Seaborne lump prices have increased over the past few weeks as environmental restrictions in China boost demand for direct-charge material, while higher prices of 65pc basis IOCJ fines have prompted mills to use more lump. Five Newman blend lump deals have been reported on the Globalore platform on a fob basis over the past month, with prices increasing in successive transactions. Two cargoes were sold at premiums of 23.5¢/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) and 22¢/dmtu to the reference July 62pc fines index on 13 June. That followed a sale of ...

The Australian government has been buoyed by growing interest in thermal coal from Southeast Asian countries, saying the increased demand demonstrated how bright the future was for Australian coal. Australia’s Resources Minister Matt Canavan made the comments on Tuesday in the wake of a new 0report which showed Asia’s coal import demand was set to increase by 400 million tonnes (Mt) by 2030. The study, undertaken by Commodity Insights, also showed Australia’s thermal coal exports had grown from 112Mt in 2007 to 200Mt by 2018, largely due to the increased ...

Prices of commodities from iron ore to rubber tumbled in China on Tuesday, with investor sentiment shaken by an intensifying trade war between Beijing and Washington that could hurt the world’s No. 2 economy. The selloff also hit steel, copper, cotton and palm oil, as Chinese investors returned from Monday’s public holiday. Soybeans and soymeal futures, however, rallied after Beijing slapped retaliatory tariffs on soybean imports from the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on another $200 billion of Chinese goods, prompting China’s ...

Asia’s thermal coal demand could increase by some 400-million tonnes by 2030, a new report commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) found. Asian thermal coal demand is expected to grown from the 740-million tonnes in 2017, to 1.147-billion tonnes in 2030. The growth will be driven by electricity demand growth in Southeast Asia and India driven by industrialisation and urbanisation, use of high efficiency low emission (HELE) coal technology and solid population growth. Most of this growth is expected from countries that are existing customers of Australia’s high-quality ...

Steel and iron ore plunged the most since March on escalating fears over a global trade war as China vowed to retaliate after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods. Copper extended losses among metals, while gold climbed on haven demand. Futures for steel reinforcement bar in Shanghai fell as much as 4.3 percent, the biggest drop since March 29, while iron ore in Dalian slumped 6.4 percent, the most since March 23. The decline in iron ore took prices to the lowest level in ...

The head of Japan’s steel industry group on Tuesday said he was worried that an escalating trade spat between the United States and China would lead to a “collapse” of order in global trade. Rising trade tensions between the two countries were a matter of “great concern”, Japan Iron and Steel Federation Chairman Koji Kakigi told a news conference. “If intensifying trade conflicts trigger further import duties, that may lead to a collapse of order in global trade at its core,” he said. Kakigi, who is also president of JFE ...

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday said it has lodged a request via the World Trade Organization to hold talks with South Korea over its antidumping duties on stainless steel bar imports from Japan. The duties was initially imposed in July 2004 and most recently extended by three years in June 2016, when the duty was set at 15.39% on stainless bars imported from Japan from June 2, 2017. Japan claims it has repeatedly asked South Korea to ensure its procedures meet WTO rules. A METI official ...

Australian rail operator Aurizon confirmed to S&P Global Platts Tuesday that it has offered to drop its controversial operating practices, which threaten some 20 million mt/year of exports in the Queensland coal industry, for 10 weeks. “Aurizon Network is prepared to immediately cease the implementation of all new operating practices being driven by the Queensland Competition Authority’s flawed Draft Decision,” it said referring to the QCA’s earlier draft decision which stated that the rail operator should spend less on maintenance, on which it bases its tariffs. “Aurizon will do this ...

Severe weather, including hot, dry conditions in northern Europe and torrential rain in France, has reduced yield prospects for this year’s cereal and rapeseed harvests in the European Union, the bloc’s crop monitoring service said. For soft wheat, the EU’s most produced cereal, the MARS service cut its forecast for the average yield in the bloc this year to 6.04 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) from 6.19 t/ha estimated in May. This is now lower than last year’s 6.11 t/ha yield although 1.2 percent above the average of the past five ...

U.S. crop and livestock prices tumbled on Tuesday – with soybean futures hitting lows not seen in nearly a decade – as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, stoking fears of an increasingly hostile trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trump’s threat followed his administration’s announcement of tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods last week, which triggered retaliatory tariffs by Beijing on a slate of U.S. products, including soybeans and corn. The U.S. exported to China $12.4 billion worth of ...

A producer and a Japanese buyer have agreed to set the third-quarter contract premium for P1020 aluminum ingot at $132/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash, CIF Japan, a source involved in the negotiations said Tuesday. A Japanese buyer confirmed that Q3 discussions are around $130/mt plus LME cash, CIF Japan, but declined to elaborate on details. The premium of $132/mt is up 2% from $129/mt for Q2. Producers initially offered $159-$160/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan, while buyers bid at $110-$120/mt CIF Japan. Producers cited US sanctions on Russian producer ...

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s leading electric arc furnace mill, announced Monday it would not change its domestic list prices for July, while waiting for market prices to rise further. This decision meant that the company’s list prices for SS400 senior-sized H-beams will remain at Yen 89,000/mt ($806/mt) for July and SPHC 1.7-22mm hot-rolled coils at Yen 74,000/mt ($670/mt). Tokyo Steel’s managing director Kiyoshi Imamura said that market prices have been increasing slowly but not enough to catch up with the previous hikes by producers. The company had increased its list ...

President Donald Trump has ordered a rescue of the nation’s struggling coal and nuclear power industries, but that doesn’t mean utilities are reconsidering the shutdown of unprofitable plants. Many power generators contacted said Trump’s June 1 announcement hasn’t altered their plans to retire old units even as the administration dangles the prospect of using emergency powers to force grid operators to buy power from struggling plants. “I will tell you it is not a matter of if we are going to retire our coal fleet in this nation, it’s just ...

Chicago soybean futures slid on Tuesday to their lowest since March 2016, while corn dropped for a fifth consecutive session on concerns over a deepening trade war between Washington and Beijing. Wheat was little changed after declining in the previous four sessions on pressure from rapidly expanding U.S. winter crop harvest. FUNDAMENTALS * U.S. soybeans are set to lose market share in China, the biggest bean importer, as trade tensions escalate between the two nations. * U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced hefty tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese ...

Strengthening demand in Asia for thermal coal exports would justify the opening of new mining precincts in Australia and help reduce emissions, according to a new analysis that counters Labor suggestions the outlook for ­thermal coal is in decline. A report from industry analysts Commodity Insights has been used to sound a warning that a failure by Australia to meet the stronger regional demand for thermal coal would lead to higher emissions because countries would be forced to rely on lower quality coal. This outcome would also prevent the creation ...