News

China to scrap rare-earth export tariff

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Global Times   Date: April 24, 2015

Workers process raw materials at a tungsten processing plant in Hezhou, Southwest
China`s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Photo: CFP

China`s Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Thursday that the export tariff for rare earths will be removed, a move that complies with a ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that will lead to a drop in rare-earth prices, experts said. 

China will scrap export tariffs for a group of mineral products including rare earths, and the adjustment will come into effect on May 1, according to a statement released on the MOF website Thursday.  

Currently, there is a 15 percent to 20 percent export tariff on rare-earth products, according to the statement.  

In addition to canceling the tariff, China in January abolished export quota restrictions for rare-earth exports.  

China scrapped the export quota and tariff for rare earths in order to comply fully with a WTO ruling issued last year, Chen Zhanheng, vice secretary-general of the Association of China Rare Earth Industry, told the Global Times Thursday.  

The WTO announced a final ruling in August 2014, which said that China had broken WTO rules by imposing an export tariff and quotas on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, as alleged in 2012 by the US, the EU and Japan.  

Rare earths are a group of highly valued minerals used in the manufacturing of high-tech products ranging from smartphones to airplane equipment.

According to official data, China exported 28,000 tons of rare earths in 2014, up 27.3 percent year-on-year, but total revenue from the exports dropped 35.6 percent to 2.3 billion yuan ($371 million), news portal chinanews.com reported Thursday.  

Japan is the biggest importer of China`s rare earths, followed by the US, the report said.  

With the tariff and quota removal, the rare-earth export volume will grow but prices will drop, Liu Xinwei, an analyst with consultancy Sublime China Information Group, told the Global Times Thursday.

The rare-earth industry is burdened by oversupply in the domestic market, so it will benefit from the new policy, news portal cnstock.com reported Thursday.  

But China may increase taxes on rare-earth mining, which could lead to a price rise, the report said, predicting that there will be more policies released in the first half of 2015 to regulate the rare-earth industry.  

China, which has 23 percent of the world`s rare-earth reserves, supplies 90 percent of the rare earths in the international market, ensuring continued development of the world`s high-tech industries, despite the massive environmental and resource pressure from rare-earth mining, Zhang Anwen, vice secretary-general of the Chinese Society of Rare Earths, told the Global Times in a previous interview.  

China appealed against the initial WTO ruling on the case in March 2014, but faced with the final ruling, "China chose to remove the tariff and quota to show that China respects international rules," Liu said.  

The decision will not lead to more rampant mining because China has other ways to manage rare-earth production, Liu said, adding that China has started integrating its rare-earth companies into six major groups.

Su Bo, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, said in January that all Chinese rare-earth mining companies would have to be integrated into six major groups before the end of 2015, the Beijing-based China Securities Journal reported on January 29.

Moreover, China has adopted strong measures in recent years to crack down on illegal rare-earth mining and transactions, Liu noted.

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 slowdown to push steel demand growth down in 2015 - Worldsteel

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

Global steel use should grow at a slightly slower pace this year than last because of China`s slow down, although elsewhere steel use is mostly improving and 2016 prospects look brighter, the World Steel Association said on Monday.

"We hear increasingly positive use from developed economies, especially ... the euro zone. In the developing world we see increased optimism about India and growth in the MENA and ASEAN countries," said Hans Jurgen Kerkhoff, chairman of the group`s Economics Committee.

"While these developments will not be enough to counter-balance the deceleration of China, we expect to see gradually improving growth prospects beyond 2016," he added.

Global apparent steel use - steel both known and assumed to have been used - is expected to grow by 0.5 percent this year to 1.544 billion tonnes, compared with growth of 0.6 percent last year, Worldsteel said.

This primarily because use in China, which accounts for about half of the world`s steel consumption, is expected to fall 0.5 percent to 707.2 million tonnes from last year.

Next year, however, global apparent steel use is expected to grow 1.4 percent to 1.566 billion tonnes. Emerging and developing economies should be up 4 percent, developed economies 1.8 percent.

Global steel prices are nonetheless currently languishing at their lowest levels in nearly six years amid structural oversupply.

Usage in China, the world`s second largest economy, is falling and it produces about 100 million tonnes more than it consumes. Beijing is introducing measures to cut excess steel capacity but there is a question about how successful it will be.

Also a concern, especially for miners of iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, is whether Chinese steel use has peaked.

Iron ore prices have plunged some 60 percent since last year after a concerted effort by major producers to expand output and boost their market share by driving out high cost rivals.

An iron ore glut has since built, one that would not easily disappear if Chinese steel use is in long term decline.

