CHINA MINING News

China reportedly tops U.S. as world`s largest crude oil importer

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: CRIENGLISH.com   Date: May 12, 2015

It is being reported that China has now surpassed the U.S. as the world`s largest importer of crude oil.

Official customs statistics for April show that China imported some 30 million tons of crude oil in April, a 13 percent jump from March.

The total would be equivalent roughly some 222 million barrels.

Which means, on an average scale, China imported 7.4 million barrels a day in April.

According to Financial Times, the import number in the U.S. stood at 7.2 million barrels a day.

The gain for Chinese imports contrasted with China`s exports of crude oil, which fell 41% during April.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

World`s largest oil trade show sees more Chinese presence

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: May 05, 2015

The world`s largest oil and natural gas trade show, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), kicked off in the U.S. energy hub of Houston on Monday with a visible presence of emerging Chinese companies.

The annual event, a conference and exhibition, was unveiled Monday morning in the cavernous complex of NRG Park near downtown Houston. Thousands of professionals from around the world braved the Texas heat to attend the industry gala.

The show has apparently felt the pinch from the plunging oil prices as quite a few OTC veterans told Xinhua they saw less visitors and exhibitors coming this year.

OTC Chairman Ed Stokes, however, remained optimistic, saying though he did not have the attendance number right now but this year`s exhibition floors are the largest ever -- enough to cover around 12 American football fields.

"The drop in oil price may have some impact (on OTC), but it doesn`t affect the quality of the programs we have. The people here to speak are top class and the equipment and technologies on display are top notch," Stokes said.

Stokes noticed the increasing number of Chinese companies coming to the show. Among some 2,700 exhibitors, about one tenth are from China.

"We have more than 130 countries represented here. China is the second largest economy in the world and also a big player in oil industry," said Stokes. "So it`s very important for Chinese companies to be here to advertise themselves and network with others."

Cao Minghui, an operation director with Sinopec Oilfield Services Corporation, admitted to Xinhua that as a latecomer in the industry, China still lags behind in many areas, especially in core technologies, but "we boast some leading stuff too."

"We are here to show our strength," Cao said while pointing to several simulated models of rig platforms, "we are eager to expand our overseas market."

Yang Yun, executive vice president of China Offshore Oil Engineering Co., was more ambitious. "During previous years, we were here more to learn from others, but this year we are more focused on marketing our own products and landing overseas clients," he said.

The four-day-long show includes exhibitions, panel discussions by high-profile speakers and technical sessions. Started in 1969, it showcases leading-edge technology for offshore drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

China to become world`s second-largest shale gas producer by 2035: BP

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: April 29, 2015

China will become the world`s second-largest shale gas producer by 2035, behind only North America, a report by energy giant British Petroleum (BP) predicted on Tuesday.

From 2025 to 2035, China`s shale gas output will grow by an average of 33 percent every year. By 2035, China and the United States will provide some 85 percent of global shale gas output, according to the report.

BP`s group chief economist Spencer Dale attributed the explosive growth to China`s rich shale gas resources, government policy support to exploration, and China`s current achievements in shale gas development.

Exploration of shale gas, an unconventional source of natural gas, has gathered pace in China as the government promotes the use of clean energy, but high exploration costs and sophisticated technological requirements have substantially restrained the sector`s growth.

Whether China can bring in more private capital to the industry is the key for future development, Dale said.

The report also forecast that China will overtake the United States as the largest oil consumer around 2030.

By 2035, China`s dependence rates on imports of oil and natural gas will rise to 75 percent and 40 percent, from the current 60 percent and 30 percent, respectively, making China the world`s biggest energy importer, according to the report.

The share of coal in China`s energy mix will fall to 51 percent from the current 68 percent by 2035. Natural gas will take up 12 percent and oil 18 percent, said the report.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

China to adjust resource tax and fees

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: April 29, 2015

China will reform the resource tax of several natural resources and cut unnecessary fees starting from May, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

Resource taxes of rare earth, tungsten and molybdenum will be levied according to price instead of quantity. Reasonable tax rates will be worked out with no more tax burdens on enterprises.

Meanwhile, the central government will exempt mineral resources compensation fees, and ban illegal charges on the three resources by local governments below the provincial level.

The three resources will also be exempt from export tariffs from May, the Ministry of Finance announced last Thursday.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

Iron ore mine support in 2015

Source: www.chinamining.org   Citation: Xinhua   Date: April 27, 2015

China will see less iron ore mine closures in 2015 thanks to government support to the industry, which has been suffering from low prices, global rating agency Fitch said Friday.

The domestic iron ore market faces high smelting costs and insufficient production. A slew of mines were forced to close as a result of the price drop of iron ore in 2014, which increased China`s dependence on imported iron ores. Now only about 60 percent of iron ore firms are in production.

Support from the government will provide a lifeline to keep domestic supply in the market longer, Fitch said.

Resource tax on domestic iron ore producers will be reduced to 40 percent from 80 percent as of May, the State Council announced earlier this month.

Fitch expects more subsidies will be offered to support iron ore miners.

Data from the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) shows that a record high of 933 million metric tonnes of iron ore was imported in 2014, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier. About 78.5 percent of iron ore was imported last year.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

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: m.balanzskin.com.

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: m.balanzskin.com.