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Iron ore prices rise on strong demand and healthy steel margins
Iron ore prices rose on Monday due to a strong near-term demand and falling portside stock, as well as healthy steel margins for the top consumer, China. However, expectations of rising supplies capped any further gains. The daytime trading price of the most traded September iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was 0.76% higher, ending at 790.5 Yuan ($110.15). As of 0700 GMT, the benchmark September iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange rose 1.2% to $100.2 per ton. The average daily hot metal production remained at 240 million tonnes, despite a decline in the weekly output as of July 31. This level is typically regarded as an indication of a strong iron ore market. Steel mill profitability has also improved. Data from Mysteel revealed that around two-thirds (69%) of steel mills made a profit during the week ending July 31. This is up from 59% at the beginning of July. Steelhome data showed that portside stocks fell 0.6% in the previous week, to 130.3 millions tons on August 1, the lowest level since February 2024. The price of the main steelmaking ingredient was not able to increase due to the expectation of increased supply in the second part of the year. First Futures, in a report, said that since miners have not changed their production forecasts, it is likely that shipments are going to increase in the rest of the year. This indicates a growing supply. Cyclones in Australia slowed down shipments in the first quarter, which impacted the overall volume for the first half. Coke and coking coal were also mixed on the DCE. Coking coal erased morning losses, ending daytime trading up 2.33%. The Shanghai Futures Exchange saw a sideways movement in steel benchmarks, with rebar and wire rod both falling by 0.28%. Hot-rolled coils rose by 0.26% while stainless steel gained 0.47%. ($1 = 7.1763 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Rashmia Aich and Sonia Cheema; Editing and reporting by Amy Lv)
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Copper prices rise as dollar weakens
The dollar fell on Monday as a result of weaker than expected U.S. employment data. This boosted the odds for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. As of 0712 GMT, the London Metal Exchange reported that three-month copper was up 0.5%, at $9,673 a metric ton. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract rose 0.1%, to 78.330 yuan (10,915.70 dollars) per ton. The dollar index dropped 0.4% against a basket rival currencies, after the dismal U.S. employment report and President Donald Trump's firing of a senior labour official stunned investors. They then increased their bets on imminent Fed rate reductions. A weaker dollar makes greenback-denominated assets more affordable to holders of other currencies. Amador Pantoja, a union leader, said that Codelco, a Chilean mining company, has reduced the copper extraction at its flagship El Teniente Mine after a fatal incident, but continues to operate its concentrator and its smelter. Analysts say that China's refined output of copper is expected to reach a new record in 2025 as its giant smelting industry powers through the global shortage of ore copper, which is forcing out some overseas competitors. Last week, the COMEX copper price fell 23% as a result of a surprise decision by U.S. president Donald Trump to exempt refined metals from import tariffs of 50%. There are fears that the massive stockpiles of copper in COMEX's warehouses may be reexported on international markets. This would lead to a downward pressure on the international benchmark copper price," ANZ analysts wrote in a report. Other metals in London were up 0.5%, at $2,578 per ton. Nickel was up by 0.2%, to $15,005. Lead rose by 0.1%, to $1,973.50. Tin gained 0.1%, to $33,330. And zinc was 0.3% higher, to $2,735.50. SHFE aluminium rose by 0.2% to 20 525 yuan. Nickel gained 0.5% at 120 630 yuan. Lead increased 0.5% to 16 750 yuan. Tin increased 0.9% to 266 490 yuan. Zinc fell 0.4% to 22 255 yuan. Click or to see the latest news in metals, and other related stories.
