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China continues to produce more steel than the rest of the world, COMBINED

Ban China steel sale, US made Chinese steel workers poorer.
American poorer ? LOL it doesn't matter.
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China steel workers face turmoil

Hundreds of laid-off steelworkers gathered outside their former employer's office this week to protest at losing their jobs, victims of a global glut

Friday April 8 2016


In Summary
  • They are just the tip of the iceberg; major Chinese steel producers lost more than 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) last year, an industry association said Thursday, and Beijing has said it will shed 500,000 steel jobs in coming years.
AFP_PIC.jpg

By AFP

Hundreds of laid-off steelworkers gathered outside their former employer's office this week to protest at losing their jobs, victims of a global glut.

But the smokestacks nearby were not British; they are in China — the very place blamed by European politicians for the plunging prices and excess capacity threatening the industry worldwide.

As recriminations fly over the closure of the Port Talbot steelworks, the pain of redundancy is felt as keenly in the northern Chinese steel hub of Tangshan as it is in Wales.

"I have a daughter," said one man, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "I'm the main breadwinner in the family. What can I do in the future?"

He was among 4,000 people who workers say face unemployment after state-owned steel firm Guofeng halted work at one of its hulking production zones last week, citing "uncontrollable factors".

They are just the tip of the iceberg; major Chinese steel producers lost more than 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) last year, an industry association said Thursday, and Beijing has said it will shed 500,000 steel jobs in coming years.

The figure is more than the 328,000 people directly employed by steel companies in the entire EU.

For European and American politicians, China is the bete noire of the global steel industry.

How can their higher-wage economies compete with low-paying plants that churn out vast quantities of the metal, they ask, accusing Beijing of dumping — selling a product in foreign markets at below-cost price.

China's steel industry is huge.

National production grew sevenfold from 2000 to 2014 as domestic demand boomed from massive infrastructure investment in swelling cities, and as the government ploughed billions of dollars into heavy industry to counter the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis.

At the same time plants built by private investors expecting ever rising prices also went into operation.

By 2014, China was producing some 820 million tonnes a year — about half the world total and seven times more than the second biggest producer, Japan.
But domestic demand peaked the same year as China's building boom began to wane and growth slowed, analysts say, causing commodity prices to plummet.
World export prices for steel have fallen more than 70 percent from an all time high of $1,113 per tonne in July 2008 to just $321 last month, according to the website steelbenchmarker.com.
China can now produce about 1.2 billion tonnes of steel each year, but local demand is around 700 million tonnes, and companies have looked to foreign markets to make up the deficit, primarily in Asia.
"In 2015 China exported about 100 million tonnes of steel products," Cai Rang, chairman of the China Iron and Steel Research Institute Group told state media last month — around twice as much as two years previously.

The exports were "a relief for domestic capacity but a shock to the international market", he acknowledged.

That shockwave played out when India's Tata Steel announced last month it was selling the loss-making Port Talbot steelworks, with the possible loss of 4,000 employee positions and many more indirectly, triggering doom-laden warnings of worse to come for Europe's steel industry.

However, World Steel Association figures show that a tiny proportion — about six million tonnes in 2014 — of Chinese exports go to the EU, where some 100 million tonnes is traded between the bloc's countries.

But "because China's production is so large, even its small proportion of exports can influence countries abroad", said Kevin Bai, a market analyst at CRU Group.

Love our country

Many Chinese heavy industry giants, including in steel, are lumbering state-owned firms, riddled with inefficiencies but protected by authorities fearful of unrest.

Beijing this year vowed to eliminate 100 million to 150 million tonnes of capacity by 2020. It said the reforms would cost half a million jobs, but did not give a timeframe.

Ratings agency Fitch said this week that the plan "faces immense social and financial challenges".

Protests have already hit China's coal sector, which faces similar issues of overcapacity, inefficiency and an excess of supply over demand, and where the government says it will cut some 1.3 million jobs.

Industrial unrest is anathema to China's ruling Communist Party, and last month it clamped down on a protest which brought the city of Shuangyashan to a standstill, where miners said dozens had been detained.

