CHINA MINING News

China-Russia oil pipeline fuels trade

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: China Daily     Date: August 22, 2016

Huge capacity of link to enhance energy security, cut costs

A new China-Russia oil pipeline will help guarantee China`s oil consumption and, cut its transportation costs, said Gao Jian, an oil analyst at commodities consultancy Sublime China Information Co Ltd.

Compared with other countries, Russia has oil of quite good quality, and its location near China makes it competitive in exporting oil to China, Gao said, adding that Russia will certainly become China`s largest exporter of oil in the near future.

The European economic situation made Russia shift its oil export destinations to the Asia-Pacific region, while China, as one of the world`s largest oil consumers, has the need to import oil from neighboring countries, according to Gao.

Construction of the second China-Russia crude oil pipeline started recently in northeastern China`s Heilongjiang province, a move that expands the capability for oil transportation from Russia to China.

The pipeline, traversing the China-Russia border, is 940 km in length and 813 mm in diameter, with a capacity to transport 15 million tons of crude oil annually, according to China National Petroleum Corporation.

The Chinese section of the pipeline starts from the border city of Mohe in Heilongjiang, runs southward through the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and ends at Daqing in Heilongjiang.

The pipeline is expected to be put into operation at the beginning of 2018.

It will run parallel to an existing pipeline-the first China-Russia crude oil pipeline that was put into use in 2011, which can also transport 15 million tons of oil each year.

According to the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute, China imported 328 million tons of oil last year.

In 2015, Russia exported 41.04 million tons of crude oil to China, making China the country`s largest oil importer, Russian media reported.

That means more than 12.5 percent of crude oil China imported last year was from Russia.

China and Russia signed a cooperation agreement on expanding bilateral trade in crude oil in 2013.

Following the agreement, CNPC signed a trade contract with Rosneft, Russia`s largest oil producer, to expand the supply of oil for China.

Building a new pipeline is the main action under the contract.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s natural gas transmission tariffs proposals positive for industry

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua    Date: August 22, 2016

China`s proposals on regulated transmission tariffs for inter-provincial natural gas pipelines will be credit positive for the natural gas transmission industry in the long run, according to a Moody`s report.

If implemented, the proposals will enhance the transparency and predictability of the regulatory framework, said Moody`s.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Tuesday released its proposals on regulated transmission tariffs for public consultation.

The highlights of the proposal include that permitted revenue will consist of permitted costs, permitted returns and taxes.

Permitted costs, which are audited and approved by the NDRC, will include depreciation and amortization expenses, together with operating and maintenance (O&M) expenses.

"The enhanced transparency and predictability of the tariff mechanism -- assuming the proposals are implemented -- would promote the development of the natural gas transmission industry over the long run," said Moody`s Assistant Vice President and Analyst, Ivy Poon.

"The proposed tariff setting would also improve the stability of national pipeline operators in terms of cost recovery and reducing volume risk in the future."

Currently, there is no structured tariff adjustment mechanism for the natural gas midstream transmission in China. Tariff setting is basically driven by the pipeline length.

The proposed regulations will regulate transmission operators based on a "cost-plus-reasonable return" approach compared with the current tariff settings for each individual transmission pipeline, according to Moody`s.

However, Moody`s said that the proposals will have no immediate rating impact on national natural gas pipeline operators, such as Kunlun Energy Company Limited and Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited, given the current limited visibility of potential tariff adjustments for their pipelines.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

No dumping in China`s steel exports: official

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua     Date: August 11, 2016

China`s steel firms have not been dumping in the global market, and other countries must not resort to trade protectionism as this will not help the contracting global steel industry, said a senior Chinese official Tuesday

China`s steel makers are very competitive globally and this is due to the steel companies themselves, not government subsidies, said an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

China now uses the most efficient, low energy consuming, and highly sophisticated steel manufacturing equipment in the world, said the official in charge of the steel sector at the NDRC, China`s top economic planner. This equipment helps cut production costs remarkably and boost firms` competitiveness, the official added.

From the perspective of China`s national conditions, we do not encourage steel exports, and we have actually taken a series of measures to control the export of metal products, said the official.

To solve overcapacity in the steel industry, which is a global issue, China has taken strong and effective measures to cut excessive production and substantial effects are emerging, said the official.

The NDRC official urged other countries and regions to take similar measures to cut overcapacity, as well as making it clear that they should stop pointing fingers at China or resorting to protectionist trade measures.

