AUSTRALIA – COMMERCE – CHINA

China’s steel production to fall

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker, Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 5-Feb-15

The iron ore price may fall to below $US60 ($A77) a tonne, having dropped 50% between September 2013 and early February 2015. The commodity is now trading at $US63, but China Iron & Steel Association executive vice secretary-general Li Xinchuang forecasts a further weakening in demand. In response, dominant Australian producers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have ramped up their output while also cutting their cash costs by nearly half. Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of US-based rival Cliffs Natural Resources, has criticised the strategy

CORPORATES
CHINA IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INCORPORATED, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU, SOUTH32 LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP

Finance, tourism, health win China deal

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Nov-14

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a free trade agreement on 17 November 2014, after a decade of negotiations. It is believed that tariffs on about 85 per cent of Australian exports to China will be scrapped when the deal commences, rising to 93 per cent in the next four years. Service industries in particular are set to benefit from the deal, including law firms, tourism operators, financial services providers and health care groups

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, CHINA. MINISTRY OF FINANCE

BHP’s big cost crusher

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 7-Oct-14

BHP Billiton will invest nearly $A2bn to increase its iron ore exports from 225 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 290 million tonnes by mid-2017. The resources giant aims to reduce its cost per tonne to less than $A20, and it will seek to displace Rio Tinto as the lowest-cost iron ore exporter to China. In 2013 Rio Tinto unveiled a strategy to increase its iron ore exports to around 330 million tonnes, eventually rising to 360 million

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED

Miners face coal import ban

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 18 : 15-Sep-14

Australian miners will be affected if China implements an import ban on lower quality coal. The ban on coal high in ash and sulphur has been proposed by the China National Coal Association. It is estimated that the standard would apply to nearly half of Australia’s exportable thermal coal, putting at risk about 40 million tonnes of coal exports a year

CORPORATES
CHINA NATIONAL COAL ASSOCIATION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WOOD MACKENZIE, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY ECONOMICS

Aussie wine is a hard sell in China

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Aug-14

Resources entrepreneur Andrew Forrest has launched a new push to boost agricultural exports by Australian producers to China. However Rathbone Wine Group MD Darren Rathbone warns that in his experience there is a significant and lengthy effort needed to gain entry into the Chinese market, and the strategy may not save the struggling wine industry in Australia from further business collapses. Rathbone has established his own distribution network for the Yering Station, Mount Langi Ghiran and Xanadu brands, but says Chinese wine consumers still prefer French labels due to the perceived prestige

CORPORATES
RATHBONE WINE GROUP PTY LTD, YERING ESTATE PTY LTD, MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN ESTATE, XANADU WINES PTY LTD, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SA, GUCCI GROUP NV