Steelworkers in Tangshan fear a similar crackdown.

"Some people have been arrested," a 41-year-old Guofeng worker surnamed Shao told AFP. "The police have warned me, and said I'll be detained if I make a fuss."

Previous bouts of unemployment in China have been cushioned by a large agricultural sector to which migrant workers can return, but breakneck urbanisation has swallowed swathes of farmland over the last decade, and Shao said local workers "have no chance of going back to farming".

Guofeng refused to comment when contacted by AFP.

"In the factory we are told to love our country," said Shao. "But to see my child eating one meal a day while still growing, because food prices are so high — that's not acceptable".
 
Last edited:
Agreed with the quality part.
Ever stepped in the inside of a Chinese factory?
I've worked in China before. I'll share some insights with you.
Let's take an example of a simple cigarette lighter. Supposedly, a trader from india wants a lighter, he meets up with his Chinese counter part and tells him his requirement.
The Chinese shows him a ¥5 product. He says, "no, I want a cheaper one" (in order to maximize his profit). Then he is shown a ¥3 lighter. No, unsatisfied. He says, "make me a ¥0.3 lighter" (already laughing his way to the bank.) That's how things work in China. Don't believe me? Come over to China and ask someone who worked for the main boss and also his right hand man. Don't go asking any ordinary Chinese workers.
This is my first hand experience. What the client demands, we give them or we try to.
Now do you know why you sound so ignorant? I don't blame you.
Cheers!

In fact, Indian steel are better than Chinese steel. Go Bangalore!
You should shut your mouth when you dont know shit!
Btw, it's called, "Bengaluru" not "Bangalore".
 
"Everything Is Plunging" - China Commodity Carnage Continues

by Tyler Durden - May 22, 2016 11:59 PM

Hot on the heels of Trumpian-size tariffs imposed by The Obama administration on a desperately glutted and mal-invested steel industry, the entire panic-buying "well the market is always right", "China is recovering" narrative based rally in Chinese commodities has crashed back down to earth with an incredible thud. As one veteran trader in the China commodity markets put it "everything is plunging... except cotton," with Iron Ore, and Rebar down 7% today...

At least one industry executive "got it" - Baosteel's Zhang: "The price rebound is not beneficial to the overcapacity situation.... It will delay the shutdown of (inefficient) capacity."

How right he was...

Dalian Iron Ore has collapsed 30% in a month, down 7% today...





Steel Rebar has crashed 32% in a month, down 5% today... (it seems the brief BTFD support has completely collapsed)...





Hot Rolled Coil -28% in a month, down 6% today...







Makes one wonder what the world's only marginal-buyer-of-crude could do 'retaliate' to a nation imposing tariffs like that which is also dependent on a bounce in oil prices to supports its 'wealth-creating' stock market?

ArcelorMittal sees signs of steel market recovery
The world's biggest steel producer, ArcelorMittal, has narrowed its first-quarter loss and expressed cautious optimism about improving steel markets hit by Chinese excess capacity and a global slump in steel demand.


Unveiling results for the first quarter, the Indian steelmaker said it had been able to reduce its net losses between January and March to $416 million (364.3 million euros), compared with $728 million in the same period last year.

Struggling amid falling iron ore prices and cheap Chinese steel imports, the industry leader said its quarterly results "reflect the very tough operating conditions in the second half of 2015."

ArcelorMittal chairman and chief executive Lakshmi Mittal said in the report the company was currently experiencing a "recovery in spreads in our core markets to more sustainable levels," which it considered as a sign of improving business in the next few quarters.

"This is a welcome development, although given the levels of excess capacity in China the market remains fragile and we must continue to be vigilant and active against the threat of unfair trade," he warned at the same time.

Low growth amid steel glut

China's drive in the past two decades to build up its steel industry has led to massive global overcapacity in recent years, resulting in falling prices and accusations that China sheds its subsidized steel on global markets. In addition, steel demand has slumped globally as economies around the world have been cooling.

