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China`s MIIT forecasts 4.8% rise in nonferrous metals output for 2017

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Platts      Date: March 27, 2017

China`s production of major nonferrous metals such as copper, aluminum, lead and zinc is expected to grow by 4.8% year on year in 2017, which is equivalent to 55.37 million mt, according to a post made by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology late Friday. 

MIIT disclosed that for the nonferrous metals sector, excess capacity cuts, and restructuring, optimization and concentration of metals producers in China would remain among the core tasks for this year. The ministry did not mention any more details. 

Nevertheless, aluminum could be one of the primary targets among the metals, as China`s central government has always been listing aluminum together with steel, coal, glass and cement when addressing industries that have serious levels of overcapacity. 

The production projection more or less matched MIIT`s prediction of a 4.1% average annual increase in apparent consumption of the metals nationwide over the 13th Five Year Plan period of 2016-2020, or six percentage points lower than the 12th Five Year Plan period of 2011-2015.

Last year, China`s production of the ten major metals grew by 2.5% year on year to 52.83 million mt, among which, primary aluminum was up 1.3% year on year to 31.87 million mt, zinc was up 2% to 6.27 million mt, lead was up 5.7% year on year to 4.67 million mt, and refined copper accounted for 8.44 million mt, up 6% year on year. 

And by 2020, China`s consumption of the ten metals is expected to reach 68 million mt, the ministry had said late last year. 

Over 2016-2020, China`s demand for refined copper is expected to grow by 3.3%, or 5.6 percentage points lower than the previous five years, aluminum up 5.2%, down 9.2 percentage points, while lead consumption increase is expected to stabilize at around 0.6%, and zinc at about 1.7%. 

Consumption of lithium and cobalt are expected to grow at 13.5% and 12.5%, respectively, over 2016-2020, as these are the new materials for manufacturing batteries.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Guinea, China to take measures to enhance ties

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua       Date: March 23, 2017

Guinean President Alpha Conde and visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi agreed on Wednesday to take concrete measures to enhance bilateral relations.

During their meeting, Yang conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping`s greetings to President Conde. 

During their talks, Yang said his visit to Guinea is aimed at implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa summit held in Johannesburg so as to further promote Sino-Guinean cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples. 

China will do its best to enhance the two countries` friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, Yang said. 

China encourages and supports its enterprises to explore in-depth joint schemes that will benefit both sides, striving to achieve more concrete and fruitful outcomes while taking advantage of the mutual political trust and economic complementarity between the two countries, Yang added. 

The Chinese State Councilor also congratulated the Guinean President on his election as rotating chairman of the African Union (AU). 

As Africa`s sincere cooperative partner, China supports Conde for fulfilling his duties as AU chairman and playing a greater role in maintaining African unity and promoting peace and development in Africa, said Yang. 

For his part, President Conde asked Yang to extend his warm greetings to President Xi, expressing gratitude to the Chinese president for valuing Guinea-China relations as well as for the vigorous support China has provided to Guinea for a long time. 

Guinea hopes to continue working with China on deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in energy, resource, agriculture, infrastructure and human resource development and other areas, said Conde. 

Guinea welcomes investment from Chinese enterprises, said Conde, adding that such investment will help Guinea enhance its capacity to realize sustainable development and speed up socioeconomic growth.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China eyes 4.4 mil mt 2020 recycled copper, 9 mil mt aluminum output

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Platts         Date: March 22, 2017

China is aiming to produce 4.4 million mt recycled copper and and 9 million mt of recycled aluminum by 2020, in line with the central government`s goal of using more recycled resources to be eco-friendly, the Henan Provincial Nonferrous Metals Guild said in a report in its website Tuesday. 

Henan Provincial Nonferrous Metals Guild, a metals industry association, with over 100 member producers, advises the government on nonferrous metal industry policy, laws and does metal research. 

The 2020 output target is 44% and 57% higher than realized recycled copper and recycled aluminum output of 3.05 million mt and 5.75 million mt in 2015. The 2016 data is not yet available. 

The guild said China set output goals of 2.5 million mt for recycled lead and 2.1 million mt for recycled zinc by 2020, which is 67% and 53% more than realized output of 1.5 million mt and 1.37 million mt back in 2015.

Figures from the guild showed that China set recycled nonferrous metals production goal of 18 million mt by 2020, up 54% from realized output of 11.67 million mt in 2015. 

