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Explosion in China disrupts oil, iron ore shipments at world’s 10th largest port in Tianjin – by Erika Kinetz (Associated Press/Global News – August 13, 2015)

http://globalnews.ca/news/

SHANGHAI – Explosions that sent huge fireballs through China’s Tianjin port have disrupted the flow of cars, oil, iron ore and other items through the world’s 10th largest port.

The blast sent shipping containers tumbling into one another, leaving them in bent, charred piles. Rows of new cars, lined up on vast lots for distribution across China, were reduced to blackened carcasses.

Ships carrying oil and “hazardous products” were barred from the port Thursday, the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration said on its official microblog. It also said vessels were not allowed to enter the central port zone, which is near the blast site.

Tianjin is the 10th largest port in the world by container volume, according to the World Shipping Council, moving more containers than the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Los Angeles. It handles vast quantities of metal ore, coal, steel, cars and crude oil.

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said the blast had disrupted iron ore shipments and port operations, but had not damaged any iron ore at the port. “We are working with our customers to minimize any potential impact,” it said in a statement Thursday.

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Glencore and BHP Fall to Lowest in Years as Miners Shunned – by Jesse Riseborough and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. shares fell to the lowest in at least four years as investors continued to shun mining companies on concern Chinese demand for commodities is waning.

The FTSE 350 Mining Index of 14 producers fell for a second day to the lowest since March 2009. BHP, the world’s biggest miner, dropped to a six-year low while Glencore slid as much as 7 percent to the lowest since it started trading in 2011.

Commodity prices are near a 13-year low and this year’s 18 percent plunge in the Bloomberg World Mining Index wiped almost $200 billion off the value of the biggest producers. China, the biggest raw-materials user, this week devalued its currency in a move that supports exports and makes imports more expensive. That further spooked investors already concerned that consumption is falling as the country’s economy expands at the slowest pace in a quarter of a century.

“This is coming at a time when the market is capitulating anyway,” Marc Elliott, an analyst at Investec Plc in London, said by phone, referring to the weakening yuan.

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COLUMN-China commodity imports will have to do more than just “hold up” – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 11, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 11 (Reuters) – China’s imports of major commodities are holding up well, according to market consensus, but that in itself is quite concerning for the overall state of the world’s second-biggest economy.

Commodities are often viewed as the canary in the coal mine, with falling demand a sign of economic troubles ahead. Likewise, consumption of natural resources should pick up ahead of a more general recovery.

The fact commodity imports haven’t weakened does allow some of the more alarmist views of China’s economy to be discounted.

But equally, the absence of a resurgence in imports means any significant, infrastructure-led recovery is not yet on the horizon, even if it is coming, as is the widely-held conviction.

“July commodity imports held up,” was how Barclays headlined a report on China’s trade data, while London-based consultancy Capital Economics said, “Commodity imports hold up well.”

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COLUMN-No breaks for coal miners from China, India imports – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – August 10, 2015)

http://uk.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 10 (Reuters) – It seems coal miners and traders just can’t catch a break, with a rebound in China’s imports being tempered by early signs of a turning point in India’s import growth.

The main problem for coal exporters such as Australia, Indonesia and South Africa is that China’s surge in imports in July is unlikely to be sustained, while India’s decline may well be the start of a longer-lasting trend.

China, the world’s biggest producer and importer of coal, brought in 21.26 million tonnes in July, up 28.1 percent from June’s 16.6 million and the highest in eight months, according to customs data released Aug. 8.

However, imports are down 7.7 percent on a year earlier and down 33.7 percent for the first seven months of 2015, making July’s month-on-month result an outlier in a overall weakening trend.

It’s also likely that July’s strength will remain an exception, rather than herald the reversal of the existing trend.

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Carmichael mine: End green sabotage of coal, says Tony Abbott – by Jared Owens and Dennis Shanahan (The Australian – August 7, 2015)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Bill Shorten has challenged Tony Abbott to propose “sensible” reforms to environmental laws, rather than “attacking the court system” for overturning the proposed Queensland Carmichael mega coalmine.

The Opposition Leader today accused Mr Abbott of “second-guessing our judges” by proposing a new environmental standard that “near enough is good enough”.

“If there’s a problem with the way the law is formed then we go back and debate it in parliament, but Mr Abbott seems to be creating a new test for environmental protection in this country that near enough is good enough – well it’s not,” Mr Shorten said.

“If Mr Abbott doesn’t like the law … he can always sit down with Labor and talk about sensible amendments which may need to be made … rather than just attacking the court system.”

Mr Abbott today touted the environmental benefits of Australian coal, describing it as “invariably … much better for the environment than the alternative”.

