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Reuters – Iron ore outlook is finely balanced as supply picks up, China demand holds up
by Clyde Russell
The price of iron ore is increasingly poised between a recovery in supply from exporters and still-robust demand from top importer China on the back on stimulus spending driving steel consumption.
The return of supply, particularly from number two shipper Brazil, would in normal circumstances be a bearish indicator. But if 2020 has shown one thing, it’s that it’s a mistake to underestimate the impact of Beijing’s efforts to boost the economy in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus.
The spot price of benchmark 62 percent iron ore for delivery to north China, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, closed at $123.05 on Sept. 30, just ahead of a Chinese holiday week.
While this is down from the peak so far this year of $130.55 a tonne, hit on Sept. 9, it also represents a surge from the recent low of $114.45 on Sept. 23.
Iron ore is up 35% from the end of last year, and has been above $100 a tonne since late May, apart from a brief dip below in early June.
While the economic lockdowns imposed in China in the first quarter of the year to combat the spread of the coronavirus did hit prices, since then the trend has been largely a one-way rally.
Part of the story was worries over exports from Brazil, and to a lesser extent from number three exporter South Africa, given that both these countries were hit hard by the coronavirus.
However, there are signs that Brazil’s exports are recovering to pre-coronavirus levels, with Refinitiv vessel-tracking and port data showing shipments of 32.7 million tonnes in September.
The official data was even more bullish, showing exports of 37.86 million tonnes in September, up 18.7% from the same month a year earlier.
The Refinitiv data showed September shipments slightly below August’s 35.4 million tonnes, but well up from January’s 20.8 million, 21.3 million in February and 22.9 million in March.
Link here to view the Reuters article
Reuters – Dalian iron ore hits 4-week high as shipments from big miners drop
Dalian iron ore hits 4-week high as shipments from big miners drop
* Iron ore futures close up 1.2%
* Spot 62% iron ore rose to $84.5 per tonne on Monday
* Iron ore imports dip in March, but demand seen resilient (Adds details and analyst comment; updates with closing prices)
BEIJING, April 14 (Reuters) – Benchmark iron ore futures in China closed at a four-week high on Tuesday, as lower shipments from big miners in Australia and Brazil stoked concerns over the steelmaking ingredient’s supply amid resilient demand in the country.
Iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil fell by 3.17 million tonnes last week to 19.81 million tonnes, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
Fresh data released by China’s customs administration showed its iron ore imports in the first quarter rose 1.3% to 262.7 million tonnes.
“Stronger steel production and limited supply disruptions in Australia and Brazil have kept the iron ore imports at elevated levels,” ANZ Research wrote in a note.
The most traded September contract iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended up 1.2% at 607 yuan ($86.23) a tonne, its highest level since March 18. It was up 1.7% earlier during the day.
Construction rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange , for October delivery, edged down 0.1% to 3,384 yuan a tonne.
Hot-rolled coil fell 0.4% to 3,200 yuan per tonne.
China’s steel products exports rose 2.4% in March compared with a year earlier, but saw its total shipments dropped 16% in the first quarter hurt by sluggish overseas demand.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Other steelmaking ingredients were mixed, with Dalian coking coal inching up 0.1% to 1,131 yuan per tonne, while Dalian coke falling 0.2% to 1,731 yuan per tonne.
* June contract of stainless steel futures rose 1.8% to 12,805 yuan per tonne.
* Spot prices for iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China rose by $0.2 to $84.5 a tonne on Monday.
* More than 1.8 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 115,242 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
* The plunge in China’s exports and imports eased in March as factories resumed production, but shipments are set to shrink sharply over coming months as the coronavirus crisis shuts down many economies and puts the brakes on a near-term recovery.
* The European Commission has imposed excessive provisional anti-dumping duties on some Chinese stainless steel products, China’s steel industry association said on Monday.
Link to Reuters here
China iron ore futures surge as mills restock raw materials – Reuters
BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) – Iron ore futures in China jumped on Thursday on restocking demand as steel inventories dropped again this week, while a recovery in profits at mills further lifted purchases of the steelmaking ingredient.
