Monthly Archives: September 2018

Zhou Xiaochuan talks about Sino-US trade war: tariffs have little direct impact, and market confidence has far-reaching effects.

Zhou Xiaochuan, the former governor of the People’s Bank of China, said that if there is a full-scale trade war between China and the United States, even if the direct impact on the economy is small, market sentiment changes may also hit China.

Zhou Xiaochuan, who just retired this year, said that the tariff imposed by the United States on Chinese goods is not very important in terms of economic scale. Despite this, the impact on market confidence may have an impact.

“Everyone may get nervous,” Zhou Xiaochuan said in an interview with Bloomberg Lacqua. “No one really understands. Suddenly a trade war broke out. In terms of stock market investment, everyone may change their minds.”

He said that this kind of behavior is far more profound than the actual impact on the economy. Zhou Xiaochuan was interviewed at the Amboise Forum in Cernobbio, Italy.

At the time of the trade war, China has already faced a policy-induced economic slowdown. This prompted leaders to relax their leveraged program in case of future economic downside risks.

“Minsky moment”

Zhou Xiaochuan warned in October last year that China should guard against the threat of “Minsky moment”, that is, the risk of sudden collapse of asset value. The concept is named after Heyman Minsky, who believes that a long-term bull market could lead to a major collapse. China’s renminbi has fallen more than 6% since mid-June, making it the worst performing currency in Asia; China’s stock market has entered a bear market.

Zhou Xiaochuan said on Friday that it needs to be vigilant. China’s top priority is to avoid asset bubbles. “We should keep the currency floating with market supply and demand and avoid any form of distortion,” he added.

He said that globally, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of financial assets, and stressed that the global monetary authorities have long maintained the risk of policy easing after the financial crisis.

“This should be a relatively short-term measure,” he said. “If it lasts too long, it is very dangerous.”

Benzalkonium chloride

Mexican mining group may restart San Martin zinc copper mine early next year

A senior government official revealed in an interview that the Mexican mining group may restart the San Martin mine in early 2019, the largest underground mine in Mexico, which was discontinued more than a decade ago due to strikes by workers.

Carlos Barcena, Minister of Economy of Zacatecas, where the mine is located, said that the Mexican mining group has started mine repair work and is expected to be completed and put into production in the first quarter of 2019.

A company insider familiar with the situation confirmed the plan but was not allowed to be interviewed. The company spokesperson declined to comment.

The San Martin mine was discontinued in July 2007 due to labor conflicts with the National Miners Union (SNTMMSRM) under Napoleon Gomez, and Napoleon Gomez is currently serving as a senator. Before the shutdown, the mine produced about 8,000 tons of copper and 19,000 tons of zinc in 2005.

Sodium Molybdate

Earlier this year, a group of workers who participated in the strike agreed to change their demands by the National Union of Independent Alliances in order to resolve the protracted conflict. Last week, at the request of the workers of the National Union of Independent Alliances, the government responsible for resolving labor disputes decided to end the strike.

But last Thursday, a spokesperson for the National Miners Union (SNTMMSRM) said that the real miners are still on strike and the coalition will file a lawsuit on the decision to end the strike.

Monex analysts said the project restarted to increase the Mexican mining group’s annual sales by 1%.

Global polyethylene market supply will remain tight this year and next year

BobPatel, chief executive of Lyondell Basel, has predicted that the global polyethylene (PE) market will remain tight this year and next.

Patel said in the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call: “Last year, our global ethylene and polyethylene capacity utilization rate is close to full load. If we look at the supply and demand changes in 2017-2018, we will find that supply growth exceeds The proportion of demand growth is less than 1%. For high-density polyethylene (HDPE), the demand growth rate in 2018 will exceed the supply growth rate by about 1.5%. HDPE accounts for approximately 70% of the PE production of Leandersale.

Pate expects that global PE supply and demand growth will be close to equilibrium in 2019, while HDPE demand growth will once again exceed supply growth. “If the capacity utilization rate drops by 1% by the end of this year, in my opinion, we are still in a very tight market. There will not be too much capacity to put into production in the next few years,” he added.

Benzalkonium chloride

US crude oil production rose to the highest level in history

According to a Reuters report in New York, the US Energy Information Administration said in a two monthly report released on Friday that US crude oil production increased by 231,000 barrels per day, an increase of 2%, reaching a record of 10.674 million barrels per day in June.

The agency also raised its estimate for May by 1,000 barrels per day to 10.4 million barrels per day.

