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China`s 10 nonferrous metal output up 7.7% in Q1 to 12.17 mln tons

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: China Knowledge   Date: May 04, 2015

The combined output of the ten nonferrous metals rose 7.7% year on year to 12.17 million tons in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The output of aluminum electrolytic rose 7.4% year on year to 7.51 million tons in the three-month period. The output of copper and alumina oxide see a growth of 14.4% and 15.3% to 1.85 million tons and 13.97 million tons, respectively.

The output of lead dropped 6.7% year on year to 0.99 million tons in the period, and the output of zinc went up 14.4% from a year earlier to 1.46 million tons in the first three months.

In Mar 2015, the average prices of copper and lead futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange stood at RMB 42,097 and RMB 12,334 per ton, up 2.8% and down 1.3% from Feb 2015, respectively?

In the first quarter of this year, China`s nonferrous industry realized RMB 35.4 billion in profit, 8.8% higher than in the same period of 2014.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s gold consumption up 1.14% in Q1 to 326.68 tons

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: China Knowledge   Date: April 29, 2015

China saw its gold consumption grow 1.14% year on year to 326.68 metric tons in the first quarter of this year, according to a report released by the China Gold Association.

According to the statistic, about 226.23 metric tons of gold were made into jewelry in the first three months and 73.37 metric tons were used for gold bars and gold coins.

From Jan to Mar 2015, the industrial sector consumed 27.08 metric tons of gold.

China saw its gold output increase by 14.72% year on year to 110.7 metric tons in the first quarter of this year, including 88.27 metric tons made by gold mines.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China iron ore futures hit upward daily limit as mills restock

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Reuters   Date: April 27, 2015

Chinese iron ore futures rose for a third straight day to hit their upward daily limit on Friday and were on track for a second weekly gain as mills in the world`s top buyer stepped up buying.

Benchmark iron ore futures for September settlement on the Dalian Commodity Exchange surged 4 percent to 417.5 yuan ($67) before trading at 416.5 yuan at 0305 GMT.

"I think the market has been overbearish earlier. Some Chinese steel mills need to pick up purchases of the raw material as their inventories are quite low," said Xia Junyan, an analyst with Everbright Futures in Shanghai.

Iron ore inventories at main Chinese ports dropped 600,000 tonnes on a week earlier to 93.61 million tonnes as of Friday, data from industry consultancy Umetal.com said.

However, some analysts doubt the rally will be sustainable as top miners are still expanding production and steel demand in China remains sluggish.

Some speculators who bet on falling iron ore prices might be forced to cover their short positions for the May contract , which jumped 3 percent on Friday. And the rally helped lift the benchmark contract, analysts said.

Separately, the most-traded rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a session high of 2,388 yuan, its highest since April 2, as some investors bet on improving demand. The price was up 2.5 percent to 2,379 yuan at 0305 GMT.

"Steel mills are ramping up production by taking advantage of the previous slump in iron ore prices, but steel demand hasn`t recovered much, which will pressure the market," said Xu Huimin, an analyst with Huatai Greatwall Futures in Shanghai.

Iron ore for immediate delivery to China`s Tianjin port jumped 1.7 percent to $53.80 a tonne on Thursday, its highest since March 27, according to The Steel Index.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s March ferroalloy exports fall 25% on year to 30,000 mt

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Platts   Date: April 22, 2015

China exported 30,000 mt of ferroalloys in March, down 25% year on year, according to latest statistics published by the General Administration of Customs Tuesday.

March exports also fell 25% from February.

The report did not provide a breakdown of the various ferroalloys. Some of the commonly exported ferroalloys include ferrosilicon, silicomanganese, ferrochrome, ferromolybdenum and ferrotungsten.

Ferroalloys are used in the production of steels and alloys.

