Friday, March 28, 2008
[+/-] : Easter holiday keeps European antimony market stable
A European trader disclosed that Chinese suppliers are offering material at USD5,800-5,850/t CIF Rotterdam for 99.65%min low bismuth antimony ingot, but the major consumers in Europe are asking for lower price at USD5,700-5,750/t. "It is impossible for us to do business at the moment," said the trader.
He holds that price will keep stable this week due to the Easter holiday, and drop by another USD50/t next week when all European people come back to work.
Another European trader confirmed the price of USD5,750-5,850/t CIF and in warehouse Rotterdam for 99.65%min standard grade two antimony ingot, and he said Chinese suppliers stopped offering because the of the Western holiday. Therefore, there is no change in the market this week.
Commenting on the future market, the trader believes antimony metal price willn' t drop to below USD5,700/t, and stabilize at that level until summer holidays. ...
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[+/-] : Premier Wen: Market to further determine RMB exchange rate
Wen made the remarks during a speech at the fourth EU-China Business Summit held here, which attracted about 500 entrepreneurs from China and the European Union (EU).
However, the premier also emphasized China would improve the RMB exchange rate regime "in a proactive, manageable and gradual manner," with a view to gradually enabling capital account convertibility.
Some Western countries have been pressuring China to revalue its currency RMB at a faster pace, complaining the exchange rate is the cause of global economic imbalance and mounting trade deficits they suffer from.
The Chinese premier obviously has a different view on the issue. "Exchange rate is a cause, but not the sole decisive factor, for trade deficits," he said.
"Since the RMB appreciated, China has seen no dwindling exports, which is a testimony to the existing global industrial structure and the competitive advantages enjoyed by Chinese products," he added.
Wen said the RMB exchange rate against the euro is determined by the RMB to U.S. dollar rate and the U.S. dollar to euro rate in the international market, adding the recent plunge of U.S. dollar was the main cause of an appreciating euro.
The premier also emphasized the importance of "moderate" revaluation of the yuan.
"The moderate tunings of the RMB exchange rate have been a source of stability for the Chinese economy and businesses, as well as its neighboring economies," he said.
China discontinued the yuan's peg from the U.S. dollar on July 21, 2005. Over the past two years, the RMB has appreciated 11.9 percent against the U.S. dollar and 7.4 percent against the Japanese Yen.
The yuan's central parity rate was 7.3899 against one U.S. dollar and 10.9614 against one euro on Wednesday.
The Chinese government has proactively and steadily advanced reform into the RMB exchange rate regime. It widened the yuan's daily trading band against U.S. dollar from plus or minus 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent in May.
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[+/-] : Chinese yuan climbs to new high against USD,export business is difficile to work
The yuan broke the 7.05 mark at 7.02 yuan against one U.S. dollar only last Thursday.
This was the 68th new high the yuan has hit since the beginning of this year, up more than four percent accumulatively.
The accumulative appreciation since July 21, 2005, when China discontinued yuan's peg to the greenback, has exceeded 8.3 percent....
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
[+/-] : RMB Exchange Rate Might Appreciate by 5% in 2007
The report projected that the pace of RMB appreciation would befaster in the first half of 2007 than in the second half.
Xinhua Economic Analysis Reports are regular products by a teamof more than 80 economic analysts under Xinhua Economic Information Department. The latest issue of the reports reviewed the country's ten key indices in the economic and financial sectors and made projections on possible changes in the coming year.
In 2006, the value of the RMB rose 3.28 percent against the dollar, with an accelerating trend from 0.66 percent in the first quarter to 1.15 percent in the fourth. The central parity price closed at one U.S. dollar for 7.8141 yuan, the lowest of the year.
The report held that the short-term RMB exchange rate will be influenced by the fluctuation between the dollar and other currencies, but in the long run, it depends on the progress of China's exchange rate reforms. Stable appreciation in small steps is generally expected.
