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Mongolia’s target to lift its annual coal exports to exceed 40 million tonnes this year may have suffered a delay, chiefly owing to the pandemic’s advance from early this year and which continues to adversely impact shipping volumes. According to the country’s latest Customs data published on July 8, over the January-June period the volume slumped by 52% on year to 8.7 million tonnes, among which 96.4% was exported to China.
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China’s fixed asset investment on railways and rail infrastructure reached Yuan 325.8 billion ($46.4 billion) over January-June, up Yuan 38 billion or 1.2% on year. Within the total, the investment in railway infrastructure alone reached Yuan 245.1 billion, recording an on-year increase of 3.7%, according to a post on the website of the China State Railway Group (China Railway) on July 5.
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China’s 91 blast-furnace mills under Mysteel’s monthly survey have reported that the gross profits they earned on the three major steel products all shrank last month, with their average margin on rebar plunging the deepest, tumbling by Yuan 163/tonne ($23.3/t) on month to just Yuan 92/t for June. Survey respondents chiefly blamed higher production costs for procuring raw materials against lower rebar prices amid sliding wet-season steel demand.
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Russia, the world’s third-largest coal exporter, posted a notable 6.3% on-year decline in total coal exports over this year’s January-June period to 88 million tonnes, according to recent data from the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Energy (MoE). Analysts ascribed the lower coal exports to the spread of COVID-19 in H1 that affected global coal demand.
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The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the steel industry in North China’s Hebei province, the country’s largest steel production base, reversed down to 51.5 in June after the prior three months’ continuous increase, according to the latest release by the Hebei Metallurgical Industry Association.
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Sales of heavy-duty trucks across China enjoyed a healthy 59% on-year surge in June to reach 165,000 units, according to a preliminary estimate published by Beijing-headquartered Commercial Vehicle World (CVWorld). Last month’s sales were still lower by 8% from May, however.
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China’s large- and medium-sized iron ore mining companies earned a total of Yuan 6.8 billion ($1 billion) from sales of iron ore concentrates over January-May, higher by 20.2% on year, according to the latest survey from the Metallurgical Mines’ Association of China. Improved prices for their concentrates are what did the trick, MMAC data show.
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Japan’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry recovered by 1.7 basis point on month to 40.1 for June, indicating that the operations and market sentiment had been improving after a few months of declines since February, according to the release from au Jibun Bank Corporation on July 1.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry reversed up 0.3 basis point on month to 50.9 in June with major elements such as new orders and production posting gains on month, according to the release from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 30.
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After three months of recoveries, China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the steel industry reversed down in June by 1.6 basis points on month to 49.3, as steel production rapidly grew while demand softened, and the PMI for H1 averaged 45.3, down 5.5 basis points on year mainly because of the COVOD-19 outbreak, according to the release by CFLP Steel Logistics Professional Committee (CSLPC) on June 30.
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China's steel PMI for June eased to 49.3, or down 1.6 basis points from May, according to the release by CFLP Steel Logistics Professional Committee on June 30. A detailed report will be posted soon.
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China’s coking coal imports still declined by 23.8% on month or 19.1% on year to 4.8 million tonnes for May, even though the plunge in Australian coking coal imports was partially offset by a marked growth from Mongolian supplies, according to the latest breakdowns by country from China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC).
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Chinese production of air-conditioners declined by 14.7% on year to 19.4 million units during May, according to the latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, with the May result taking total production over January-May to some 78 million units, lower by 23.1% on year, the NBS data show. However, the pace of the decline had slowed marginally from the 24.8% decrease charted over the first four months.
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Chinese shipbuilders received new vessels orders equivalent to 11.6 million dead weight tons (dwt) in total over January-May, down 1.2% on year, according to the latest release by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) published on June 19. Demand for new vessels stayed dull as global freight markets continue to be buffeted by the coronavirus storm, Chinese market sources said Friday, admitting they were pessimistic about the medium- to long-term future for the country’s shipbuilding industry.
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China’s run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore output reached around 337 million tonnes over January-May, with the on-year increase of 4.1% being higher than the 3% rise for the first four months’ production, according to the latest figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Mining companies accelerated ROM production in order to have more iron ore concentrates available to satisfy the quick uptick in demand, market sources said on Thursday.
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China’s total power generation of all resources declined by 3.1% on year to 2.7 trillion kWh over January-May, while most of the non-fossil sources including wind, nuclear and solar posted gains on year, according to the latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 15.
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Chinese industry continued to recover in May, recording year-on-year growth of 4.4%, according to the latest release of China’s National Bureau of Statistics published on June 15. The May result was faster than the 3.9% for April – the first month of positive growth after several negative months when the COVID-19 outbreak was raging, Mysteel Global notes.
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China’s pig iron output rose to a historical high of 77.32 million tonnes in May, up 2.4% on year and 7.4% on month, according to the latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on June 15. The previous high was 72.19 million tonnes recorded in May 2019, Mysteel Global notes.
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For May, China’s output of coal for all uses eased by 0.1% on year and coke down 3.2% on year, according to the data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 15, mainly due to the enhancement of safety among the domestic coal mines and excess coking capacity removal nationwide, according to market sources.
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The declines in China’s total fixed asset investment (FAI) and the funding in the property market slowed further by May, with the former down 6.3% on year over January-May as against the 10.3% on-year fall in the first four months, and the latter dipping 0.3% as against the 3.3% fall by April, according to the latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 15.
