SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) — This is a roundup of news in the steel industry for last week.
New infrastructure projects with investment at 10 trillion yuan to be launched
Recently, Chinese government ministries and commissions announced to accelerate the construction plan of new infrastructure in the 14th Five-Year Plan and increase the investment. 20 provinces including Beijing, Tianjing, Hubei, Zhejiang, and Anhui issued the local development outlines to clarify the construction goals and speed up the construction of big data centres and industrial Internet. According to statistics from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the investment in new infrastructure during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period is expected to exceed 10 trillion yuan driven by multiple policy dividends.
Global new container ship orders surged, 50% received by Chinese companies
Global new container ship orders started to increase significantly since Q3 2020, and reached a record high in the past 13 years in Q1 2021. China's shipbuilding industry received half of the orders. According to industry insiders, China's shipbuilding strength continued to improve in recent years, and the delivery cycle of ultra-large container ships had also been shortened from more than 2 years to less than 18 months. With the delivery of a large number of ships, the industry will see more and more orders from international liner companies.
Mineral Resources: Iron ore output 3% lower at 4,94 million mt
According to the production and sales report for Q1 of 2021 released by Mineral Resources, the output of iron ore in Q1 was 4.94 million mt, a decrease of 3% from the previous quarter and a year-on-year increase of 44%. The shipment volume was 4.12 million mt, a decrease of 6% from the previous quarter and an increase of 42% year on year. Iron ore output in the Yilgarn Hub mining area decreased mainly due to the restrictions on raw ore and long-distance transportation from the northern mines. Shipments decreased amid the transportation restrictions and the delayed and cancelled trains due to the forest fires near Kwinana. In addition, the Wonmunna plant in the Utah Point Hub mining area was successfully put into operation, with a slight increase in output and transportation.
China's imports and exports in Q1 increased by 30% YoY
Total value of China's imports and exports in Q1 totalled 8.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 29.2% over the same period last year. Among them, exports totalled 4.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 38.7%. Imports totalled 3.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.3%, the trade surplus was 759.29 billion yuan, expanding 690.6%, according to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs on April 13.
Property market regulations strengthened in China
Statistics from Centaline Real Estate Research Centre shows that since the beginning of 2021, the issued national property market regulation and control policies has exceeded 140, while the number in a single month has exceeded 40, with an average of 1.3 per day. Under the general tone of "Houses are for living not speculation," the core of these policies was to strictly investigate the inflow of illegal funds such as operating loans, the settlement of talents, the supply of land, and the rectification of agencies.
Ministry of Ecology and Environment urged industries to achieve high carbon commission
On April 15, Li Gao, director of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated at the “2021 Carbon Neutrality Summit” that China is currently less than 10 years away from reaching the peak of carbon emissions by 2030. It will take only 30 years for China to go from carbon peak to carbon neutrality, which is much shorter than that of major developed countries. Hence Li urged the industries to achieve reductions in carbon emissions as soon as they can.
On the other hand, entrepreneurs expressed that the sharp rise in international commodity prices brought great pressure to corporate costs. Premier Li Keqiang said that the cost pressure could be relieved by strengthening the raw material markets and other markets.
