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China approves the construction of 10 new nuclear units worth $27 billion
The Paper, a government-backed newspaper, reported late Sunday that China's State Council had approved the construction 10 new nuclear power plants. The total cost was estimated at 200 billion yuan (about $27.44 billion). The pace of growth is expected to continue in the next few years with an average of 10-11 units approved each year between 2022-2024. Five nuclear power plants are being expanded by the newly approved projects. They all use domestic technology and include Fangchenggang, Sanmen, Haiyang, Xiapu, Chongqing, Xiapu, Shandong and Taishan, Guangdong. China's nuclear energy association said in their annual white paper released also on Sunday that the country had invested a record amount of 146.9 bn yuan in the engineering and construction of nuclear power plants last year. According to a white paper, China will have 57 units operating by the end of 2024 with a capacity installed of 60 gigawatts. The report predicts that by 2030 China will be the world leader in installed nuclear capacity. It is currently ranked third after the U.S., France and Russia. In 2024, nuclear power accounted for a little over 5% of China’s electricity generation. By 2040, this is expected to increase to 10%. The white paper stated that China will continue to promote international co-operation, particularly with Belt and Road countries and major nuclear countries, while accelerating self-reliance.
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China's gold imports through Hong Kong rose by around 42% in March m/m
Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department figures released on Monday showed that China's total imports of gold via Hong Kong rose by 41.9% in March compared to February. The data revealed that China's gold exports to Hong Kong were lower than its net imports in March for the third consecutive month. China is the largest consumer of gold in the world, and its buying activities can have a significant impact on global gold prices. Hong Kong's data might not be a complete view of Chinese gold purchases as it is also imported through Shanghai and Beijing. By the numbers, net imports from Hong Kong into China in March were -4.888 metric tonnes compared to -26.398 tons imported in February. Hong Kong's total imports of gold by the world's largest gold consumer in March were 21.071 tons, up from 14.851 tonnes in February. KEY QUOTES The net import for March was only five tonnes, compared to an average of 15 tonnes per week from January-February. This reflects a gradual improvement in mainland demand," said StoneX analyst Rhona OConnel. The People's Bank of China has reportedly allocated new import quotas for selected international banks in the last few weeks. CONTEXT As a hedge against inflation and global uncertainty, gold has increased by more than 25% by 2025. This is largely due to Trump's tariffs, the expectation of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, geopolitical tensions between the Middle East, Ukraine and the United States, as well as strong central bank purchases and increased investment in gold-backed ETFs. Gold discounts in India reached their highest level in almost nine years last week as record prices discouraged buyers. (Reporting and editing by Anmol Choubey and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru)
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Sinopec, a Chinese company, partners with Saudi Aramco in a $4 billion joint venture
Sinopec, the state-run oil company in China, announced on Monday that it had signed a deal with a Saudi Aramco unit to create a joint venture with a capital of $3.95 billion. Sinopec's unit in Singapore, Aramco Asia Singapore Pte, and Saudi Aramco signed the agreement. (AAS). Sinopec will contribute 7,20 billion yuan, and its unit 14,40 billion yuan respectively. AAS will contribute the remaining 25% of the registered capital. Fujian Sinopec Aramco Refining and Petrochemical Co will be involved in port operations, crude oil transport, and other activities in the Gulei Port Economic Development Zone in Zhangzhou in China's Fujian Province. Sinopec, Saudi Aramco and other Middle Eastern companies began construction of the complex last November as part of their plans to expand downstream business outside of the Kingdom and supply one million barrels of crude oil per day to China to invest in oil-tochemicals. Sinopec reported in a separate announcement on Monday a 27,6% decline in the first-quarter profit based on China Accounting Standard.