European steelmakers have been especially hard hit by cheap imports from Chinese rivals, spurring a number of national governments to press Brussels to erect barriers against Chinese steel imports.

However, ArcelorMittal achieved an increase of 8.8 percent in steel shipments to 21.5 million tons in the first quarter. The positive development made the company confirm its core-profit target of more than $4.5 billion for the full year of 2016.

uhe/cjc (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

Obviously, the Chinese are at a disadvantage and in a decline. It doesn't matter what they say on here or on the internet. Facts are facts.
 
Ever stepped in the inside of a Chinese factory?
I've worked in China before. I'll share some insights with you.
Let's take an example of a simple cigarette lighter. Supposedly, a trader from india wants a lighter, he meets up with his Chinese counter part and tells him his requirement.
The Chinese shows him a ¥5 product. He says, "no, I want a cheaper one" (in order to maximize his profit). Then he is shown a ¥3 lighter. No, unsatisfied. He says, "make me a ¥0.3 lighter" (already laughing his way to the bank.) That's how things work in China. Don't believe me? Come over to China and ask someone who worked for the main boss and also his right hand man. Don't go asking any ordinary Chinese workers.
This is my first hand experience. What the client demands, we give them or we try to.
Now do you know why you sound so ignorant? I don't blame you.
Cheers!

I do business with China and Taiwan before,
Taiwanese would say "No, we can't reduce price down to under 3., it affects to our quality and reputation""
 
China created the bubble development, China must self resolve the excessive output of coal, steel, cement...
But it seems that they continue to reopen closed steel mills when there's slightly increase in price.
 
Ever stepped in the inside of a Chinese factory?
I've worked in China before. I'll share some insights with you.
Let's take an example of a simple cigarette lighter. Supposedly, a trader from india wants a lighter, he meets up with his Chinese counter part and tells him his requirement.
The Chinese shows him a ¥5 product. He says, "no, I want a cheaper one" (in order to maximize his profit). Then he is shown a ¥3 lighter. No, unsatisfied. He says, "make me a ¥0.3 lighter" (already laughing his way to the bank.) That's how things work in China. Don't believe me? Come over to China and ask someone who worked for the main boss and also his right hand man. Don't go asking any ordinary Chinese workers.
This is my first hand experience. What the client demands, we give them or we try to.
Now do you know why you sound so ignorant? I don't blame you.
Cheers!


You should shut your mouth when you dont know shit!
Btw, it's called, "Bengaluru" not "Bangalore".
It's like some people can afford $800 iPhone and $500 vivo, made in China, some need $300 Xiaomi, still made in China.
Some people of Sub-Sahara-Africa living standards can only afford $50-100 phone(probably they need entire monthly salary), still they have to import from China (then rebrand it into some Sub-Sahara brand like Microba or whatever).
average selling price smartphone China:india.png
 
Hoa Sen Group exported 20,000 tonnes of rolled steel sheets to the US at the SP-SSA International Terminal (SSIT)
02/03/2016
Hoa Sen Group exported 20,000 tonnes of rolled steel sheets to the US at the SP-SSA International Terminal (SSIT) on the 29th of February, 2016.

Hoa Sen Group held a ceremony to export 20,000 tons of finished sheet metal to the US through SSIT Terminal of Ba Ria Vung Tau Province. The batch is valued at US$ 10 million and the largest batch ever exported from Vietnam to the US market so far. To mark this big milestone, the Chairman of SSIT, Nguyen Huu Phuc, the General Director, Soren Pedersen and other high ranking officers from Hanoi and Ba Ria Vung Tau province have jointly congratulated Chairman Le Phuoc Vu from Hoa Sen Group.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the move has proved that local businesses can integrate in the global economy effectively in a fair and competitive manner.

Below are some photos of the event at SSIT terminal:

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China accounts for 60 pct of Vietnam's imported steel
Source:Xinhua Published: 2016-7-6


Imported steel from China has accounted for some 60 percent of Vietnam's total imported steel so far in 2016, according to Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) on Wednesday.