"China is at the beginning of long and flat peak steel use. The peak might stretch over 3-5 years, with (demand) hovering around 720-750 mln tonnes, then we may see a gradual decline to 680 million tonnes in the mid-2020s," Worldsteel director general Edwin Basson said.

"So we don`t see a rapid increase in iron ore costs in our industry," 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 and Russia to expand energy cooperation

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: chinadaily.com.cn   Date: April 22, 2015

Energy cooperation is a key focus of China-Russia cooperation and the countries have made progress, Zhang Gaoli, vice premier of the State Council said on Tuesday.

Zhang, also Chinese co-chair of the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee, met with Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian deputy prime minister and Russian co-chair, preparing for the top leaders` meeting in May, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Moscow on May 9 to join commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

Both parties have achieved results in a host of big projects in oil, gas, coal and power industries. The two sides should implement long-term crude oil trade cooperation and the China-Russia east natural gas line project as planned, said Zhang.

He added that negotiating the west natural gas line project in an active way, expanding cooperation in upstream oil projects and promoting the refinery joint venture in Tianjin as a pilot downstream project were other priorities.

Efforts should also be expanded to cooperate in coal, power trade, renewable energies, energy equipment and technologies.

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.

Steel demand in China forecast to decline through 2016

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Bloomberg   Date: April 21, 2015

China`s government is battling a property slump, excess capacity and capital outflows. （Bloomberg）

Steel demand in China will shrink this year and next to extend the first annual contraction since 1995 as economic growth in the world`s biggest producer slows, according to the World Steel Association.

China`s steel use will drop 0.5 per cent to 707.2 million metric tons in 2015 and fall to 703.7 million tons next year, the group said in a statement. In 2014, demand declined 3.3 per cent to 710.8 million tons, according to the Brussels-based body, whose members account for 85 per cent of global output.

China`s government is battling a property slump, excess capacity and capital outflows, with the economy expanding last year at the slowest pace since 1990. To shore up the expansion, the central bank relaxed rules on home purchasing, cut interest rates and reduced the amount of cash banks must set aside as reserves. Asia`s largest economy, which accounts for about half of global steel output, is the largest iron ore buyer.

"Steel demand in 2014 saw negative growth for the first time since 1995 due to the government`s rebalancing efforts that had a major impact on the real-estate market," the association said in its short-range outlook on Monday. "In the medium term, no strong rebound is expected."

Global use will rise 0.5 per cent to 1.54 billion tons this year and a further 1.4 per cent to 1.57 billion tons next year, the association said. The group`s projections refer to so-called apparent steel use, which reflects deliveries to the market from local producers as well as importers.

China`s crude-steel output fell 1.7 per cent to 200.1 million tons in the three months through March from a year earlier, according to statistics bureau data last week. The economy expanded 7 per cent, the weakest pace since 2009.

Steel production in China will drop 1.2 per cent to 813 million tons this year, before rebounding to 825 million tons in 2016, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. From then on, output will shrink through 2019 to 752 million tons, the bank said in a report on Thursday, which cut forecasts for iron ore.

Iron ore lost 28 per cent this year on slowing demand in China and surging low-cost supply from Australia that spurred a global glut. Ore with 62 per cent content at Qingdao was at $51.57 a dry ton on Monday, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. It fell to $47.08 on April 2, the lowest since 2005, based on daily and weekly data from Metal Bulletin and annual benchmarks for ore delivered to China from Clarkson Plc.

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.

Chinese premier urges stronger clean energy cooperation with US

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: April 14, 2015

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with a US presidential trade mission in Beijing on Monday, urging stronger cooperation with the United States in clean energy, environmental protection and other areas.

"China is accelerating a new type of `people-oriented` urbanization plan, which offers a huge market for the advanced technology and management experience of the United States," Li told the delegation led by US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

The delegation, consisting of 24 US business leaders in the clean technology field, is the first-ever presidential trade mission sent to China by the Obama administration.

Pritzker told Li that the mission shows how important the US government considers its trade ties with China.

Li urged combining US technology, regulation and experience with competitive Chinese equipment and industries to jointly explore third markets.

"This will help boost balanced growth of our two-way trade," he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States in September this year.

Li said China is willing to enhance strategic trust and substantial cooperation with the United States, properly manage differences and jointly cope with regional and global challenges.

Calling trade ties a "ballast" in China-US ties, Li said the two economies are highly compatible, and both countries enjoy huge cooperation prospects in such areas as infrastructure, energy, information and environmental protection.

Premier Li called on both sides to facilitate negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) to reach a "high-level and balanced" agreement at an early date.

China`s reform and opening-up policy and its commitment to World Trade Organization regulations will remain unchanged, he said.

"China will continue to open wider to the world and will have a more transparent and predictable market," said the premier.