Over January-March, exports totaled 100,000 mt, down 30.1% year on year.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s cooperation to expedite Thar Coal project

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: APP   Date: April 20, 2015

KARACHI: A new era of development is set to dawn on the underdeveloped interior Sindh, specially Tharparkar, as inclusion of Thar Coal mining and power project in the prioritised energy schemes under the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will help overcome financial challenges being faced by it.

This venture will open not only unprecedented economic opportunities but also prove to be a panacea for energy shortages that are stifling economic growth.

The exploitation of coal and power generation by coal-fired plants and related industries, according to some estimates, will generate thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities for both skilled and non-skilled workforce.

The financial and technical assistance by China for exploiting the coal reserves, which are estimated at about 175 billion tonnes and spread over 9,000 square kilometers in the Thar desert, will mark a turning point for the economy and help ensure energy security and ultimately lead to self-reliance.

The Sino-Sindh Resources Limited (SSRL) and the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) are working on Block I & II of Thar Coal mining and power generation, as these energy projects have been included among the Early Harvest Projects of the CPEC making way for swift financing from Chinese financial institutions.

The SSRL has recently reached an agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for funding for the mining operations. Large-scale mining at Thar coalfield is likely to begin next month, according to media reports quoting the SSRL Chief Executive Officer.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari jointly performed ground-breaking of the Thar Coal power project last year. It was decided that in its first phase, a coal mining and power project with a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per annum and 660 MW would be developed. Subsequently, the mine would be expanded to a coal capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum to support a 1300 MW power plant.In the second phase, it was planned to expand the mining project to 13.5 million tonnes and then to 19.5 million tonnes, with power generation capacity of 2400 MW and 3600 MW.

Talking to APP, Khurram Saeed, former vice chairman of FPCCI`s Committee on Alternative Energy, said that the inclusion of Thar Coal project in CPEC had solved funding issues and accelerated pace of work on it.

He expressed the confidence that the implementation of this project would boost economic activities and ensure availability of cheap electricity, besides creating employment opportunities.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China`s Shenhua, Datong Group aim to reverse slide in coal exports

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Platts   Date: April 17, 2015

Two of China`s largest coal producers -- Shenhua Group and Datong Coal Mining Group -- plan to revive their thermal coal exports to overseas customers, senior managers of the two companies said Thursday at the 13th Coaltrans China conference in Beijing.

China`s thermal coal exports to neighboring countries in Asia have progressively declined over the past decade to 2.59 million mt in 2014.

But slowing growth in China`s economy is creating a growing surplus for the domestic thermal coal market.

"We are trying to build our overseas customer base, and [our] exports are due to increase," Shenhua Group Vice General Manager Wang Xiaolin told the conference.

Xiaolin said Shenhua, China`s largest producer of thermal coal, used to export large volumes of coal in the recent past but, "due to strong domestic demand, exports have come down."

Shenhua is also following a central government instruction to reduce its domestic coal production, Xiaolin said.

"We will reduce our output by 50 million to 60 million mt [in 2015]," Xiaolin said. "The [government] policy applies to all coal mines, and Shenhua is no exception."

Datong Coal Mining Group, another of China`s larger coal producers, said it too is looking to reengage with the seaborne market for thermal coal.

"As to the increase of coal exports, we are studying this and we plan to increase the exports of coal," said Datong Coal Mining Group Vice General Manager Jin Hua.

Datong sold 200 million-300 million mt of its coal on the spot market in 2014, Hua said, without disclosing the amount of its term contract coal sales.

Commenting on the outlook for China`s market for imported thermal coal, which has slowed in recent months, Hua said: "If the Chinese market needs coal from other countries, it will come from other countries."

Wu Yin, a former deputy director general of China`s National Energy Agency, said the Chinese market was facing a "serious oversupply."

This is despite China`s domestic coal production falling to 3.56 billion mt in 2014, down 120 million mt from 2013, he said.

China imported 198.78 million mt of thermal coal -- not including lignite-- in 2014, down 6% year on year, according to China customs data.