The higher recycled nonferrous metals output is to keep in line with the the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology`s guidance notes for speeding up growth in the mainland Chinese recycled resources sector, the guild said. 

China`s is forecast to utilize recycled resources of 350 million mt by 2020, according to MIIT. 

The growing Chinese recycled metal sector has greatly eased the supply and demand imbalance in primary metal resources, helping the country set up a circular economy, cutting emissions and saving energy, according to MIIT.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Aramco eyes downstream deals

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: China Daily       Date: March 21, 2017

A Saudi Aramco employee sits in his company stand at the Middle East Petrotech, an exhibition and conference for the refining and petrochemical industries, in Manama, Bahrain. [Photo/Agencies]

The world`s largest oil producer Saudi Arabian Oil Co, also known as Saudi Aramco, is set to continue beefing up investment in China`s integrated downstream to further bolster its presence in the world`s second-largest economy, its President and Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said.

Aramco is pressing ahead looking for indigenous partners to establish more joint ventures in China for downstream businesses, including refining, chemical, retail and distribution, Nasser told China Daily in Beijing on Monday. 

Part of the company`s plans includes raising the proportion of its crude oil exports to China in the next couple of years, a move Nasser said would help China`s energy security. Currently, Aramco`s crude exports to China are nearly 15 percent of the nation`s total imports.

The strategy at the heart of Aramco`s plan is to secure its market share of oil supply by matching the refining capacity with crude exports to China, analysts said. 

Kunal Agrawal, a senior Asia-Pacific oil and gas industry analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that considering the growing demand in the Asian refinery sector, the Saudis would continue to seek investments in the region in the next few years. 

Saudis produce 10 to 11 million barrels of crude a day. Their refining capacity is 3 million barrels at home and will be increased to 3.5 million by 2020, he said. 

Agrawal said: "Now if they can secure take-or-pay contracts for refining the remaining 6.5-7.5 million barrels a day in markets abroad, they will have locked down their crude oil supply share forever. After that, the Saudis will be assured that there is end demand for all their oil." 

In addition to Aramco, Chinese companies are also eager to reach a consensus on such cooperation, as the output of China`s crude oil began to decline last year, said Xi Jiarui, a senior crude industry analyst at the Beijing-based JLC Network Technology Co Ltd, a commodity information provider. 

During the visit to China, Nasser signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing-based China North Industries Group Corp on cooperation over refining. 

Aramco has two joint ventures with local firms in Fujian province, one being a venture with Sinopec and another with Exxon Mobil Corp.

With regards to its plan to go public in 2018, predicted to be the largest IPO in the world, Nasser said: "Things are going very well." 

More details will be disclosed in the coming months since the process of the initial public offering is under way, he 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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Russia`s Gazprom to start supplying gas to China in 2019

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: chinadaily.com.cn        Date: March 17, 2017

The headquarters of Gazprom is seen on June 27, 2014, the day of the annual general meeting of the company`s shareholders in Moscow. [Photo/Agencies]

Russian gas giant Gazprom said the company plans to supply gas to China via the east route of the China-Russia natural gas pipeline as early as May 2019, rather than 2018 as scheduled, 21st Century Business Herald reported Thursday, citing the company`s Vice-President Andrey Kruglov.

He said the delay was because it took almost a year to get all the necessary approvals after a deal was signed in May 2014. He added that discussions on the west route have advanced to a mature stage.

According to the contract signed under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the east route of the pipeline will transport 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to China over a period of 30 years starting from 2018. 

Kruglov said the amount of gas expected to be transported to China might match, or even exceed, east route`s 38 billion cubic meters as the gas field in West Siberia could supply more. 

Natural gas consumption in China is projected to reach 360 billion cubic meters, accounting for 10 percent of the entire energy mix, up from six percent in 2014, according to 21st Century Business Herald. 

The Asia-Pacific, which is becoming more and more important, is of strategic importance to Gazprom, said Kruglov. 

He added that the company`s Asian investors have doubled in the past four year. 

Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation`s cooperation on such a large gas project has laid a solid foundation, including in the financial sector, for the company in the Asia-Pacific, said Kruglov. 

He said the company might offer shares in an Asia stock market and added that the company has been in talks with the Hong Kong Exchanges for some time.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Chinese consortium finances oil shale project in Jordan

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Xinhua         Date: March 17, 2017

A consortium of several banks from China has provided 1.58 billion U.S. dollars and 15-year debt facility to support an oil shale power plant in Jordan, which will be the largest private sector project in the country.