The most-traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, closed up 3.3% at 598 yuan ($84.64) per tonne. It surged 3.8% earlier in the day.
The May futures contract, meanwhile, gained as much as 3.9% to 668 yuan per tonne, the most in two weeks.
The rise in the September contract came as the backwardation in prices narrowed on recovering profits at steel mills, according to Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst with Jinrui Futures.
The rebar profit margin in north China touched 500 yuan per tonne, as of April 8, compared with a plunge to as low as 34 yuan per tonne last month, according to Jinrui Futures.
“The price for the May contract jumped closer to the spot price as it’s due for delivery soon,” said Zhuo, noting the spot price of iron ore at around 674 yuan per tonne.
Furthermore, another weekly drop in steel inventories held by traders also fuelled demand for steel products and raw materials.
Steel stocks in China fell 4.6% on the week to 22.4 million tonnes as of Thursday, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
China iron ore extends gains on stimulus hopes, falling Brazil exports
(Reuters) – China’s iron ore futures rose on Tuesday along with other ferrous derivatives amid hopes of stimulus support for the global economy facing recession due to a coronavirus outbreak.
Iron ore prices also got a boost after major supplier Brazil reported a 17.5% month-on-month decline in exports of the steelmaking raw material in February.
The Dalian Commodity Exchange’s most-traded iron ore contract climbed as much as 4.2% to 666 yuan ($95.55) a tonne, adding to Monday’s 3.6% gain. Futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 1.8% to $87.53 yuan.
Iron ore rebounded on Monday from a four-session sell-off on expectations of further government support for the paralysed Chinese economy, and after industry data showed stockpiles at the country’s ports fell further.
“After China’s manufacturing PMI fell to its lowest ever level, expectations that the Chinese government would step in with an aggressive stimulus package rose strongly,” said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Sydney.
China recorded its sharpest contraction in factory activity in February, triggered by the coronavirus epidemic.
An aggressive fiscal and monetary policy support from the government could fuel a recovery in domestic steel demand that has been weakened by a prolonged Lunar New Year break and restrictions due to the epidemic.
Global stimulus measures should also benefit China, which accounts for more than half of the world’s steel output.
Finance ministers from G7 are expected to hold a conference call on Tuesday, sources said, to discuss measures to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
“The chorus of central banks saying that they ‘are monitoring the situation closely and stand ready to blah, blah, blah…’ is growing. Markets seem to be enjoying the rhetoric,” said Robert Carnell, head of research, Asia Pacific, at ING.
Link here for full article
Poland’s JSW eyes controlling stake in Prairie Mining – CEO
WARSAW, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Poland’s JSW is interested in taking over Australia’s Prairie
Mining, Chief Executive Daniel Ozon confirmed on Wednesday.
Sources told Reuters in September that JSW, the European Union’s biggest coking coal miner, wanted a controlling stake in Prairie Mining.
“We are now working on internal approvals so that we could 
start a final stage of talks. We would like to build such a structure that we take control over Prairie Mining,” Ozon told reporters.
Prairie Mining #PDZ: Poland’s JSW seeks tighter grip on coking coal with possible Prairie bid – Via Reuters
Via Reuters – Agnieszka Barteczko, Barbara Lewis
WARSAW/LONDON (Reuters) – Poland’s JSW (JSW.WA) is considering a bid for control of Prairie Mining (PDZ.AX) to tighten its grip as the EU’s biggest coking coal miner, two sources familiar with the situation said.
State-run JSW and Australia’s Prairie, which is developing mines in Poland, have been in cooperation talks for much of this year but JSW wants control, according to the sources.
“JSW is considering a takeover of Prairie,” a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Another person, who also could not be identified, also said he expected a takeover bid.
Poland’s prime minister and energy ministry have provisionally approved the plan, one source said.
The state-run company’s plan comes as the country faces nationwide local elections in October and reflects the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s pledge to create jobs. The party also wants strategic assets returned to state ownership.