Protectionism will not fundamentally help solve the problem in the global steel industry and would, on the contrary, deal a further blow to international trade order, the official said.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Mining industry backs off dumping claim

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Xinhua   Date: August 5, 2016

Statement on imports from Australia, Brazil “mistakenly released”           

A domestic mining industry association has retracted a statement that said Chinese mining companies want an anti-dumping investigation into iron ore from Australia and Brazil.  

Lei Pingxi, executive vice chairman of the Metallurgical Mines Association of China (MMAC), was quoted by the China Metallurgical News as saying on Wednesday that the statement, which was posted on the association`s website on July 26, was mistakenly released by a staff member who did not completely understand the "working process."  

According to the contentious statement, the association, which represents about 20 large and medium-sized mining companies in China, had petitioned the Ministry of Commerce to open an anti-dumping probe into iron ore from Australia and Brazil.

"Because domestic iron ore companies are facing difficulties, some MMAC members made such a proposal, but the association has neither discussed it nor talked it over with the proper authorities," Lei said.  

MMAC couldn`t be reached for comment by press time.  

The proposal drew attention from the Minerals Council of Australia, which said in an e-mail to the Global Times on July 27 that Australian iron ore producers do not engage in "dumping" their products.  

The sudden change of stance confused and disappointed Wu Chenhui, a Beijing-based independent industry expert, who believed such case would have been a good opportunity for China to fight back against anti-dumping investigations initiated by EU and US authorities against its steel products.  

"China has reasons to start anti-dumping investigations into iron ore from Australia and Brazil," Wu told the Global Times Thursday.  

The world`s top three iron ore producers - Australia`s BHP Billion and Rio Tinto, along with Brazil`s Vale - have dominated the global iron ore trade and furthered their expansion in the Chinese market at low prices earlier this year, squeezing high-cost local miners out of the market, said Wu.  

The price of iron ore, the key ingredient for steel manufacturing, dropped to a 10-week low on May 23, down 5.4 percent from its prior close to $52.7 per ton, according to price reporting agency The Steel Index.  

As low prices forced high-cost miners to shut, global iron ore output would reach 3.17 billion tons by 2020, rising from 3.04 billion tons in 2016, said a report by UK market consultancy BMI Research in April.  

The Chinese association remains confident that the industry can overcome its difficulties through further reforms, as well as by cutting costs and improving efficiency.  

Media reports have said 793 Chinese medium- and large-sized mines were shut in the first five months of 2016.  

The association said in July that China imports about 85 percent of the iron ore it consumes.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China warns against EU`s abuse of trade remedy measures

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua    Date: August 5, 2016

China said Thursday that the EU should avoid abusing trade remedy measures, following the European Commission`s latest decision to impose anti-dumping duties on some Chinese steel products.

On Thursday, the European Commission decided to impose duties from 19.7 to 22.1 percent on cold rolled steel products imported from China, a second move to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel products this week, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement.

The move will raise the price of related products in the EU and hurt the competitiveness of its manufacturing sector, the ministry said, adding that the retroactive duty collection "raises legal uncertainties and severely hinders normal international trade."

"China regrets these consecutive trade protectionist moves and urges the EU to honor its commitments made under international circumstances," the statement said.

Trade ministers of the G20 reached a consensus to stand against trade protectionism at a meeting in Shanghai last month.

The EU should avoid the abuse of trade remedy measures and "avoid sending a wrong signal to the outside world," according to the MOC.

China maintains that trade remedy measures should be used in a prudent and restrained way and voiced willingness to improve communication with the EU to properly solve the current problems facing the steel industry, it added

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China needs more efforts in steel capacity cuts in H2

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Xinhua   Date: July 26, 2016

China reduced steel capacity by 13 million tonnes in the first half of 2016, about 30 percent of the planned cuts for the whole year, and capacity cuts will intensify in the second half, a senior official said Monday.

The progress in the first half of this year "was in line with our expectations," and "we remain confident that we will fulfill our capacity cut targets for 2016," Feng Fei, vice minister of industry and information technology, told a press conference.

China aims to cut steel production capacity by 45 million tonnes in 2016.

In the first half of this year, work focused on breaking down tasks to allocate them to provincial-level regions, and the formulation of supportive measures for steel capacity cuts, according to Feng.

In the second half, implementation of capacity cuts and supportive measures will speed up, he said.

