Combined coal stocks held by China’s six key coal-fired power generators in southern and eastern China totaled 12.58 million mt Thursday, down 3.5% from 13.04 million mt May 17, according to figures released by port operator Qinhuangdao Port late Thursday. The six key power generators are: Zhejiang Power, Shanghai Power, Guodian, Datang, Huaneng and Guangdong Power which is better known as Yudean. Based on the current coal consumption rate, the stocks are able to cover 15.80 days of consumption at the six power plants, down 1.75 days from 17.55 days ...

Chinese steel futures rose on Friday, with concerns over demand easing amid declining steel inventories in the world’s top producer of the material. Stockpiles of rebar construction steel at traders had this week fallen 410,000 tonnes to 5.66 million tonnes by Friday, a level last seen in early February, data from Mysteel consultancy showed. Total inventory of steel products, including rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and steel plate, dropped 6.4 percent to 11.33 million tonnes. The most-active construction rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.5 ...

Kyoei Steel, Japan’s largest rebar producer, announced Thursday that it would keep its rebar prices unchanged for June contracts. Osaka-based Kyoei does not reveal its list price, but current market price of base-sized rebar in Osaka was around Yen 67,000-68,000/mt ($611-620/mt), unchanged from a month ago, while in Tokyo it was around Yen 73,000-74,000/mt, up Yen 2,000/mt, sources said. Kyoei said that despite higher costs of alloy, electrodes as well as freight charges have been increasing largely, it would maintain its prices for June. The company would monitor the market ...

Adam De Chiara, A 27-year commodities veteran at $4 billion in assets CoreCommodity LLC, has seen a bear market, or three. He created the ubiquitous Bloomberg Commodity Index and survived $20 oil, now De Chiara says rising rates and a revving economy make once-plunging commodities impossible to ignore. “We are in the early stages of what is going to be a protracted bull market in commodities,” he says. And now’s a good time to pay attention. Relative to REITs, bonds, stocks and emerging markets, De Chiara’s research shows commodities are ...

Singapore’s third derivatives exchange kicked off trading on Friday with the launch of palm oil futures, as the largely China-backed bourse looks to get a foothold in the region in preparation for other contracts down the line. The Asia Pacific Exchange (APEX) hopes the U.S. dollar-denominated palm olein futures will give traders another option beyond benchmark ringgit-denominated contracts, and is touting the market as a place for Southeast Asian sellers and other international players to get access to Chinese buyers. “Right now, China’s market is more domestic, we are trying ...

The government’s move to prioritise coal supplies to power plants with minimal coal stock has disrupted fuel supply to some sectors, which have fallen off the dynamic priority queue. The move has prompted the affected industries to write to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with their concerns. An official aware of the government’s decision told BusinessLine, “There are 13 thermal power plants with no coal stock and 23–24 plants with critical levels of stock. The higher coal consumption is partly because of lower generation from hydro power and gas-based power ...

Rio Tinto has agreed to sell its remaining 25% interest in the Winchester South metallurgical coal project in the Australian state of Queensland to Whitehaven Coal, the buyer said. This follows an agreement earlier in the year in which Rio agreed to sell a 75% interest in the project. Whitehaven said the price for the remaining 25% stake was consistent with the $200 million purchase price for the 75% interest on a pro-rated basis. “The completion of the acquisition of this highly sought after metallurgical coal development asset will provide ...

On May 22, we issued an updated research report on premium basic materials company – BHP Billiton Limited BHP . The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but flaunts a VGM Score of A. Let’s dig a little deeper into the fundamental factors of the stock. Gaining on Higher Productivity & Liquidity Over the past five years, BHP Billiton has gathered productivity gains worth $12 billion. This upswing stemmed from improvements in capital and operating productivity. BHP Billiton intends to secure productivity gains of $2 billion by the ...

The UK front-season Clean Dark Spread (CDS) hit a 1.5-year high this week as power prices surged amid bullish oil and gas markets, making UK coal-fired generation increasingly attractive because coal gains have been much more moderate than gas when looking at the elevated energy complex, traders said. The CDS for a 35% efficient coal plant including emissions and carbon resembles a theoretical profit margin price and was last seen higher in September 2016, an analysis of S&P Global Platts data showed. At Tuesday’s close, it reached GBP3.47/MWh and has ...

On a hot April morning, workers are furiously cleaning a decorative fountain in front of the executive office of Nigeria’s largest steel complex. An onsite power plant is being repaired by electricians. Others around the 39-year-old facility are clearing brush. In the middle of it all, administrator Abdul-Akaba Sumaila is meeting in turn with the 20 or so people crowding his waiting room, a mix of union officials, local politicians and job applicants. When one young man pulls a filled-out form from a wrinkled envelope, Sumaila asks him about his ...

U.S. wheat futures edged higher on Friday, putting the grain on track for a 2.5 percent weekly gain as concerns about dry weather in key global producing regions kept prices near a 10-month high. Corn rose, heading for a second straight weekly gain, while soybeans also firmed, with the oilseed poised to record its biggest weekly gain since February. The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were up 0.2 percent at $5.31-1/4 a bushel at 0430 GMT, having closed down 0.1 percent on Thursday when prices ...

The long-term outlook for the Asian thermal coal prices is improving, amid rising regional demand and falling mining investment, which partly reflects tighter environmental policies at banks, says Fitch Ratings. Mining companies in the region are likely to face less margin pressure than under our previous price assumptions, which, along with lower capex, could support deleveraging. However, there are more constraints on their ability to generate new revenue streams, while refinancing risks may also rise for smaller miners. The current coal price of over USD100/tonne for Newcastle 6,000kcal – close ...

The Latin American steel industry maintains a positive performance during the period January-March 2018 where the consumption of finished steel grew 3%, meanwhile crude steel production and finished steel production grew 5% and 7% respectively, reflecting the best global and regional economic conditions. Although, imports fell 6%, regional consumption is supplied by 31% of these imports. Exports are 9% higher than Jan-Mar 2017. For its part, regional trade balance remain negative, even though diminished 18%. Production Crude steel. The region produced 16.4 million tons (Mt) of crude steel during January-March ...

Hot rolled coil suppliers pushed for price increases, in Denmark, this month, but most deals were agreed at rollover figures. Regional mills still have spare capacity for second quarter rollings. Russian producers are offering material at competitive selling values. Demand, from the housebuilding and manufacturing sectors, is strong, in Sweden. However, the weakening local currency is leading to more expensive raw materials, while export sales have become more competitive. Consumption of hot rolled coil is fair, in Finland, but competition is increasing. Buyers in Norway are cautious, fearing price reductions, ...

Chinese steel and iron ore futures closed higher for the first time in seven sessions on Thursday on expectation that the recent sell-off has reached its limit. The most-traded steel rebar contract, for October delivery, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange recovered from an early fall to close 1.2 percent higher at 3,583 yuan ($561.19) a tonne. Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.1 percent to 459.5 yuan a tonne. Rebar fell in five of the previous six sessions and was unchanged on May 17, amid lukewarm demand ...