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China's crude storage grew in March, reversing an earlier draw: Russell
In March, China's refineries produced the most oil in an entire year. However, the amount of crude added to inventories rose to its highest level in almost three years due to a surge in imports. According to calculations based upon official data, China's crude surplus reached 1.74 million barrels a day (bpd). This is the highest level since June 2023. In March, refiners had a large surplus of crude oil available after they had drained their stockpiles during the first two months of this year when imports of oil were low due to the high prices at the time of cargo arrangements. China does not reveal the volume of crude oil flowing in or out of its strategic and commercial stockspiles. However, an estimate can still be made if you subtract the amount of oil that has been processed from the total crude oil available from both imports and domestic production. According to data released by the government on April 16, refining processed 14.85 millions bpd during March. This is up 0.4% compared to the same month of 2024. In March, crude imports reached 12.11 million barrels per day (bpd), up 5% on the same month last year and the highest level since August 2023. According to records, domestic production rose 3.5% in March to 4,48 million bpd, the highest since the middle of 2011. After subtracting the volume of processing, 16.59 million bpd is available for refiners. China's refiners used up their inventories for the first time since 18 months in the first two-month period of 2025. They processed approximately 30,000 bpd per day more than was available through crude imports and domestic output. The massive surplus in march means that there were 580,000 bpd of crude oil available for the first three months, more than what was being processed. The story of the world's largest crude importer for March is that both the imports and the refinery processing were stronger than they had been in the previous two months. It is unclear whether the performance of March was a result of improved demand in the second largest economy in the world, or if it was more driven by temporary factors. IRAN IMPORTS The surge in imports of crude oil from Iran and Russia was the main reason for this rebound. Kpler, a commodity analyst firm, estimated that imports from Iran reached 1.71 million barrels per day (bpd) in March. This is a 20% increase from the 1.43 million bpd of February and reflects a five-month record. The increase in Iranian imports was driven by the expectation that the United States would introduce new measures targeting vessels carrying Iranian oil. This led China's refiners stock up on Iranian oil before new sanctions were implemented. Imports of Russian crude oil also increased as refiners began using non-sanctioned tanks to transport cargoes. This allowed them to avoid the sanctions that former U.S. president Joe Biden imposed just before he passed Donald Trump over in January. March's crude imports came at a time when global prices were also easing. Brent futures, the benchmark for 2025, went from a high of $82.63 per barrel on January 15 to less than $70 in early March. China's refiners are more likely to increase crude purchases when prices fall and reduce imports when they go up, as was the case in the first two month of this year. The price of crude oil has fallen further since March. It reached a five-year high on April 8, at $61.34 per barrel, as concerns about the global economy grew amid Trump's escalating tariff war. It may help import volumes in the coming months. However, it will also depend on how fast Trump's massive tariffs on Chinese imports translate into a lower fuel demand when manufacturing and shipping volume declines. The higher processing rates in March were likely due to the increased run rate at smaller independent plants, as well as by the launch of a new unit by Shandong Yulong Petrochemical. If the Chinese economy is able to navigate the tariff storm, it will determine whether or not refinery volumes can continue to rise. These are the views of the columnist, an author for.
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Castrol India's first quarter profit climbs on stronger engine oil demand
Castrol India, a producer of engine oil and lubricants, reported a 8% increase in its first-quarter profits on Monday due to the growing demand for their products. The profit at Castrol India (majority owned by British oil giant BP) increased to $27.4 million from the 2.16 billion rupees it earned a year earlier. Revenue increased by 7.3%, to 14.22 billion Rupees. Castrol is India’s largest private retailer for engine oils. It has focused on providing premium products to sport utility vehicles, India's top-selling car category. Analysts believe the company will benefit from the rising demand for oil products, as India's transition to electric cars is taking place at a slower pace. Just 2.5% of cars and 5% two-wheelers are sold in India. India aims to have 30% of new vehicles sold in India be electric by 2030. India's auto sales to dealers by manufacturers grew by about 2% during the quarter of January-March, with large trucks, SUVs, and scooters being the top sellers. Castrol India provides its lubricants across all segments to India's largest automakers, including Maruti Suzuki India and Hero MotoCorp. In a press statement, KedarLele, the Managing Director of Castrol, stated that "the successful relaunch and continued traction on rural markets were key growth drivers, and contributed significantly to our volume increase this quarter." On Monday, the company's shares closed up 3.2% ahead of results.
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India's March Industrial Output Misses Expectations but Rebounds from 6-Month Low
India's industrial production in March fell short of economists' expectations due to a faster data release and a slower mining activity. However, it rebounded after a six-month high in the preceding month, according to government data released on Monday. The industrial output in March grew by 3% compared with the 3.3% expected by economists and a revised 2,7% in February. The data revealed that mining activity increased at a slower rate of 0.4%, compared with 1.6% one month earlier. The manufacturing output increased by 3% in march, compared to a revised 2.8% the month before. Meanwhile, electricity production grew from 3.6% to 6.3%. India announced earlier this month that it would release its monthly industrial production growth figures on the 28th day of each month. This will reduce the 42-day interval between data releases. Aditi Nayar is an economist with ICRA. She said that the data's release early may have dampened estimates of growth. This could be revised more later. The output of consumer durables, including household appliances and cars, increased 6.6% in march, compared to a 3.7% increase in February. The output of capital goods (which includes machinery and manufacturing plants) increased by 2.4% in march, compared with an increase of 8.2% in the previous month. The industrial output grew by 4% between April and March, a slowdown from the 5.9% increase in the previous period. Although the United States is currently engaged in positive trade negotiations with India, concerns over possible U.S. tariffs on imports and abrupt policy changes continue to loom over global industries.