China is the world`s largest steel producer and consumer. The steel industry has been plagued by overcapacity for years. It has been felt even more in the past two years as demand for steel has cooled.

Steel producers experienced their worst year in 2015, with combined losses in main business soaring 24-fold from 2014 to over 100 billion yuan (15 billion U.S. dollars).

China has shut down steel plants with a total capacity of over 90 million tonnes over the past five years and plans to reduce the landscape further by an additional 100 million to 150 million tonnes by 2020.

Feng said China`s crude steel production fell 1.1 percent year on year in the first half of this year, and operational conditions of the steel sector reported improvement.

According to the China Iron and Steel Association, China`s large steel plants saw improved profits and narrowed losses in the first five months of this year thanks to destocking efforts.

Major iron and steel enterprises raked in 8.736 billion yuan in the Jan-May period, up over 700 percent year on year while fewer firms reported losses, the association said.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China enters into post-coal growth era: scholars

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua     Date: July 26, 2016

China`s coal consumption might have peaked in recent years, suggesting the country has entered the era of post-coal growth, according to a commentary article published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The commentary was co-authored by scholars from research institutes in China, Britain, and the United States.

The timing of China`s peak coal consumption has been disputed, with the majority of projections now placing it between 2020 and 2040.

Yet China`s coal use dropped to 4.12 billion tonnes, a decrease of 2.9 percent, in 2014, with another 3.6 percent decrease in 2015, all while gross domestic product (GDP) continued to grow by 7.3 percent and 6.9 percent respectively, the authors said.

Coal use in China might have peaked in 2013 or 2014, depending on the way it is calculated, and if the volume figures take into account the fact that higher quality coal was burned, 2014 is more likely to be the year of peak coal consumption, according to the article.

However, the authors pointed out: "it is not important whether the peak year was in 2013 or 2014, what matters is the reversal in the trend."

"We argue that China`s coal consumption has indeed reached an inflection point much sooner than expected, and will decline henceforth, even though coal will remain the primary source of energy for the coming decades," said the authors.

Two forces are driving this trend. First, is the ongoing economic slow-down, especially in the construction and manufacturing industries. The second force is strengthened policies regarding air pollution and clean energy, according to the commentary.

"I think even if China`s economic growth rebounds in the future, it is less likely that the consumption of coal will increase significantly again," one of the authors of the article, Qi Ye, told Xinhua. He is the director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing.

That is due to the fact that China`s non-coal energy consumption has grown rapidly and the cost of this kind of energy has been going down, so the trend of using such an energy source to replace coal is irreversible, said Qi. But he also noted there might be some fluctuations in the consumption of coal in the future.

The end of coal-fired growth in China does not mean coal will cease to be a major energy source; it means that it is entering a phase of development when China`s economic growth -- and the improving living standards of its population -- will not depend on rising coal consumption, according to the article.

China`s experience is also relevant to the rest of the world.

"The peaking of China`s coal consumption has a very important referential significance to other developing countries, say India and South Africa, and it boosts the global effort to tackle climate change," said Qi.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

New dumping duties imposed by China on imported steel

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Global Times      Date: July 25, 2016

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Sunday morning that it has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on imported electrical steel products from Japan, South Korea and the EU.

The MOFCOM imposed duties ranging from 37.3 percent to 46.3 percent on grain-oriented flat-rolled products of electrical steel (GOES) from those sources effective Saturday, according to a post on its website on Sunday. The duties will be in effect for five years.

In May 2015, the European Commission set provisional tariffs of 21.6 percent to 35.9 percent on imports of GOES from markets including China, Reuters said in September 2015.

GOES is a highly specialized product used by power producers and distributors to produce transformer cores, and it`s made by only 16 producers worldwide, including ArcelorMittal, Stalprodukt, Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp in Europe, according to Reuters.

There have been dumping practices involving those imported products, which affected China`s electrical steel industry, MOFCOM noted in Sunday`s post.

The number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations has been increasing since the beginning of 2016, and the protectionism has impeded the growth of global trade, independent academic think tank Global Trade Alert stated on Wednesday.

There were 36 anti-dumping investigations into Chinese steelmakers in 2015, double the 2014 number, Reuters reported in April, citing data from the China Iron and Steel Association.

The domestic steel industry has been slashing excess capacity since the beginning of 2016, with a target of reducing output by 15 percent in the next five years, media reported in July.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2016 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on September 22^nd -25^th, 2016. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 18^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2016, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.