China only ‘half built’
April 18 - 24, 2012
THERE are five key drivers of China’s steel demand growth and these, in combination with iron ore supply constraints, sees Credit Suisse forecasting strong iron ore prices for some years still to come.
Galaxy in the right neighbourhood
March 7 - 13, 2012
DRIVING into Galaxy Resources’ newly built Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China, it rapidly becomes abundantly clear why this site – several thousand kilometres from the company’s Mt Cattlin spodumene mine in Western Australia – was selected.
Avonlea boss takes cheap-entry ticket to China
February 29 - March 6, 2012
AVONLEA Minerals managing director David Riekie is in China this week, trying to convince companies up there that Avonlea’s Namibian iron ore plan is worth backing.
Fixing China’s property market a key test
February 22 - 28, 2012
BOTH the bulls and the bears on China will find something to encourage them in the latest property numbers out of the country.
China coal trains won’t drive prices down, says analyst
November 24 - 30, 2011
IT’S a theory that has gained more momentum as the current market malaise has dragged on: that China’s roll-out of rail networks throughout its key coal provinces will further lower the floor propping up thermal coal prices.
Mixed views on China relaxing policy
November 10 - 16, 2011
THE latest data out of China suggests the issue of inflation has come under some sort of control. But analysts are divided over whether the easing inflation rate will lead to a loosening of the tight monetary policy that has hurt demand for commodities in recent months.
Jitters overtake ‘constructive' China view
October 13 - 19, 2011
RUMOURS and speculation about the health of the Chinese economy appear to be causing as much angst among investors as the very real and very tangible economic crisis playing out in Europe. That’s the impression of Hong Kong-based Merrill Lynch economist Ting Lu, who has just returned home from the bank’s annual conference in Washington DC.
Property symptomatic of broader China malaise?
September 29 - October 5, 2011
THE latest signs of a slow-down in the Chinese property market should be unnerving to followers of Australia’s resources sector for a number of reasons.
Real trouble in little China
August 25 - 31, 2011
A CORPORATE scandal engulfing a Hong Kong-listed gold miner is doing little for the already embattled reputation of the Chinese-based companies listed there.
Flaw in housing projection: Goldman
August 18 - 24, 2011
THE veracity of a wire story last week that said China may be lowering its target for 10 million housing starts next year by 20% has been questioned by the commodity team at Goldman Sachs. Hear, hear say the commodity bulls.
One way is up
August 11 - 17, 2011
AMID all the speculation around the direction of China’s economy, one Australian has returned from a visit to the country with a very positive impression of China’s steel industry and its ongoing demand for Australian resources.
China’s peddlers power Galaxy
July 7 - 13, 2011
Efforts by the Chinese Government to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels (and hence China’s generation of carbon dioxide production) may have more or less guaranteed a secure long term off-take arrangement for one of Australia’s latest niche mineral miners.
Long-term players rarer still
June 30 - July 6, 2011
Of the 250 or so aspiring rare earths players around the globe, only four or five will reach their goal of becoming a producer.
Does Australia risk being hit with the bamboo stick?
June 30 - July 6, 2011
AUSTRALIAN iron ore veteran George Jones knows a thing or two about China. And in his view there are two big risks when it came to the so-called Chinese economic miracle.
China expert urges broader Asia focus
June 30 - July 6, 2011
CHINA’S dominance as Australia’s major resources trading partner and investor is a good thing, according to Chinese cross-border business specialist, Beijing Axis managing director Kobus van der Wath, but the rest of Asia shouldn’t be forgotten.
China-Australia nexus written in stone
June 23 - 29, 2011
A LOOK at “Generation Next” suggests China is keen to build a national mining champion to rival the current western world heavyweights, and that Australia stands well and truly alone as the single most common location of major project developments globally over the next decade.
China’s betterment causing concerns
March 17 - 23, 2011
LONDON-listed Griffin Mining has become a poster child for success in China yet its market value defies the production and growth profile at its Caijiaying zinc mine. The company has an enviable network of Chinese contacts and has earned the respect of both local and national authorities over 14 years, but may paradoxically be the victim of the Eastern giant’s push for a cleaner, safer industry.
China a more complex factor going forward
December 8 - 14, 2010
AS CHINA’S Central government prepares its next five year plan, understanding how Australian iron ore fits into the bigger picture of Chinese growth remains a vital undertaking, especially for juniors concerned with accessing the country’s capital reserves.
Many hands might make light work of commodity prices
October 6 - 12, 2010
SHOULD there be any concerns that almost every single week for the past few years a Chinese party has acquired another resources project somewhere around the globe? Is there any danger that in the not too distant future the resource sector may begin to look a sad and sorry space for investor returns as the Chinese instigate sufficient developments to ratchet down commodity prices?
FerrAus gains another Chinese backer
June 30 - July 6, 2010
CHINESE group Wah Nam International Holdings has quietly established a position in two of the Pilbara’s up and coming iron ore plays, FerrAus and Brockman Resources. For FerrAus, the cash injection comes at a good time and implications about consolidation in the Pilbara are a welcome, if still indefinite proposition.