Shanghai steel prices rose for a third day in a row on Friday after China’s major steelmaking cities of Tangshan and Xuzhou asked mills to curtail output, amid concerns they will not meet their pollution reduction targets this year. The city government in Tangshan, which accounts for about 10 percent of China’s total steel output, ordered mills to comply with cuts mandated under a so-called first-level smog alert, according to a notice sent to officials on Tuesday. The directive means production should be cut by 40 percent, from the current ...

China’s return to the U.S. soybean market this week comes too little, too late for many Iowa farming families to put more Christmas presents under the tree this year, according to third-generation grower Brent Renner. Renner said he’s cautiously optimistic after reports of the first U.S. purchases by China since Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day trade war ceasefire. But volume so far is “a drop in the bucket.” “We have a long way to go,” he said. “With an administration like Trump’s you could see the ...

China’s crude steel output in November fell 6% from October to 77.62 million mt, but rose 10.8% on the year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed. The annual growth rate was also up from 9.1% in October. The drop in November’s crude steel production was a result of winter output cuts, which started on November 15 in northern and eastern China in a bid to cope with air pollution. Over January-November, China’s crude steel output totaled 857.37 million mt, up 6.7% on the year. Meanwhile, ...

Authorities in China’s major steelmaking cities of Tangshan and Xuzhou have asked mills to curtail output as city officials are concerned they will not meet their pollution reduction targets for the year. The Tangshan city government ordered steel mills to comply with cuts mandated under a so-called first-level smog alert, meaning production should be cut by 40 percent, from the current second-level alert with cuts of only 30 percent, according to a notice sent to municipal officials on Tuesday that was reviewed by Reuters. Mills will also be required to ...

A major Japanese steelmaker settled its October-December contracts for Australia Low Vol pulverized coal injection (PCI) Foxleigh at $145/mt FOB Australia, up $8/mt from its July-September settlement, market sources said Friday. Foxleigh PCI, whose specification include 12%-14% volatile matter and 9%-10% ash, is considered a benchmark brand. No settlement was heard for semi-soft October-December contracts. The reported PCI settlement came after premium HCC spot prices averaged $212.83/mt over September-November, up 12.98% from $188.37/mt over the June-August period. This renders the PCI settlement price at 68.12% of premium HCC. Another Japanese ...

Chicago soybean futures slid for a second straight session on Friday, dropping to their weakest in more than one week as lower-than-expected Chinese buying weighed on the market. Wheat ticked lower although the market is set for a fifth consecutive weekly gain on expectations of strong demand for U.S. supplies. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was down 1.4 percent for the week, the biggest weekly loss since mid-September. Soybeans hit a low of 9.02-1/4 a bushel on Friday, the weakest since Dec. 6. Wheat was ...

China’s primary aluminium output rebounded in November after three straight months of decline, defying a fall in prices for the metal used in everything from construction to making cars. Analysts were surprised by the climb, which came as smelters apparently ramped up output ahead of winter production curbs that kicked in around the middle of the month. The world’s top aluminium maker produced 2.82 million tonnes of the material last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. That was up 3.9 percent from 2.72 million tonnes ...

Commodities fell as the global crude oil supply and demand balance shifted from undersupplied to oversupplied. The Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return decreased for the month, with 10 out of 22 constituents posting losses. Credit Suisse Asset Management observed the following: • Energy declined 3.34% as Crude Oil and petroleum products were weighed down by increased exports from the OPEC-led production group and after the US provided waivers to some crude oil importers to continue purchasing supplies from Iran. • Precious Metals increased 0.23% after the US Federal Reserve may ...

With natural gas prices surging in the U.S., you might think coal would be king again this winter. Think again. Yes, production is rising, a little. And yes, higher electricity prices in the biggest U.S. power market are providing a rare opportunity for aging coal-fired steam generators to run with comfortable profit margins, according to a report Wednesday by Morningstar Inc. But a decade of coal-plant retirements, combined with shut-in Appalachian mines, have left generators supplying PJM Interconnection LLC’s grid with little flexibility to ramp up quickly. Generating margins for ...

U.S. soybean farmers worked for decades to make China their biggest foreign customer. Now they face a tougher challenge: weaning themselves off the market. As trade tensions cut deeply into exports, U.S. soybean farmers, industry groups and government officials are seeking a stronger foothold in international markets beyond China, including Europe and Southeast Asia. “While we’ve enjoyed the market share, has China become dependent on us or have we become dependent on China?” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said at an industry event last week. “That’s not a healthy economic balance.” ...

Shanghai steel prices jumped for a second straight day on Thursday, buoyed by expectations that China could launch more infrastructure projects next year which could boost demand in the world’s top steel consumer. The Chinese government has tweaked its priorities to focus more on infrastructure, exports and fighting water pollution while slowing efforts to reduce capacity in coal and steel industries, state media reported on Wednesday. In its guidance to local governments and authorities, the State Council, or cabinet, said new infrastructure should focus on construction of roads and waterways. ...

Seaborne prices continued to strengthen Thursday on stronger end-user confidence in steel margins. S&P Global Platts assessed the 62% Fe Iron Ore Index at $68.20/dry mt CFR North China Thursday, up $1.05/dmt from Wednesday. The front-month January TSI swap was up $1.45/dmt from Wednesday at $66.50/dmt. Recovering steel prices supported demand for iron ore, with some end-users having increased confidence in the sustainability of steel margins. “There are end-users who expect margins to remain stable in the near-term and are looking to procure more inventories,” a Chinese mill source said. ...

The government on Thursday said 19 iron ore mines having reserves worth 581.5 million tonnes (MT) have been auctioned as on date. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Mines Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said: “As on date, 19 blocks of iron ore have been successfully auctioned with a reserve of 581.577 million tonnes.” Additionally, he said, two iron ore mines having a reserves of 93.87 MT have also been put for bidding in Odisha and is at present in the tendering stage. “To ensure supply of ...

Iron ore producer NMDC Ltd has cut prices effective 1 December. This should offer some fillip to its volumes. But investors barely blinked when this was announced on 3 December after market hours. That’s probably because the price cut was on expected lines. Further, these price cuts also translate into a small reversal of price hikes taken by the company over the course of this fiscal year. Therefore, the impact may not be very significant. What is more consequential and worrisome from an investor’s perspective is the fate of the ...

“In India we have good quality steel and very recently India has become the second largest producer of steel, surpassing Japan. Now, the government’s target is to reach production of 300 million tonne (of steel) by 2030 from about 100 million tonne now. Increase in production means there should be increase in demand,” said D Datta, AGM, Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG), an organisation that works “in unison with all the stakeholders in the steel industry so as to evolve ways and means of more efficient usage of ...