Monthly Archives: September 2009
Funny the things you hear around the corridors at industry conferences.
AZ China staff attended a carbon conference here in China last week. During one of the session breaks, one oil company executive explained to his colleagues how he had tried to establish a “guns for oil” program between China and Iran. His parent company being a conglomerate with an arms manufacturer in their portfolio, he felt confident that he would be able to arrange a deal to take Iranian oil. Finally the deal fell apart, though we didn’t catch why.
Only in China would you even think about revealing such a tactic, much less actually trying to carry it out.
Commencing this week, we have added crude oil to our industry analysis.
Every industry that we watch has some direct or indirect connection to crude oil. Clearly petroleum coke is a downstream by-product of crude oil refining. But the entire Chinese economy can in part be monitored by what happens in the crude oil market. The aluminium sector also has a correlation with crude, not only via the input cost of the anodes and the cost of shipping and transport. With GDP, so goes aluminium consumption, and the same is also true for crude oil.
Subscribers to AZ China’s Black China Report have access to the weekly industry update (see next post). If you aren’t a subscriber, please contact us at blackchina@az-china.com for more information about a subscription.
China celebrates the 60th year of the Communist Party’s takeover of the country on October 1st. The Government has gazetted 8 days of holidays, from the 1st to the 8th, as public holidays.
AZ China’s office in Beijing will therefore be closed for that period. We will not be posting our weekly market review for the first week of October, as the market will be closed.
Readers and clients can still reach me at blackchina@az-china.com or paul.adkins@az-china.com.
The following article is from Mineweb.
The chairman of China’s biggest aluminium company reckons the country has excess production capacity of 20-30% for aluminium and alumina.
China currently has 20-30 percent excess production capacity of both primary aluminium and alumina, Xiong Weiping, the chairman of China’s top aluminium firm Chalco (2600.HK) said on Friday.
He said the surplus would not last forever, but its duration would depend on the pace of economic growth.
Xiong also said that Chalco’s parent firm, state-owned metals conglomerate Chinalco, would continue unswervingly on its strategy of becoming an international multi-metals firm.
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Each month the team at AZ China visits at least one manufacturer, and we are constantly on the phone to suppliers, checking Chinese web sites, magazines and newspapers. We cross check data from regular statistical and market sources with export and import data. Although sometimes we have to rely on what the supplier tells us (and sometimes he refuses to tell us), we make every effort to ensure our knowledge base is up to date, accurate and as complete as we can make it.
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Any data on a CD is only current on the day the CD was pressed. That’s why we give you this promise. If there is any data that is missing, incomplete or which you believe may be inaccurate, simply contact us and we will check and update you personally.
Is the information in the CD legal? Were any bribes paid or received? How did AZ China get hold of this information?
We do not indulge in any form of under-handed activity. We got this information through sheer hard work! We purchase the import/export data, and subscribe to certain Chinese magazines and databases, but the vast majority of the information comes from our own primary research.
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How do I get more information about this product?
Simply go to the web site, https://intelligencecentre.az-china.com/, where you will find more information about the Black China Intelligence Centre. Or contact us at blackchina@az-china.com.
Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), the country’s largest producer of alumina and aluminium, was in the red during the first half year, reporting a deficit of RMB3.52bn ($515M).
The company recorded a loss of over RMB1.6bn ($234.6M) in the second quarter, after a RMB1.89bn ($276.4M) loss in the first quarter. Last year, the company earned RMB2.41bn ($352.8M) net profit in the first six months.
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