Prairie Mining has been developing coking coal at the Jan Karski mine in southeast Poland and the Debiensko mine in Silesia, Poland’s industrial heartland in the south.
A JSW spokeswoman declined to comment on the takeover plan but said the miner was assessing Prairie’s projects and may release more information by mid-September.
Prairie Mining declined to comment.
Highly polluting thermal coal, used to generate power, is increasingly difficult to mine in Europe as banks refuse to fund it. Coking coal, used in steel-making, is considered to have a better future.
“If Poland develops quickly, then we will need more steel and coking coal. In the case of JSW, it is obvious that the company is looking for more deposits,” Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski said this week.
The energy ministry was not available for immediate comment on the JSW takeover plan.
A handful of foreign investors are keen on mining Poland’s coking coal.
The sources said they expected the Polish government to reject a project by private British firm Tamar Resources, which wants to mine coking coal at a Silesian mine previously operated by JSW as a thermal coal mine
Tamar CEO George Rogers told Reuters he will keep fighting to run the project, which he said would provide at least 2,000 jobs.
The Solidarity trade union has asked the government to hold a tender seeking an investor to revive the mine and the union will back whoever wins, said Dominik Kolorz, head of the union’s Silesian branch.
“If Tamar wins, we would back Tamar,” he said, adding the ministry had yet to reply to the request for a tender.
Additional reporting by Wojciech Zurawski; editing by Jason Neely
New CERN particle accelerator may help both doctors and art sleuths – Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO)
A new particle accelerator unveiled at CERN, the European physics research center, is expected to spawn portable accelerators that could help doctors treat cancer patients and experts analyze artwork.
CERN is gradually upgrading its hardware to get more data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), its 27-km (17-mile) circular accelerator that smashes protons together at almost the speed of light to probe basic questions about the universe. Its latest upgrade, resembling a 90-metre oil pipeline hooked up to a life support machine, replaces the 39-year-old injector that produces the flow of particles for the LHC.
Standing by the new Linac 4 machine, which cost 93 million Swiss francs ($93 million) and took 10 years to build, project leader Maurizio Vretenar said CERN had miniaturized the technology and saw many potential uses.
“It’s a brave new world of applications,” he told Reuters in Linac 4’s tunnel 12 meters under Geneva.
CERN has already built a version to treat tumors with particle beams and licensed the patent to ADAM, a CERN spin-off owned by Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO).
Another medical use is to create isotopes for diagnosing cancers. Since they decay rapidly, they normally have to be rushed to patients just in time to be used.
“With our portable technology they could be made inside the hospital already,” Vretenar said.
His next goal is a one-metre prototype weighing about 100 kgs, with which museums could analyze paintings and jewelry.
Full story here
BP to go ahead with $8 billion Indonesia LNG project expansion
BP to go ahead with $8 billion Indonesia LNG project expansion – Andalas Energy & Power (ADL
by Fergus Jensen; editing by Himani Sarkar and Jason Neely
BP (BP.) gained final investment approval to an $8 billion (6.01 billion pound) expansion of the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Indonesia on Friday, clearing the way for a third train to start operations in 2020.
BP is going forward with expansion of Tangguh despite announcing it would rein back on spending this year due to weak oil prices. It also approved investment on an Egyptian gas field last week.
The investment will boost annual LNG production capacity at the Tangguh project in Indonesia’s West Papua province by 50 percent to 11.4 million tonnes.
Three-quarters of the gas from the new Train 3 will be supplied to Indonesian power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara [PLNEG.UL], BP said. The rest will go to Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co.
Officials at Indonesia’s upstream energy regulator SKKMigas said the project was worth $8 billion, although BP declined to confirm that figure.
“We are finalising details with potential lenders and at this point I’m not able to disclose who they are,” Christina Verchere, BP regional president Asia Pacific, told reporters.
In May BP cut its budget for the project to $8-10 billion from $12 billion.
“This final investment decision was made after confirmation with Tangguh production-sharing contractors and is based on commercial considerations,” said Indonesian energy minister Sudirman Said.
Full Reuters article here