Industry consolidation into 14 large business units has not prevented "the majority of coal enterprises from experiencing losses," and many state-owned coal mines in China had "social burdens" in terms of employee benefits which added to their costs, he said.

"China`s economy is in a new normal period," where economic growth and consequently energy demand was lower, 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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China finds 1.99 million mt new copper reserves in 2014: CGS

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Platts   Date: April 17, 2015

China confirmed the discovery of new nonferrous metals reserves including 1.99 million mt of copper and 2.87 million mt of lead and zinc in 2014, state-owned mineral resources researcher China Geological Survey said Thursday.

The country also found 1.92 million mt of tungsten, as well as 718,300 mt of molybdenum reserves last year.

Other new metals reserves including 125,500 mt of tin, 67,500 mt of antimony, 52,800 mt of nickel, 780.1 mt of gold, 3,276.4 mt of silver and 110.9 million mt of bauxite reserves were also found in 2014, it 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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.

China oil storage flows key for crude imports: Russell

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Reuters Middle East   Date: April 2, 2015

The state of China`s oil storage tanks is shaping up as a key determinant of the likely path of imports by Asia`s largest fuel consumer.

It`s widely accepted in the oil market that China is importing more crude than it actually uses, or re-exports as refined products, and that the extra is flowing into both strategic and commercial storage sites.

What is less known is how much capacity is left in these tanks, when they are likely to be full and the rate at which new facilities are being built.

A trading executive at top Chinese refiner Sinopec weighed into the issue on March 25, saying China`s commercial and strategic storage is almost full.

Perhaps showing how sensitive the issue is, the executive requested not to be named despite speaking to reporters at an industry event.

If the Sinopec official is correct, it almost certainly will lead to slower growth in China`s crude imports, thus putting downward pressure on global prices given China`s status as one of the few centres of significant demand growth.

The problem is that there is a fair degree of scepticism over whether China`s storage tanks are indeed full.

It is believed that some of the capacity due to come available in the second half of last year has been delayed, probably to the second half of this year.

Storage with a nameplate capacity of 132 million barrels was delayed until at least the second half of this year, according to Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.

This would imply there is scope for oil imports to remain strong in the second half of this year as these storage tanks become available.

It is also fairly clear that some oil has been finding its way to storage tanks this year, with imports and domestic oil output exceeding the amount of crude processed by refiners.

Crude imports averaged 6.62 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first two months of the year, while domestic output was 4.22 million bpd, giving a combined total of 10.84 million bpd of oil available for refining.

However, only 10.22 million bpd was refined in January and February, leaving 620,000 bpd that likely went into storage.

COMMERCIAL STOCKS RISING

Refiners have been boosting commercial stocks in line with a government requirement that they increase inventories to 15 days of average throughput by the beginning of next year.

This does help explain some of the surplus crude coming in during the first two months, but again, questions have to be asked as to whether this can continue at the pace it has been going at so far this year.

The answer for March is that it likely did, with Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts estimating China will have imported 28 million-29 million tonnes of crude in March or about 6.59 million-6.82 million bpd.

This can be confirmed only when the preliminary data for China`s March imports is released next week.

Another factor worth considering is how much of China`s crude imports are being re-exported as refined products, particularly diesel and gasoline.

The first two months of 2015 have seen fairly significant reductions in exports of the two main fuels, with diesel shipments dropping to about 23,100 bpd from 89,900 bpd in the first two months of last year, and gasoline declining to 76,800 bpd from 98,900 bpd.

While positive for the margins of Asian refiners outside of China, the lower fuel exports raise the risk that these will be ramped up in coming months, especially if diesel demand growth remains soft in China.

The picture that emerges overall is that large volumes of crude are still apparently flowing into storage in China, but there is uncertainty as to whether this will continue, or will taper away towards the middle of the year before resuming as new tanks are completed.

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 2015 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin on November 20^th-23^rd, 2015. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 17^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2015, please visit: www.chinaminingtj.org.