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New Caledonia mining trucks protest over nickel export ban to China – by Cecile Lefort (Reuters U.S. – August 6, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – Aug 7 Dozens of mining trucks on Friday took to the streets of Noumea, capital of the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, to protest the government’s ban on some nickel exports to China.

Last week, the heads of the national and local governments along with mining executives vetoed exports of nickel laterites to China because of New Caledonia’s longstanding supply agreements with Australia.

“The opening to China is against the mining strategy established in 2009 to maintain export volumes to traditional clients of New Caledonia,” Philippe Germain, president of New Caledonia said in a statement.

Germain also said exports to China were unpredictable and blamed the Asian giant for the substantial fall in nickel prices. Nickel prices hit a six-year low in July and are down 27 percent this year, largely on slowing demand.

The veto angered a large number of truckers who subcontract for mines such as Société Minière du Sud Pacifique SA (SMSP), Ballande Group and Gemini, saying the ban will force many of them to shut down in an already difficult environment with falling export volumes.

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Philippine nickel miners confident production won’t drop – by Anne Lu (International Business Times – August 06 2015)

http://www.ibtimes.com.au/

While the agricultural sector in the Philippines dread the looming El Niño phenomenon that could introduce widespread dryness across the country, the mining segment see it as a “blessing.”

“The impact of El Niño on our operations is going to be positive. The dry weather means our mines can continue to be productive in October or November when the season of heavy rains usually starts.” Nickel Asia Corporation CFO Emmanuel L. Samson told Business World.

During wet season, metal producers are forced to suspend field operations for safety and technical reasons, as it would be difficult to get ore underground when the earth is wet and damp. Typically, the rainy season stretches from October to the second quarter of the following year, a long period when most mining operations are recording average productivity levels.

Nickel Asia, which is also partly owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining, has projected an ore export volume of more than 19 million wet metric tonnes (WMT) for 2015. The company produced only 17.9 million WMT last year.

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Centerra continues talks with Kyrgyzstan despite arrest of former CEO – by Seres Lu and Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – August 5, 2015)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Toronto-based Centerra Gold Inc. says it remains in talks with the government of Kyrgyzstan on the future of the company’s massive Kumtor gold mine in the mountains of the former Soviet republic, despite word that its former chief executive officer has been arrested on corruption allegations.

“We are committed to concluding these discussions,” John Pearson, Centerra’s vice-president of investor relations, said Tuesday, a day after the company disclosed that former president and CEO Leonard Homeniuk was detained in Bulgaria at the request of the Kyrgyzstani government.

Mr. Homeniuk, a Canadian mining executive who spent 16 years at the helm of the company as it developed the mine in Kyrgyzstan, retired in 2008. In a statement released on Monday, the company said he was picked up by Bulgarian authorities while on a family vacation. His photo was on Interpol’s website, saying he was wanted by Kyrgyzstani officials for “involvement in corruption.”

Mr. Homeniuk, 68, is now a director of Polymetal International PLC, a London- and Moscow-listed Russian gold and silver miner with operations in Russia and Kazakhstan. He is also listed as the founder and CEO of a private company, Polygon Gold, involved in Russian mining ventures.

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COLUMN-Iron ore’s “bull market” shows rise of financial trading – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 3, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 3 (Reuters) – One of the more fanciful notions from the recent rally in iron ore prices is that the steel-making ingredient is now back in a bull market.

Asian spot iron ore .IO62-CNI=SI does meet the technical definition of being in a bull market, having gained 25.4 percent between its record low of $44.10 a tonne on July 8 and the close of $55.30 on July 29.

Markets are said to be in a bull phase when the rally exceeds 20 percent, likewise they are in a bear period when the decline is greater than 20 percent.

Traders are more likely to talk about dead cat bounces than bull runs where iron ore is concerned, and the fact remains that despite the price rally, iron ore remains down 25.7 percent so far this year and is barely a quarter of what it was at its all-time high in early 2011.

The recent gain in spot prices is actually the second technical bull market already this year, following the 40 percent jump between the low of $46.70 a tonne on April 2 and the peak of $65.40 on June 11.

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UPDATE 2-India’s Vedanta looks to restart Goa mines by October – by Aman Shah (Reuters U.S. – July 29, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/article

MUMBAI, July 29 (Reuters) – India’s Vedanta Ltd said on Wednesday it expected to restart iron ore mining by October in top exporting Goa province and that talks were continuing with regulators for merging with its cash-rich unit Cairn India.

The mining and energy group, which has been hit by a slump in crude prices and mining bans in key producing states, also posted a consolidated net profit of 8.66 billion rupees ($135.61 million) for its fiscal first quarter to June 30.

That compared with a profit of 3.76 billion rupees in the same period last year, which was hurt by a one-time charge of 21.28 billion rupees. Excluding the impact of one-off charge, the company’s first-quarter profit was 35.4 percent lower than a year earlier.

