Commodities

The shortage of semiconductors is pushing up DRAM prices. (Photo by Kei Higuchi)
Commodities

Memory prices soar 60% from start of year amid virus crisis

Brisk demand for home electronics, pickup in auto output cause shortage

21 March 2021
A barley crop in Canada. Chinese importers are responding to a high tariff on Australian barley by buying more from Canada, France, Argentina and Ukraine.
Agriculture

China tariff on Australia's barley reshapes global trade

Surging price hits brewers and livestock farmers while exporters shift to new markets

19 March 2021
A worker at a Nippon Steel collection facility in Tokyo. The Japanese steelmaker is looking to transfer affected workers to different operations after cutting thousands of jobs.
Commodities

Nippon Steel cuts capacity 20% for zero-carbon future

Reorganization to affect 10,000 workers as company pivots to green tech

6 March 2021
China heavily relies on imports of rare-earth minerals, mainly from the U.S. and Myanmar. (Source photos by Reuters)
Comment

China worries over rare-earth supply disruption from Myanmar coup

Decade after drastic cut in exports to Japan, Beijing sees the tables turned

4 March 2021
A man works at Hoa Phat steel mill in Vietnam, a country that has seen its steel exports to China increase by a factor of nine.
Trade

China steel imports surge 150% in 2020 on economic stimulus boost

Asian producers reap big benefits but supply glut fears persist

2 March 2021
In December, Rio Tinto admitted the underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi would take an additional two years and $1.5 billion more than expected. 
Materials

Rio and Mongolia agree to replace $7bn plan to expand copper mine

New leaders to work out deal to better share rising project costs

1 March 2021
Farms in advanced economies have been relying on foreign labor. (Source photo by Reuters) 
Datawatch

Pandemic travel ban triggers spike in global food prices

Shortage of labor for harvests causes key index to surge to six-year high

28 February 2021
People cooped at home playing computer games have driven up demand for semiconductors. 
Electronics

China hoards used chipmaking machines to resist US pressure

Machines 'worthless several years ago' sell for $1 million

28 February 2021
Olam International faced a delay in an irrigation project in the African country due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Commodities

Olam says agricultural goods demand picking up on China recovery

Singapore commodity trader predicts rebound after net profit dropped 22% in 2020

26 February 2021
China's recovery in steel production was so strong that the country's crude steel output, in the end, rose 5.2% on the year to a record 1.05 billion tons in 2020.
Materials

China tells steelmakers to cut output again to stem price fall

Beijing takes lead in capacity reduction through corporate consolidation

25 February 2021
The world's oil exporters, including shale oil producers in the U.S., have been unusually like-minded about curtailing output.
Market Spotlight

Oil market bounces back from COVID depths on vaccine optimism

Further increases depend on OPEC+ countries' ability to maintain output cuts

22 February 2021
A Komatsu 980E dump truck: The Japanese manufacturer aims to add hydrogen-powered mining trucks to its lineup, which already includes electrics. (Photo by Paul H. Trantow)
Engineering & Construction

Komatsu aims for lead in hydrogen-powered mining trucks

Caterpillar rival looks to keep pace with resource groups' shift away from carbon

22 February 2021
Trucks haul ore at a Jiangxi Copper mine in Dexing, China. 
Commodities

China boosts rare-earth output amid growing tech war with US

New quota is 30% higher than last year as demand for EVs and robotics soars

21 February 2021
As Nippon Steel consolidates its production plants, about 3,000 employees are likely to be relocated. (Source photos by Hirofumi Yamamoto and Kyodo) 
Commodities

Nippon Steel to slash 20% of domestic capacity

Overcapacity and government's carbon neutrality push put blast furnace on ice

18 February 2021
Workers sort out plastic PET bottles at a Chinese recycling factory.
Environment

China aims to go as big in bioplastics as it did in solar panels

One supplier's 700,000 ton capacity buildup dwarfs global demand

13 February 2021
A petrol station in Kolkata, pictured in June 2020: Indian media whip up fears that pump prices would reach an unprecedented 100 rupees a liter.
Opinion

How Saudi Arabia's oil production cuts blindsided Asian consumers

Crude prices racing toward $60 a barrel unnerve Asia's consuming countries

11 February 2021
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing will buy a 7% stake in the new Guangzhou Futures Exchange for 210 million yuan ($32.5 million).
Finance

HKEX takes stake in new China exchange in landmark deal

Hong Kong exchange operator is first to own part of a mainland bourse

5 February 2021
One problem for investors in China, an analyst says, is that officials in Beijing are not clear on what they will protect and what they won't. (Source photos by AP and AFP/Jiji) 
China debt crunch

China's Yongcheng and Unigroup survive despite series of defaults

Troubles of two government-affiliated companies underscore investors' risks

4 February 2021
Despite volatility brought on by speculators, some analysts are bullish on silver: The metal is used in solar panels, demand for which is expected to rise amid a switch to green energy.
Commodities

Silver slips from 8-year high as day-trader frenzy cools

Reddit group sends metal spiraling after GameStop short squeeze

4 February 2021
The Sydney Opera House and harbor waterfront. Analysts expect that Australia's stock market is poised for a rebound as the global economy recovers and mining exports to China boom.
Market Spotlight

Australia investors eye boost for stocks as economic calm returns

Recovery expected after tepid 2020, but China tension and exchange rate pose risks

1 February 2021
A paper factory in Vietnam. Nine Dragons has stepped up investment in Vietnam and Malaysia to counter the impact of China's ban on wastepaper.
Materials

The paper queen's gambit: China's Nine Dragons bets on Southeast Asia

Leading manufacturer builds $4.6bn plant to overcome supply restrictions

31 January 2021
It is increasingly becoming clear that the stock rallies caused by monetary easing are not reflecting the real economy. (Source photo by Reuters)
Datawatch

K-shaped recovery complicates world economy amid pandemic

Chip and car industries heat up, while hotels and restaurants still suffer

24 January 2021
A BHP Billiton iron ore mine site at Newman, Western Australia. While other industries were hammered by COVID, Australia's mining companies enjoyed brisk demand from China in 2020.
Commodities

BHP and Rio rise above China-Australia tensions

Iron ore and copper prices hit 8-year highs amid Beijing's infrastructure spree

20 January 2021
A worker at a SQM lithium mine processing plant. Tianqi Lithium resolved to sit out SQM's latest capital raising. (Photo by Nozomu Ogawa)
China debt crunch

Tianqi Lithium cancels $2.5bn share sale after exchange objects

Shenzhen bourse questioned how purchase by chairman's company would be financed

18 January 2021
A machine extracts rare-earth materials at the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, China.
Commodities

China tightens rare-earth regulations, policing entire supply chain

Stricter export controls give Beijing leverage amid US tensions

16 January 2021