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Bright Smart, a $362 million Bright Group acquisition by China's Ant Group, enters the brokerage business
Ant Group, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant Alibaba Group is purchasing a controlling stake of $362 million in Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Group. This marks its first acquisition for a securities broker licence. The companies announced in a Friday joint statement that Ant had agreed to purchase a 50,55% stake in Bright Smart at HK$2.81billion ($362.26m). Bright Smart Chairman Yip Mowlum is selling 857.98 millions shares at HK$3.28 per share to Ant Group's Wealthiness & Prosperity holding, which will have to make a mandatory unconditional cash offer for the entire issued shares. Bright Smart shares nearly doubled to a record-high of HK$6 before closing Monday at HK$5.55, or 82% more than the previous share price of HK$3.05 prior to trading being halted on 24 April. The company's share price rose by the highest percentage in a single day since its listing on August 10, 2010. Hang Seng Index, the benchmark Hang Seng index, was flat on Monday. According to a joint statement, Ant intends Bright Smart to remain listed on the stock exchange. Alibaba controls 33% of Ant, which was founded by Jack Ma. It runs China's ubiquitous Alipay mobile payment app. Bloomberg reported that Ant refinanced its credit line of $6.5 billion in September, and part of this capital was intended to bolster its overseas operations. Chinese authorities cancelled Ant's $37-billion IPO in Shanghai & Hong Kong for 2020. They also cracked down on Ma’s business empire shortly after Ma’s speech in Shanghai, October of that year. He had accused financial watchdogs at the time of stifling innovations. This led to the Chinese regulators fining Ant nearly $1 billion and forcing Ant into a forced restructure. Ant is currently securing a licence for a financial holding, which could help it achieve its IPO. Reporting by Hong Kong Newsroom; Editing Muralikumar Aantharaman and Rachna uppal
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India's UltraTech Cement misses its profit forecasts due to soft prices
UltraTech Cement India's largest cement producer by capacity reported a fourth-quarter profit that was below the market expectation on Monday. This was due to weak pricing and increased costs. LSEG data shows that the company's consolidated profit for the three-month period ended March 31 was 24.82 billion rupees (US$292 million), compared with analysts' estimates of 26.31 trillion rupees. UltraTech's total revenue, including its deal with Kesoram came to 230.63 trillion rupees. This is in line with the average analyst estimate. The total expenses increased by 15%, mostly due to rising raw material and electricity costs. The revenue for the year was 226.69 billion rupiahs. This is 11% more than last year. The favorable spring weather conditions boosted construction activity, which increased demand for cement. This in turn led to price increases by companies. Data from Ambit Capital revealed that, on average, cement prices in the fourth quarter were about 2% lower than they had been a year earlier. UltraTech's volume increased by 17% in the past year, which is within the range of 14%-21% estimated by three brokerages rated highest on LSEG based on their accuracy. $1 = 84.9870 Indian Rupees (Reporting and editing by Sherry Phillips in Bengaluru, Varun H K).
Copper prices continue to rise, but the focus is on U.S. China trade tensions
The copper price remained stable on Monday, as traders awaited further developments in U.S. China trade relations. They also hoped to get hints about the prospects for demand in China where U.S. tariffs on imports are putting pressure on growth.
By 1035 GMT, the benchmark copper price on London Metal Exchange (LME), was almost unchanged at $9.376.50 per metric ton.
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, insists that there have been positive developments with China and that he spoke with President Xi Jinping. Beijing, however, has denied that trade talks have taken place, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn't say on Sunday that tariff negotiations were in progress.
Ewa Mnthey, ING commodities analyst, said that the metals market is particularly concerned about the impact of tariffs imposed on China - as it is their biggest customer.
The demand for industrial metals and copper is expected to fall as the U.S. economy slows down due to tariffs and China struggles to revive its own economy.
Analysts believe that further Chinese measures to support the growth and demand of copper, which is widely used in the construction and power industries, could limit any downside.
China is advancing its stimulus plans for this year, but it's holding back on new measures to maintain composure. It hopes that Washington will blink first in the protracted trade dispute.
Copper prices are supported by a huge drop in inventories
Due to a shortage of scrap, some Chinese copper users have turned to refined copper.
Technically, copper is supported by the 100-day and 200-day moving averges at $9,305 and $ 9,320 respectively.
The industrial metal markets await the survey of purchasing managers from China's manufacturing industry, due this week. It is expected to show a decline in activity in April.
Other metals saw a 0.3% increase in aluminum at $2,434.50 per ton. Zinc was down 0.4% at $2,636.50. Lead was up 1.3% at $1,968.50. Tin was down 0.1% at $30,950. Nickel was up 1.1% to $15,710 per ton. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)