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Why India's heat-action plans aren't cooling down cities
Short-term remedies drive response Heat is a major problem in cities, but there are no budgets allocated to it Two-thirds Indians are at risk from extreme heat Bhasker Tripathi The Indian summer, which lasts between March and June, started early this year, with a heatwave unprecedented in February. This was followed by temperatures above normal in March and in April. Heat Action Plans (HAPs) are India's primary response to the rising temperatures which threaten public health, food safety and outdoor workers. They were first introduced in 2013. Recent studies have shown that the majority of Indian cities still rely on quick fixes and are underfunded or uncoordinated. Aditya Pillai, coauthor of a report on cities' response to extreme heat by the Sustainable Futures Collaborative think tank (SFC), published in March, said that local governments "acknowledge heat as a serious problem". But they don't even have a concept of long-term resilience to climate change. No Transformability According to a study conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a New Delhi-based think tank, more than half of India's urban and rural districts, home to 76% of its population, or over 1 billion people, now face a high or very high level of risk due to extreme heat. HAPs are encouraged by the central government, but they are not compulsory. More than 250 districts and cities in 23 states with high temperatures have developed HAPs. SFC surveyed nine high-risk cities including New Delhi Bhopal Kolkata Varanasi. They reported 150 heat-related actions between 2018-2023. However, most of these measures were only taken during the summer months or after heatwaves. These included setting up water stations and changing school schedules. SFC's findings show that long-term solutions and redesigning built environments are rare, and they tend to focus on healthcare issues, such as training hospital staff and tracking heat deaths. The study found that many transformative measures, such as building climate-sensitive housing, were absent. Pillai said that land ownership and infrastructure issues often prevent India's poorest and densest areas from participating in cooling initiatives such as tree planting or water body restoration. He said that "you end up with greenery around the edges, not where you need it." Selomi Garnaik is a Greenpeace India campaigner who said that many HAPs lack "targeted investments or meaningful changes in infrastructure and governance." She said that the plans are often top-down, with little input from communities, and heat still is viewed as an issue primarily affecting health, "when in fact it intersects with housing, labour rights and urban planning." The majority of respondents supported national actions, such as switching to clean energy, over local measures. Pillai stated that this may discourage local politicians to spend money and labor on longer-term strategy. India has started to set aside more money for heating. Heatwaves will be eligible for project-based financing in 2024 under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund. The fund has 320 billion Rupees (3.71 billion dollars) available to cover disasters from 2021-2026. Vishwas Chitale is a climate resilience researcher with CEEW. He said that access to these funds remains limited because guidelines for the fund are still in development. He said that city planners should "treat heat as a long-term problem and not only an emergency." He cited Chennai, a city with 6,8 million residents on India's south-east coast, where officials used data from district-level heat risks to decide where to place parks and bodies of fresh water in its 20-year master plan. Experts say that a holistic solution to the ever-rising temperature in India still needs to be developed.
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Malaysia and the United States agree to increase LNG and tech purchases as part of a trade agreement
Malaysia's trade minister announced on Monday that the country will spend up to 150 billion dollars in the next five year to purchase equipment from U.S. multinationals to support its semiconductor, aerospace, and data center sectors. This is part of an agreement with Washington for tariff reductions. The United States announced that they would impose a tariff of 19% on Malaysia beginning August 8. This is lower than the 25% levied threatened last month. Petroliam Nasional Berhad is a state energy company Tengku Aziz, Minister of Trade and Industry, told the Parliament that Malaysia would invest $70 billion over five years in the United States to reduce the trade deficit between the two nations. Government data revealed that the United States had a goods-trade deficit of $24.8 billion with Malaysia in 2024. Tengku Zafrul announced that the two countries are finalising a statement covering their commitments, after weeks of negotiation over the tariffs levied by the Trump administration. Tengku Zaffrul stated that "despite expecting lower tariff rates the ministry believes these negotiations have achieved a reasonable result with the Malaysian offers." Malaysia has also made other concessions. These include the reduction or elimination of duties on 98.4% U.S. imported goods, the easing some non-tariff obstacles, and the lifting of the requirement that U.S. cloud service providers and social media platforms contribute a portion of their Malaysian revenue to a government fund. Tengku Zafrul, Malaysia's Minister of Trade and Industry, said last week that Malaysia has secured tariff exemptions for its pharmaceutical products, semiconductors, and other commodities exported to the United States. He warned on Monday that he could still impose additional tariffs based on U.S. law if the chips are deemed to be of national security concern. He said: "Therefore we must continue to prepare for any additional tariffs that may be imposed on semiconductor industry." (Reporting and editing by David Stanway; Rozanna Latiff)
