U.S. Mulls Sanctions on Chinese Officials, Firms Over Hong Kong

The U.S. is considering a range of sanctions to punish China for its crackdown on Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration weighs whether to declare the former colony has lost its autonomy from Beijing. The Treasury Department could impose controls on transactions and freeze assets of Chinese officials and …

Li’s Fiscal Boost Fails to Spark Metals

Premier Li Keqiang delivered his speech to the National People’s Congress against a risk-averse backdrop of Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong and increasingly testy relations with Washington. Li reported that China has dropped its numerical growth target — a move perceived as negative for metals like steel — but plans to boost fiscal support …

China Abandons Hard Growth Target, Shifts Stimulus Focus to Jobs

The Chinese government abandoned its decades-long practice of setting an annual target for economic growth amid the storm of uncertainty unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic, and said it would continue to increase stimulus. Speaking at the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Friday morning, Premier Li Keqiang delivered an annual policy address that instead laid …

What to Watch as China Unveils Stimulus in Policy Meeting

China’s top leaders should reveal on Friday how much they’re planning to spend on stimulus to support the post-virus economy, when they belatedly announce their economic policy blueprint for the rest of 2020. The centerpiece event will be the work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang, which typically contains the economic growth and spending targets, …

Iron ore futures retreat as traders take profits ahead of Two Sessions

Iron ore futures retreated on Wednesday ahead of China’s Two Sessions meeting which is scheduled to convene tomorrow. Some profit-taking activities could be attributed to the decline as investors await the annual meeting for news of fresh impetus.   Iron ore has enjoyed a stellar run of late, gaining over $13 since the start of …

China construction in the bubble, iron ore demand risk remains

Ferrous Sector Money Flow: DCE iron ore aggregated open interest is up 38.97% from April 29th and reached the highest level in Q2, coking coal decreased by 18.55% during the same period. Steel, coke and flat glass used in house construction remained stable on open interest. Investors should be aware of money flow out of …

Commodities Bounce Back on Chinese Stimulus Anticipation and Vaccine Hopes

Freight prices jumped on Monday with front month Capesize futures up over 10% on anticipation of a large stimulus package out of China later this week. This created a knock-on effect into the smaller vessels with the Panamax front month futures up over 5%. Oil futures performed well with a USD 3.00 move higher, as …

Steel on the march as Brazil supply, port stocks fall

Iron ore futures soared on Monday on supply-side concerns as major producer Brazil becomes a global hotspot for coronavirus. The country has now close to a quarter of a million cases, the four largest total case count, and a death of over 16,000. According to shipping activity models by Westpac, supply from Brazil has fallen …

China Home-Price Growth Accelerates in Property Market Boost

China’s house-price growth accelerated in April as the central bank’s credit easing gave the property market a much-needed lift out of the coronavirus shutdown. * New-home prices in 70 major cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, gained 0.42% in April, National Bureau of Statistics data released Monday showed. That’s up from a 0.13% increase in March. * …

China’s Industrial Economy Improves While Consumers Remain Wary

China’s industrial output increased in April for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, adding to early signs of a recovery that economists cautioned would be slow and challenging. Industrial output rose 3.9% from a year earlier, reversing a drop of 1.1% in March, data showed Friday. Fixed-asset investment decreased 10.3% in the first four …