Chief Executive Tom Albanese said on a conference call Vedanta was hoping to get approvals as early as next month to restart a few mines in Goa and was positioned to restart mining at a rate of 5.5 million tonnes a year.

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China air quality crackdown set to hurt iron ore demand – by Michael Roddan (The Australian – July 28, 2015)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

The troubles for the iron ore price are set to continue, with a Beijing crackdown on air pollution in September expected to reduce demand from the region’s steel mills.

Meanwhile, Australian exports of the commodity are set to rebound from a sluggish July, positioning the price of Australia’s biggest export for a renewed plunge, after only recently bouncing from a decade-low.

The Chinese government is likely to limit steel production in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing and major iron ore port Tianjin, in a bid to ensure higher air quality during World War II commemorations in September, Macquarie Wealth Management says in a research note.

The clear-sky days will be similar to the “APEC Blue” of last November, when the government clamped down on emissions during the 26th annual gathering of Asia Pacific leaders in Beijing.

“Steel mills near Beijing, particularly those in Hebei province, will probably be forced to shut down production again,” Macquarie said in a research note. “This clearly spells trouble for iron ore prices.”

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Commodities in free fall: miners bracing for $192bn in asset pain – by Barry FitzGerald (The Australian – July 27, 2015)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Persistent weakness in already clapped out commodity prices is triggering a new round of asset value writedowns on top of the $US140 billion ($192bn) notched up by the global mining industry since 2011.

The new round is not expected to match the $US58bn impairment hit the global industry took in 2013 when it became clear that the decade-long China-led boom in prices and demand was over.

But fears that renewed commodity price weakness as 2015 has unfolded is structural, and will persist for the foreseeable ­future, has again put asset values under the pump.

Aluminium, coal, nickel and iron ore have retreated sharply from 2014’s already battered levels, prompting a new hard-nosed assessment of whether long-term commodity price assumptions across the industry are still valid.

Aluminium has been hit particularly hard. It is down 30 per cent on its 2014 December half average of $US2378 a tonne at $US1642.

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The dangerous world of Pakistan’s gem trade – by Adnan R. Khan (MACLEAN’S Magazine – May 24, 2014)


http://www.macleans.ca/

Inside the world’s oldest gem market in Pakistan, home to terrorist financiers and drug smugglers

“Twenty-thousand dollars.” That’s how much Jalil says the blood-red ruby he is holding is worth. “It’s not my best,” says the 47-year-old gem trader. “My best pieces I only show to people holding a bag of cash.” A hush descends over the small group of men huddled around a lamp in Jalil’s shop.

The ruby, three near-flawless carats, glimmers with a surreal clarity. Other gemstones lie scattered on crisp white sheets of paper—sapphires from Kashmir, emeralds from Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, citrine and aquamarine—making the dark, windowless office feel like a cave of treasures.

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Lacking proof, Mitsubishi unwilling to apologize to Canadian POWs [Mine slave labour] – by Iain Marlow (Globe and Mail – July 24, 2015)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

On Christmas morning, 1944, 23-year-old Corporal George Peterson of the Winnipeg Grenadiers was told by his Japanese guards that he wouldn’t have to go down the Mitsubishi-owned coal mine that day.

Mr. Peterson, who had already spent three grueling years as a prisoner of war, said it looked as though the POWs were about to get a break from the slave-like working conditions. The guards first dragged out a fir tree, then brought out extra food for the famished prisoners, including riceballs and beer.

“They lined us up behind the table and took a picture,” says Mr. Peterson, now 94. But then “they said we could go back down the mine. … When we came up from the mine at about 5 p.m., the guards were laughing at us, saying the food was pretty good. We laughed right back, because we were trying not to let them know how much it hurt.”

Nearly 70 years after the end of the Second World War, Mitsubishi Materials Corp. has begun to issue historic apologies to POWs – but it has not yet apologized to Canadians.

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COLUMN-China’s rising commodity exports changing nature of trade – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – July 23, 2015)

http://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 23 (Reuters) – The world is used to seeing China as an importer of raw materials and an exporter of manufactured goods, but a change is occurring that has global implications for commodities.

While China is still the world’s biggest importer of commodities, the nature of its exports are changing.

The big growth in exports this year has been in semi-finished products, most of which fit into the broad definition of commodities. While not raw materials, these include steel, aluminium products and refined fuels.

What is happening in China is that as the country has overbuilt capacity in heavy industries, it is now being forced by economics to seek export markets for intermediate commodities that had previously been consumed at home.

The old dynamic, where Chinese demand for raw materials forced up commodity prices while Chinese exports led to lower prices for manufactured goods, is breaking down.

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