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JFE Holdings' first-quarter profits down 74% and misses expectations
JFE Holdings posted a net profit of 7.1 billion yen (48 million dollars) on Monday, down 74% compared to a year ago and below analysts' expectations. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had predicted that JFE Holdings would report a quarterly net profit of 16.1 billion yen. In the same period last year, the company made 27.5 billion yen. It reported that its crude steel production during the period was 5,28 million metric tonnes, down from 5,48 million tons one year earlier. The company also suffered from lower export profits and foreign exchange fluctuations. JFE Holdings has maintained its profit forecast of 75 billion yen for the fiscal year ending in March next year. JFE announced in a separate press release on Monday that it would invest 120 billion yen with India's JSW Steel to increase production at two plants located in India. The investment will boost output of cold-rolled grain-oriented electric steel, a product that is used in motors, transformers and generators. The first plant is expected to reach full production by 2027. The other currently has a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year. JFE stated that the expansion will help meet the rising demand for power infrastructure in India as well as the growing use of renewable energy and the increase in data centres. Reporting by Katya Glubkova, Editing by Kim Coghill & Joe Bavier
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JSW Steel India and JFE Japan to invest $669 Million to boost electrical steel production
JSW Steel announced on Monday that a joint venture between India's JSW Steel, and Japan's JFE Steel, will invest 669 million dollars to increase production capacity for cold-rolled grain-oriented electric steel at two Indian plants in order to meet the growing domestic demand. JSW Steel announced that JSW and JFE would fund the expansion in equal amounts through equity. The additional capacity will be added in phases starting with the fiscal year 2028. The source of the remaining funds was not specified by the company. Cold-rolled grain-oriented steel is used primarily in energy applications and is considered more energy efficient. It also reduces carbon emissions. JSW JFE Electrical Steel plans to increase production at its Nashik facility to 250,000 tonnes per annum, up from 50,000 TPA. The two companies will invest 43 billion rupees to achieve this. JSW Steel announced in a filing on the exchange that it will invest the remaining 15,45 billion rupees in order to increase capacity at a new facility in Vijayanagar from 62,000 TPA to 100,000 TPA. JSW JFE bought Germany's Thyssenkrupp's Nashik facility in January for 41,59 billion rupees.
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Beijing is on high alert as deadly floods continue to plague the city
Beijing warned its residents to prepare for more heavy rains in the mountains of the city, one week after the deadly floods that killed dozens. Weather forecasters have warned that parts of Beijing could receive up to 200mm (7.9 in) of rain over a period of six hours starting at midday. Weather forecasters warn that Beijing, a city with 22 million residents, receives an average of 600mm of rain each year. Authorities are rushing to update evacuation plans, improve weather forecasts, and reinforce aging flood defences. They have also reported that bodies were pulled from floodwaters across the country. At least three of them were found at a flooded health camp in Hebei Province. At least 44 people were killed in Beijing last month after heavy rains. The majority of those who died were trapped by quickly rising water at a nursing facility in Miyun District on the northeastern outskirts of Beijing. Authorities admitted that their emergency plans were inadequate in the wake of these deaths. Beijing's seven districts with the highest preparedness level for flood prevention were Mentougou (Fangshan), Fengtai (Shijingshan), Huairou (Miyun), and Yanqing on Monday. Authorities have warned that the risk of landslides and flash floods is "extremely large". Beijing's worst flooding since living memory killed 79 people in the summer of 2012. Fangshan was the hardest-hit district, with residents reporting that floodwaters rose by 1.3 metres within 10 minutes. Beijing's topography is described as a "rain trap" by some, with the mountains in the west and north capturing humid air and amplifying rainfall. WELLNESS RETREAT China's official news agency Xinhua said that as of Saturday, torrential downpours had swept through the "Beijing Valley", a riverside retreat in Chengde, a city adjacent to Beijing located in Hebei province. Three people were confirmed dead, and four others are still unaccounted for. Caixin Media reported that around 40 people had gathered for an event on the 27th of July. Organisers directed them to tents set up on low-lying ground next to a river's bend. The floodwaters were knee-high by 2 am the following morning. Campers had to rush to the only exit. The site was similar to Camp Mystic, Texas, where last month at least 28 children drowned after Guadalupe River broke its banks during torrential rainfall. Five bodies were found in China's southern Guangdong Province over the weekend after a massive search operation that involved more than 1,300 rescuers. Xinhua said on Sunday that the five people who were reported missing on Friday evening had been "swept away" by recent heavy rains. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates; Joe Cash and Ryan Woo).