Earlier in December, China's State Information Center predicteda three-four percent appreciation of the yuan in 2007, while the Bank of America and Deutsche Bank expected a rise of four-six percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
China's foreign exchange policy is in line with the pace of China's economic development and the daily floating band is enoughto allow sufficient appreciation of the RMB, according to Chinese economist Fan Gang.
However, some economists argued that the appreciation of the RMB is a double-edged sword, as it will make Chinese exports more expensive and therefore reduce export volume. Some export-driven small and medium companies may not be able to survive and have to lay off employees.
"If China were coerced into really large appreciations of the RMB, it could face the same deflationary fate as Japan in the 1980s and 1990s -- and all this without reducing its trade surplus," said Ronald McKinnon in an article published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said that there was no timetable for a further widening of the daily floating band between the RMB and the U.S. dollar.
China raised the value of yuan by two percent to 8.11 per U.S. dollar and started linking it to a basket of currencies on July 21of 2005, and allowed it to move 0.3 percent above or below the parity rate against the U.S. dollar.
The continuing appreciation of the RMB, a slowing world economyand the end of some tax rebates will reduce China's export growth to 20 percent year on year in 2007, the report predicted.
From January to November of 2006, China's exports increased 27.5 percent over the same period in 2005.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
[+/-] : Malaysia starts to build its first Magnesium smelting plant
The 180 million-ringgit (54.5 million-U.S. dollar) plant is being constructed in Kamunting Raya Industrial Park by Commerce Venture Magnesium, a subsidiary of Ho Wah Genting Bhd.
Malaysia's national news agency Bernama said that the project was also the first one of such in Southeast Asia.
The plant is expected to come into production by the end of this year. Under the first phase, it will have the capacity to generate 15,000 tons of magnesium per annum.
Upon completion by 2010, it would have the capacity to produce 900,000 tons of the metal per annum. – Xinhua
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
[+/-] : India: Antimony rises on increased demand
Copper prices improved between Rs 3-5 a kg in the non-ferrous metal market here on Monday on fresh buying by consuming industries, influenced by higher advices from London Metal Exchange. Marketmen said fresh buying by consuming industries in the wake of better advices from London Metal Exchange led to rise in copper prices. Rs 3 and Rs 5 to Rs 350 and Rs 375 traded copper wire scrap and copper super d rod higher per kg respectively. Copper wire bar and copper mixed scrap also gained Rs 3 and Rs 5 to Rs 370 and Rs 330 while C C rod traded higher at Rs 360 from Rs 357 per kg respectively.
Following were today's quotations per kg (in Rs): Tin ingot 860, zinc slab 150.00 zinc dross 130.00, nickel plate (4x4) 1410-1485, (9x9) 1415-1490, (4x24) 1425-1495, cadmium plate 445, Rod 430, antimony (china) 285, gun metal scrap 252, bell metal scrap 250, copper wire scrap 350, copper super d rod 375, copper wire bar 370 copper mixed scrap 330, C C rod 360, Utensil scrap 315, Mixed scrap 308, Chadripital 245, brass sheet cutting 240, bullet scrap 258, bharat scrap 250, accessories scrap 253, brass bo ring 235-245, brass radiator scrap 225 and huny scrap 250.
Lead ingot 115, Lead imported 150-152, Aluminium ingots 132, sheet cutting 127, aluminium wire scrap 122 and Aluminium utensils scrap 117. – PTI
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[+/-] : China's efforts to slash mineral exports pay off in 2007
China's efforts to curb heavy outflow of non-renewable mineral resources from the country have paid off.
According to the General Administration of Customs, last year China exported 120 million tons of 142 sorts of mineral resources in five categories, including non-metallic ores, metallic ores, mineral fuels, silicon and rare earth, representing a decline of 16.6 percent from the previous year.
The exports were valued at 12.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.8 percent. Prices of the mineral exports rose 23.2 percent on average.
Of the total foreign sales, mineral fuels accounted for 72.28 million tons, down 14 percent, and non-metallic ores made up 51.15 million tons, down 20.4 percent.
Since the second half of 2006, China has intensified control over export of mineral resources. It discontinued export rebates for almost all kinds of mineral resources and began to levy export duties of five percent to 15 percent on metallic ores that were in dearth at home and on coal, coke and some other mineral products.
