Chinese steel futures pulled back to a one-week low on Friday, with supply rising and concerns a seasonal recovery in demand could end soon. A pickup in construction activity in China had fueled a sustained fall in traders’ steel inventories since March and pushed mills’ crude steel output in April to the highest daily average in four years. “The seasonal improvement has waned because the rainy season is now coming, particularly in eastern and southern China,” said Richard Lu from CRU consultancy in Beijing. Improved supply was also a drag ...

China plans to enforce stringent new emission regulations for steel mills with over 2mn t/yr crude steel capacity, as well as shut down blast furnaces with capacity below 1,000m³ over the next few years, which may further reduce production capacity. The ministry of environment is seeking public comments on a draft proposal to enforce ultra-low emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by 2020 and rest of the country by 2025. The new guidelines cover iron ore pelletising, sintering, coking, steel production and rolling of slabs. The hourly average emissions concentration of ...

Weekly US coal production totaled an estimated 14.28 million st in the week that ended May 12, up 5.2% from the prior week and up 7.5% from same week a year-ago week, Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday. Coal production is likely to tick up in the coming weeks as maintenance season winds down and recent warm weather, coupled with low stockpiles, spur fuel buyers to increase deliveries. Utility stockpiles remain low on an aggregate basis, totaling an estimated 119 million st as of May 10, according to S&P Global ...

POSCO, one of the world’s largest steel companies won the prestigious Metals Company of the Year award at the sixth annual S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards, which recognizes exemplary performance in 15 categories across the steel, metals and mining complexes. Honorees from four continents were heralded at the black-tie gala in central London. The event, hosted by S&P Global Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, was once again emceed by CNBC’s Karen Tso and attended by nearly 200 industry ...

Australian premium white wheat hit an eight-month high of $245/mt FOB Kwinana Friday, according to Platts assessment, on concerns over the new crop yield because of extended dryness. The last time the price was assessed higher was last September, at $245.50/mt FOB Kwinana. The assessment was up $4.25 month on month as sellers hiked their offers on the weather concerns. The latest weather outlook released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecast a drier winter is more likely in the western and southeast regions, where wetter weather is ...

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) coking coal futures open interest from May 1 to May 17 hit a record high of 1.82 million mt, SGX data released Friday showed. The large futures open interest was helped by a substantial volume of transactions in the calendar contracts. On Thursday, 36,000 mt of Cal-19 and Cal-20 contracts each traded at $176.75/mt and $168/mt, respectively, widening the spreads between the two contracts to $8.75/mt, up $1.25 from end-April. Since the start of May, traded futures volume were reported at 532,500 mt, while options open ...

Chicago grain and soybean futures rose on Friday, boosted partly by news that China had scrapped its anti-dumping investigation into imports of sorghum from the United States. The move comes as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is in Washington for talks aimed at resolving trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. “Grain markets are stronger this morning, which appears to be on the back of China scrapping an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case on U.S. sorghum imports,” ING said in a market note. “This news could be viewed as somewhat ...

Two major Chinese coal-fired power generators have banned spot purchases of thermal coal above certain prices as they expect the market to fall in coming months. China Huaneng Group and China Huadian Corp Ltd, blamed the rally in coal prices since mid-April for “irrational market expectations”, according to internal notices from the two firms on Friday that were reviewed by Reuters and confirmed by their executives. Benchmark thermal coal futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange have gained more than 7 percent over the past month, reaching 643 yuan ($101) a ...

The US-based Japan Steel Information Center welcomed reports that Japan is considering retaliation against the US as a result of the US’ 25% tariff on steel imports. Citing unnamed government officials, Japanese media outlets reported Thursday the country may tell the World Trade Organization it believes it has the right to immediately impose tariffs of its own on US goods equivalent to the damage it is suffering as a result of the steel tariffs. Japan is the only major US ally that did not receive an exemption to the US’ ...

TMK, Russia’s largest maker of steel pipes for the oil and gas industry, said on Friday that its first-quarter core earnings rose 13 percent year-on-year thanks to growth in the Russian pipe market. Its first-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to $160 million from $142 million a year ago, it said. TMK said it still expected its 2018 adjusted EBITDA margin to remain broadly flat compared to 2017, while overall adjusted EBITDA would rise, but it did not say by how much. Source: Reuters (Reporting by ...

Chicago wheat rose for a fourth consecutive session on Friday with the market poised to end the week on a positive note following last week’s deep losses as dry weather curbs yields in key exporters Australia and the United States. U.S. soybeans and corn rose almost 1 percent as China’s move to halt anti-dumping probe against U.S. sorghum imports boosted hopes of improved demand for U.S. crops. The Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat contract is up almost 1 percent this week, after closing down 5.2 percent last week. Soybeans ...

Commodities trading in Singapore, Asia’s main trade hub, generated close to $1.2 trillion in revenue in 2017, 33 percent more than a year earlier on the back of higher prices and surging demand, a senior government official said on Thursday. “Notwithstanding current uncertainties and rising trade tensions we face today, the commodities market is broadly on an upturn compared to previous years,” Koh Poh Koon, senior minister of state at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said at an industry event. “Prices have risen over the past three years across ...

China’s iron ore and other steelmaking raw materials slipped for a second session on Thursday, while analysts said they expect softer demand in the coming months as the country shifts its focus from heavy industries to services. The most-active iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity exchange pared early losses to close 0.3 percent lower at 483 yuan ($75.89) a tonne. “The market is full of uncertainties including weather and environmental policies. People are waiting for news … for instance, lower inventory at ports or higher utilisation rate at mills,” ...

Steel prices in China are unlikely to rise by much in coming months as the market was set to remain oversupplied due to rising production, the China Iron & Steel Association said in its monthly steel market analysis. Steel mills ramped up production in April for the spring peak demand season, when profit margins were healthy. However the outlook for growth in property and infrastructure construction was slow for the remainder of the year and this may dampen steel demand going forward, CISA said. China’s domestic composite steel price index, ...

Production remains suspended at Iron Ore Company of Canada as the strike by the United Steelworkers union continues, a spokeswoman with parent company Rio Tinto said Wednesday, emphasizing that contractors working at the facility are keeping it under care and maintenance status. USW Local 5795, which has 1,300 members, has accused the company of hiring replacement workers. The strike at the facility in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador, began March 27. “The ones that are on site, the contractors, it is legal to have replacement workers in Newfoundland and Labrador,” ...