US crude oil production has been growing and is close to Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two largest oil producers. According to a Reuters survey, Saudi Arabia’s daily production in August was 10.5 million barrels, and Russia’s daily production in July was 11.2 million barrels. It is expected to maintain this level in August.

This increase reflects the increase in production in Texas, where production increased by 165,000 barrels per day to 4.4 million barrels per day, an increase of 3.9%. Production in the Gulf of Mexico also rose, rising by 154,000 barrels per day to 1.7 million barrels per day, an increase of 10.3%.

Exports of crude oil and refined products increased from a month ago. Crude oil exports rose nearly 200,000 barrels per day this month, setting a new record of 2.2 million barrels per day, more than double the amount in June last year.

Benzalkonium chloride

Ammonium sulfate: multiple positives to push up the market

Export increased coke production to reduce downstream fertilizer

After the consolidation in January, the domestic ammonium sulfate market reappeared in the late August. Last week, the domestic mainstream transaction price was 520~690 yuan (ton price, the same below), and the weekly increase was about 3%. Recently, the prices of enterprises in various places have been firm, and some regions have exceeded 700 yuan, showing a steady trend.

Shandong trader Zhang Yi said that most of the recent production enterprise inventory has been transferred to traders’ warehouses or ports, and coal chemical enterprises in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia have even reached zero inventory, which laid the foundation for the steady rise of ammonium sulfate.

Export orders drive demand

China Chemical News reporter learned from the port importers and exporters that due to tight supply in northwestern Europe and the small supply of Russia and Belarus in September, the international ammonium sulphate orders began to increase in mid-to-late August, driving the market price to rise steadily.

It is understood that the recent closure of the SECO Fertilisants plant in France has reduced the capacity of 100,000 tons/year of ammonium sulphate; due to production problems in many local factories, the supply of granular ammonium sulphate in northwestern Europe has become increasingly tight; Brazil’s willingness to find goods has increased due to insufficient local supply. The new demand for coking ammonium sulfate in northern China appears. It is planned to find 100,000 tons of goods from China from September to October, and the price is higher than the domestic market.

This round of international orders has increased, allowing many exporters to increase their efforts to purchase inventories, further stimulating domestic supply and the transaction price has also increased. This has brought about a new round of growth in the long-stayed export market, providing a basis for the future of ammonium sulfate.

Environmental protection boost production pre-reduction

According to the person in charge of Henan Xuchang Changsheng Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., the second round of environmental protection inspectors continued to deepen. In August, the inspection team settled in Henan and Shanxi, and the operating rate of local coke enterprises continued to decline. In Jiangsu, in late August, the coking enterprises in Xuzhou were once again suspended from production, and the driving time was not fixed, resulting in a reduction in the supply of coking ammonium sulfate and a steady increase in prices. In Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, most coal chemical companies were in an overhaul state in August, further reducing social supply. For example, when the Inner Mongolia Datang Coal Gas Company shut down and repaired in late August, ammonium sulfate was cleared, which became one of the reasons for the promotion.

Benzalkonium chloride

Meng Jianjie, manager of Zhengzhou Dayou Gas Marketing Department, said that the recent use of natural gas in many coal-fired boilers in various places has led to further reduction of ammonium sulfate produced by desulfurization of coal-fired boilers. It is expected that this reduction in production will continue.

Autumn stocking starts early

Feedback from Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places indicates that in August, due to the reduction in supply, traders prepared for the fall preparation in advance. The increase in port demand, the reduction of production by environmentally-friendly coke enterprises and the supply of fertilizer in autumn have created a source of competition, which has caused traders to worry about tight supply and prepare for storage in advance. Recently, the ammonium sulfate of mass production enterprises has rapidly flowed to the stocks of traders, resulting in a decrease in social circulation, and it is impossible to rule out the possibility of speculation in the market.

According to Wang Liwen, business manager of Xinjiang Xintian Coal-to-Gas Co., Ltd., due to transportation reasons, most of the ammonium sulfate produced by the company is digested locally. Now it is basically out of stock, and even if it is in stock, it is difficult to transport it to the inland market. Affected by the overall market situation, the local ammonium sulfate price has steadily increased, and the current ex-factory price has reached more than 450 yuan.

Market participants believe that the recent depreciation of the renminbi will continue to favor the export market and form price support. However, environmental factors have also affected downstream compound fertilizer companies, resulting in no significant increase in demand for ammonium sulfate. Therefore, domestic exports and fertilizers are lagging behind, and whether there is a need to make up the surplus can continue to be uncertain. September is expected to be a key node in the trend of ammonium sulphate market, and should be focused on.

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