Statistics by VSA showed that, so far this year, Vietnam imported over 9.6 million tons of all kinds of steel worth around 3.42 billion US dollars.

The figures post a year-on-year increase of 48 percent in volume and 1 percent in value, local Vietnam Economic Times quoted the VSA as saying.

VSA vice chairman Nguyen Van Sua said despite growth in domestic steel production and trading over the past time, Vietnam remains a big importer of steel.

The country ranks first in the Southeast Asian region and seventh worldwide among steel importers.

In 2015, Vietnam imported some 18.7 million tons of steel, said the official.

VSA forecast that steel imports into Vietnam is likely to rise in final months of the year, as domestic demand for construction materials goes high.

***

Hanoi, Beijing should avoid direct conflict
Source: Global Times Published: 2016-7-6

The Vietnamese foreign ministry launched a strong protest against China over a military drill scheduled from Tuesday to next Monday in the waters around the Xisha Islands, saying it is a violation of Vietnam's integrity of sovereignty and a threat to the security of the South China Sea.

China will not halt the exercise just because Hanoi protested. Actually, the protest is nothing more than a routine statement by Vietnam whenever China has some movements around the Xisha Islands.

Challenging China over the Xisha Islands might be one of Hanoi's tactics to have more leverage over the Nansha disputes.

The Philippines and the US have not lodged any public complaint about the exercise, except for some media outlets. Vietnam's protest won't be put into the international spotlight.

Among all the claimants, Vietnam controls the most Nansha islets and islands; it simply wants to consolidate the beneficial status quo, so it welcomes Washington's proposal for every claimant to stop movements and maintain where they are in the South China Sea.

After the oil rig tensions in 2014, China and Vietnam are on a relatively even keel over the territorial dispute.

Compared with the Philippines and the US, Hanoi has a much milder approach while opposing China's reclamation construction on some of the Nansha Islands.

Hanoi's strategic purpose is to defend what it holds and legalize oil drilling in the waters it occupies. It won't provoke China if there is no major threat.

Among all China's neighbors, Vietnam has the most maritime disputes with China, and the Philippines is the most aggressive in dealing with China. Hanoi won't throw itself to the US like the Philippines, because it has close ideological connections with Beijing.

The Sino-Vietnamese relationship is delicately complex. Vietnam's stability won't remain without China's political influence, and China will have less wiggle room if Vietnam challenges China as a US ally like the Philippines. If Vietnam can play down its role in the power game around the South China Sea, China and Vietnam will have more common ground to address their bilateral territorial disputes, which will transform the landscape of the region.

So far, neither side is willing to compromise, and there is no roadmap for negotiation based on this understanding. In the short-term, Vietnam and China will stay in a pattern where both sides exchange protests but won't engage in real conflicts. It is of mutual benefit to both sides. China will focus on the aftermath of the international arbitration, and the region will feature in a strategic game between China and the US.

**

News 1: Wow, Vietnam must be in the midst of a construction boom, which is good for both Vietnam and China.

News 2: VN's protests are understandable but not needed, really, because China's move is to give PH a message, and has little to do with VN. As the article says, probably Vietnam wants to have greater leverage in Nansha by protesting any movement near Xisha, but, the fact is that, by standing up to the West-promoted PH, China also protects the interests of Vietnam, indirectly.
 
China Said to Mull Mergers to Create Two State Steel Giants

Bloomberg News

August 1, 2016 — 1:37 AM EDT Updated on August 1, 2016 — 4:55 AM EDT
  • Mergers will help speed up elimination of excess capacity: Lau
  • Shares of listed units of Hebei, Shougang advance in Shenzhen
China is considering a sweeping overhaul of its steel industry that would consolidate major producers into two giants, with one located in the north and another in the south, according to people familiar with the plan.