The debt facility has been lead arranged by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Exim Bank of China, according to a statement from the Attarat Power Company (APCO) for the financial close of the project. 

APCO said in the statement that work will start soon on the 554 megawatts project, which will be located at the Attarat um Ghudran oil shale deposit, about 100 km southeast of the capital Amman. 

The power station, with an investment valued 2.1 billion dollars, is scheduled to start operation in mid-2020. 

The project is the first to commercially utilize Jordan`s abundant oil shale reserves and will significantly reduce the country`s reliance on imported oil and gas. 

The two-unit power station will be the first oil shale fired power station and mine project in the world funded by limited recourse project financing. It is expected to meet 10-15 percent of Jordan`s annual power demand. 

"The project will promote the strategic partnership between Jordan and China, and finally sets a model for the similar projects in the future," Jordan`s minister of energy and mineral resources, Ibrahim Saif, said on the financial close ceremony. 

The power station and oil shale mine are expected to employ approximately 5,500 people during construction and 1,000 during operations.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s refinery runs at second-highest on record, gas output flat

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Reuters         Date: March 16, 2017

China`s refinery throughput during the first two months of 2017 rose 4.3 percent from same time a year ago to the second-highest level on record on a daily basis, while crude output fell 8 percent from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday.

Chinese refineries processed 90.76 million tonnes of crude oil during January and February, the National Bureau of Statisics (NBS) reported. That is equivalent to about 11.23 million barrels per day (bpd), second only to December`s all-time high of 11.26 million bpd. 

The NBS provided information for the two months together to smooth the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday, and did not give a separate monthly breakdown. 

The increase followed a rise in the number of independent oil plants winning quotas to import crude oil, while state refiners stepped up processing to build stocks ahead of the holiday that started in late January, contributing to a strong increase in total throughput. 

Crude output in the same period fell 8 percent over the same period a year earlier to 31.44 million tonnes, or about 3.89 million bpd, the data showed. 

Combined inventories of diesel, gasoline and kerosene rose more than 10 percent to a six-month high by the end of January over the previous month, according to data from the official Xinhua News Agency. 

The swelling stocks reflected weakening demand, especially for diesel as mining activities waned ahead of the holiday period. 

A recent draft government plan to start banning trucks moving coal in northern China in favour of railway transport is also poised to deal a blow to diesel demand in the coming months. 

The fall in oil output comes amid near decade-low prices. 

Sinopec Corp, the country`s second-largest oil producer, posted about a 15 percent fall in domestic crude oil production last year at 253 million barrels, the company said in late January. 

China`s top oilfield Daqing recorded a 4.8 percent drop in crude oil output in 2016 versus a year ago. 

The NBS data on Tuesday also showed China`s natural gas production was unchanged from a year ago at 25.1 billion cubic metres. 

Jenny Yang, a Beijing-based analyst at IHS Markit, said the flat production might have been an effort by the national oil companies to adjust available supplies from multiple sources including imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

"China`s LNG imports surged over 50 percent year-on-year during November 2016 to January 2017 owing to the concern of a potentially cold winter. However, the winter has turned out to be a mild one, and much of the imported fuel still remains in storage," said Yang. 

(Tonne=7.3 barrels for crude conversion)

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

Steel and iron ore futures prices rally

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Shanghai Daily          Date: March 15, 2017

China`s steel and iron ore futures prices have rebounded since the start of the year following a pickup in demand to coincide with rising domestic industrial production and infrastructure spending.

The most traded iron ore contract for May delivery jumped 4.25 percent to 687 yuan ($99) per ton yesterday, the biggest gain among commodities. Since the start of the year, the price has jumped 28.7 percent. 

Rebar futures rose 3.84 percent to 3,594 yuan per ton, up 26 percent from the year`s first trading day. 

Steel consumption has rebounded to "further support the futures price increase," Chen Kexin, analyst at Lange Steel Information Center, a domestic steel consulting company. 

He said China`s crude steel consumption over the past two months jumped 11.6 percent from a year ago to 117.2 million tons. 

"Investors are optimistic about the steel industry amid the nation`s policies to increase steel use," Chen added. 

China has called for construction expansion since the start of the year. Infrastructure spending on public facilities, water conservation projects and transport surged 27.3 percent over the first two months from the same period a year ago, said the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday.

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 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin China in September23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.