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FT reports that BP will update its progress on cost cutting as Elliot puts more pressure on the company.
The Financial Times reported that BP would announce an update on its $5 billion cost cutting initiative on Tuesday amid increasing pressure from activist investors Elliott Management to take more action to reduce operating expenses. Elliott wants BP's CEO Murray Auchincloss, who announced in February that he would reduce costs by $4-$5 billion between 2023 and 2027 from a baseline of 2023, to add an additional $5 billion to those savings. Could not verify the report immediately. BP and Elliott didn't immediately respond to a comment request. Report added that the hedge fund "identified tens and thousands of BP staff worldwide" as an example for the cost base. The FT reported that BP had already reduced its costs by $750 million towards its 2024 target and was looking to achieve its cost saving target through job reductions, divestment, and streamlining its supply chains. reported In April, the activist investor said that he would like BP's spending to be cut to $12 billion a yearly, from a range of $13 to $15 billion currently, until 2027. He also wants to deepen cost reductions, particularly on administrative costs. Elliott, which owns a little over 5% of BP, is also The oil major will replace its chief strategy officer and create separate units to oversee upstream and downstream activities in order to improve accountability.
India's IOC purchases 7 million barrels of US and Middle East crude following the Russian oil pause
Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), India's largest refiner, bought 7 million barrels from United States, Canada, and Middle East crudes arriving in September via an auction, according to several sources.
IOC's large purchase of spot crude comes after the arbitrage windows for U.S. oil to Asia opened, and Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian crude oil at a time when discounts were shrinking. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has warned that countries should not purchase oil from Moscow because it is currently under sanctions for its full-scale invasion in Ukraine on February 20, 2022.
The sources stated that IOC purchased 4.5 million barrels from the United States, 500,000 barrels from Canada's Western Canadian Select, and 2 million barrels Das oil produced in Abu Dhabi. The sources declined to name themselves because they weren't authorized to speak with the media.
Two sources stated that the higher than normal purchases were partly made to replace Russian barrels.
India, which is the third largest oil importer in the world, is the top buyer of Russian crude shipped by sea.
Last week, it was reported that Indian refiners IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd had not purchased Russian crude for the last few weeks.
The sources stated that in the IOC tender, which closed on Friday evening, P66, Equinor and Mercuria would each ship one million barrels U.S. West Texas Intermediate Midland Crude, while Mercuria would ship two million barrels. Vitol is to deliver 1,000,000 barrels each of WTI Midland, WCS and WCS.
Trafigura is delivering 2 million barrels Das.
The prices of the deals are not available immediately.
The purchase also coincided with additional sanctions imposed by the European Union against the Russian energy industry. Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Siyi LIu in New Delhi and Nidhh Verma in New Delhi. Editing by Kate Mayberry.
(source: Reuters)