He welcomed companies from various countries to enter the Chinese market and enjoy fair play.

Li pledged to treat Chinese and foreign companies equally and better protect intellectual property rights.

The Chinese premier called on the US side to ease high-tech exports to China and take effective measures to make Chinese investment in the United States more convenient.

Pritzker told Li the US side is ready to boost cooperation with China in areas such as clean technology, energy conservation and environmental protection.

She welcomed US-China joint cooperation in developing third markets, and welcomed more Chinese companies to invest in the United States.

The United States will elevate BIT negotiations with China in a constructive manner in an effort to reach a list acceptable to both as soon as possible, Pritzker said.

Earlier on Monday, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang also met with the delegation.

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 energy technology may strengthen LatinAm ties

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: China Daily Latin America   Date: April 13, 2015

Focusing on exporting its world-class technology in renewable energy to Latin America would enable China to add a new front to its relationship with the region and become a role model in the effort to combat climate change, according to a US-based academic and environmental scientist.

The economic ties between China and Latin America have been dominated by commodities. Latin America has resources like oil and copper that China needs to keep its economy humming. "Climate change will not change the (commodity) relationship, but instead offer an opportunity for China and Latin America to add an interesting component to their trading," Guy, Edwards, a research fellow at the Center for Environmental Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, told China Daily in an interview.

Edwards and his Brown colleague, J. Timmons Roberts, last month published a paper for the Brookings Institute A High-Carbon Partnership? Chinese-Latin American Relations in a Carbon-Constrained World.

Edwards said the leaders of China and several Latin American nations, including Brazil, Chile and Mexico, are ready to elevate the importance of climate change.

"In January at the first China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, climate change was important enough to be mentioned," said Edwards. "China and Latin American countries could launch a climate change initiative through CELAC that could focus on financing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, energy and transportation, as well as sharing technology."

Climate change is emerging as a major topic for both China and Latin America, said Edwards.

"China has a very serious air pollution problem and Latin American countries are vulnerable to things like drought and glaciers melting. So there is certainly an environmental reason for both to unite on this," he said.

Together, China and CELAC account for roughly 36 percent (China 27 percent / CELAC 9 percent) of the world`s total global greenhouse gas emissions. "China has developed impressive technology in wind and solar and they are eager to find outside markets for it," Edwards said.

Earlier this month, the Chinese Hanergy Group said it would invest $1 billion to construct a 400-megawatt solar power plant in the African nation of Ghana.

"The political conditions are ripe for China and Latin America to cooperate on low-carbon projects," said Edwards. "Both are committed to a multilateral solution for climate change working within the framework of the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris later this year."

According to a report released on April 1 by the Global Wind Energy Council, the growth of wind power in 2014 was spurred largely by China and Brazil, followed by Mexico and South Africa.

"China installed an astonishing 23 Gigawatt (GW) of new wind power last year, bringing its cumulative total to more than 114 GW, and Brazil was the world`s 4th largest market in 2014, entering the top 10 in cumulative rankings for the first time," the council said.

"Nobody predicted that China would install 23 GW of new wind power alone," the report said, noting it set another record for the country.

"China in 2014 crossed the 100,000 megawatt (MW) mark, adding another milestone to its already exceptional history of renewable energy development since 2005," the report added.

In Latin America in 2014, the wind energy market tripled in size compared with 2013, for cumulative installed capacity growth of nearly 80 percent, the report said, with Brazil leading the market at No 4 in the world with nearly 2,500 MW installed last year, and moving into 10th place in the global cumulative rankings.

Mexico installed 633.7 MW of new capacity to reach a total of 2, 551 MW by the end of 2014, and aims to generate 35 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2024, with up to half of that target coming from wind.

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 lowers iron ore resource tax to 40 percent

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: April 9, 2015

China will reduce resource taxes on iron ore to aid industrial upgrades and ensure sufficient supply, the State Council said Wednesday.

Resource tax on iron ore will be reduced from 80 percent of the taxation payment base to 40 percent, effective on May 1 this year, said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

China`s iron ore faces a low tenor and a high smelting cost and insufficient production. About 78 percent of iron ore was imported last year.

Iron ore firms have been suffering sluggish prices and production since 2014. Now only about 60 percent of iron ore firms are in production.

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 to regulate gold import, export

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: March 20, 2015

China`s central bank is entitled to impose restrictive examinations on gold and gold production, according to a guideline issued Thursday.

In accordance with macro control, the People`s Bank of China (PBOC) demands that all the gold and gold production listed in the guideline has a certificate issued by the PBOC or its branches for customs clearance.

Only a legal person or organization with no illegal records in the last two years can apply for gold import and export permits, except for charitable donations, according to the PBOC.

The guideline will come into effect on April 1.

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.