with the same period last year. China exported 4.67 million tons of steel in April, 361,000 tons less than the previous month, a 7.2% drop month-by-month. Steel demand is expected to rise as the government is speeding up the approval of major infrastructure projects. Up to 80% of suspended railway projects have been restarted, while urban rail projects are becoming a new investment point.