However, 60 kinds of mineral products saw export reverse the downward trend. Their combined export volume amounted to 48.8 million tons, up 43.4 percent, the customs sources said. – China Mining
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[+/-] : Manganese a quiet achiever in the iron boom, but the noise is about to start
Manganese producers
THE demand and price surge for iron ore in response to the annual global production of steel climbing to more than 1 billion tonnes for the first time is well understood.
Not so well understood is that it takes more than iron ore to make steel and that in many cases, the demand and price performance of the metals that give the full range of steel products their special properties has been as good, if not better.
Manganese is a case in point. It has gone ballistic thanks to increasingly tight supply/demand fundamentals, with power shortages in South Africa being the latest scare for steel makers who, on average, consume about 6 kilograms of the stuff for each tonne of carbon steel they produce.
Compared with the iron ore market, the seaborne trade in manganese is tiny – about 16 million tonnes a year – but mining the stuff can be hugely profitable.
BHP Billiton supplies about 15% of the world's total supply and in the December half-year, booked an underlying earnings before interest and tax result from the business of $US431 million.
Australia has two other producers – Consolidated Minerals and OM Holdings.
Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov saw what was coming and outbid everyone for ownership of ConsMin earlier this year. He ended up paying $1.3 billion – more than double the opening $625 million bid from Brian Gilbertson's equity house Pallinghurst.
Bogolyubov got a bargain. Since the takeover, contract prices secured by BHP for manganese ore have rocketed from $US2.70 a metric tonne unit in 2007 to a heady $US11.20/mtu. That is why OM's market capitalisation has grown hand over fist to more than $600 million.
All that is very interesting, but the manganese boom is still not a headline grabber. Garimpeiro's tip is that it won't be quiet for much longer, with punters set to turn their attention to the clutch of manganese explorers that offer leveraged exposure to the boom.
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
[+/-] : European antimony market weakens further
A consumer told Asian Metal that the offers of antimony is at around USD5,600/t CIF Rotterdam, and he thinks price will continue to fall as the consumers are not buying at high price. Moreover, the reason for the higher prices is the bad weather and holiday, and now the problems are already solved, so production in china is back to normal.
He takes that the antimony price should frustrate in the range of USD5,200-5,600/t, which can satisfy the Chinese supplier and not drive the consumer of antimony trioxide away. "Market will always be balance as the result of demand. If the price is too high, then the end-users will switch to alternatives."
A trader source disclosed that Chinese offers are in the range of USD5,700-5,900/t CIF Rotterdam; prices decreased in the last few weeks, but demand remains weak that the consumers are not interested in buying.
The source is confused by the current market. He holds that there is little material in warehouse Rotterdam, plus Chinese and European currency are appreciation against USD, however, the price of antimony kept in the range of USD5,000-5,500/t in the passed year and it falls back to the level every time Chinese suppliers tried to push the price to USD6,000/t. "The European consumers did a good job to keep the price down," said the source.
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Tel/Fax: 0512-62573306
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Monday, March 10, 2008
[+/-] : Antimony market summary Mar 3-7
As many suppliers and buyers anticipated, concluded prices for antimony ingot have fallen to RMB40,300-41,000/t (USD5,668-5,767/t) ex works during the week. While some optimistic suppliers hold that the market will not drop further, other suppliers, in view of the slowly increasing supply, believe that the market will continue to go down slowly.
The antimony trioxide market also experienced slow business. Although Chinese suppliers managed to closed deals at higher prices in the past two weeks influenced by the increased production cost, they found it hard to persuade buyers to place orders at prices higher than RMB37,000/t (USD5,204/t) ex works as the antimony ingot prices started to move down
European buyers reported offers of USD5,800-5,900/t CIF Rotterdam or USD5,900-6,000/t in warehouse Rotterdam for antimony ingot. Most market participants believe that the price will keep sliding down. Meanwhile, the antimony trioxide market is also expected to be slow down as antimony ingot prices are in a decline.
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