Hebei Iron & Steel Group, the nation’s biggest mill by output, and Shougang Group will be combined into Northern China Steel Group, while No. 2 producer, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp., and Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Corp. will be merged into Southern China Steel Group, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information is confidential. Shares in the listed units of Hebei and Shougang rose on the news.

browse.php


The state-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission didn’t respond to a request for comment on Monday, while a Baosteel Group spokesman declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg. Calls to Hebei, the news department at Shougang and Wuhan Iron & Steel were not answered.

The potential combinations would give Chinese mills the scale to rival global giants such as ArcelorMittal, and enhance government efforts to reduce overcapacity as part of its drive to overhaul an inefficient state sector. Smaller steel companies could later be absorbed into the two new groups once they are established, although nothing has been decided, according to the people familiar with the plan. The plan has yet to win formal approval, they added.

‘Little Room’

The plan “will help accelerate eliminating excess steel capacities,” Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities Asia Ltd., said from Hong Kong. “It will also boost their competitiveness and strengthen their customer bases and leave little room for non-competitive smaller mills.”

Shares in the listed units of Hebei and Shougang rose the most in over two weeks. Hesteel Co. climbed as much as 2.8 percent, while Beijing Shougang Co. added as much as 3.7 percent. Baosteel and Wuhan’s listed units are suspended from trading as their parents discuss a restructuring, which analysts have said may presage a union.

Even though China’s steel output has peaked, the domestic market remains saturated, Chen Derong, general manager at Baosteel Group, told a conference in May. As the nation seeks to clear its surplus, exports are running at record levels, sustaining a global glut of the metal and drawing fire from competitors across the globe.

China’s crude steel-producing capacity hit a record 1.2 billion tons at the end of 2015, according to the China Iron & Steel Association. The country is the world’s largest steel producer and accounts for about half of global supply of the alloy that’s used in construction, autos and appliances. The government has pledged to cut as much as 150 million tons of capacity by 2020.

— With assistance by Winnie Zhu, and Steven Yang

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ers-to-create-two-state-steel-giants-irbltcmf
 
Good news, mergers are necessary in steel industry to optimize capacity, pool R&D resources for tech upgrade. China now accounts for slightly above 50% global supply of steel, should further improve market share as well as profitability.
 
It means small steel mills can no longer hold the position.
 
China Said to Mull Mergers to Create Two State Steel Giants

Bloomberg News

August 1, 2016 — 1:37 AM EDT Updated on August 1, 2016 — 4:55 AM EDT
  • Mergers will help speed up elimination of excess capacity: Lau
  • Shares of listed units of Hebei, Shougang advance in Shenzhen

This will give needed boost to the slowed down Chinese market and will speed up the NYSE a little too. They love mergers and acquisitions and when companies consolidate their operations and synergies. The share prices for the acquired company should go up significantly.
 
This will give needed boost to the slowed down Chinese market and will speed up the NYSE a little too. They love mergers and acquisitions and when companies consolidate their operations and synergies. The share prices for the acquired company should go up significantly.

Yet another merger. Restructuring continues at full speed, as it seems. I am happy that CITS is being handled, as well. Hope this will create a better travel company because my experience in HK with them was not a pretty one. The stuff had been extremely helpful but the system appeared to be slower than my expectations.

**

China creates new tourism SOE in merger

Xinhua, August 3, 2016

The China Tourism Group Corporation was officially established on Wednesday, with the merger of two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the direction of the country's state-asset watchdog.

The new company has become China's largest tourism SOE and is regulated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Last month, the commission announced that the China International Travel Service (CITS) was no longer under its supervision as it was to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS).

Zheng Jiang, assistant to the general manager of HKCTS, said Wednesday that the business scopes of both companies complement each other as HKCTS focuses on food, hotels and traveling, while CITS excels in shopping.

However, only the direction of the reorganization is fixed, the detailed plans in terms of business, personnel and corporate structure have yet to be finalized, Zheng said.

He forecasts that tourism, the company's main business, will be reorganized in less than a year, while other business fields will be reorganized in three to five years.

The company will strive to become the top tourism company in China in the next few years, with the ultimate goal of becoming one the world's top 500 companies, said Zheng.
 

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