Commodities

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing: The Standing Committee of China's parliament is set to debate a new export control law in a session starting Oct. 13.
US-China tensions

China readies new law to ban companies on national security grounds

Rare earths, drones and other exports at risk as Beijing counters US Entity List

10 October 2020
Japanese wastepaper suppliers have boosted exports by 10% this year. (Photo by Masahiro Shiroyama)
Commodities

Wastepaper demand surges in Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan

Coronavirus disrupts collection, offering windfall for Japanese exporters

8 October 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden are both keen on securing rare-earth metals. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters)
Commodities

Trump vs. Biden buffets oil, gold and rare-earth markets

President's hospitalization led to sharp move in commodity prices

8 October 2020
Imported LNG arrives in northern Japan at a Hokkaido Electric Power terminal. LNG prices plunged this year as economic activities froze due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Commodities

Severe winter forecast sparks recovery in Asia's LNG prices

Production halts by hurricanes also help bring market out of coronavirus funk

6 October 2020
China in May slapped a prohibitive 80% tariff on barley imports from Australia, one of the world's main exporters of the grain.
Commodities

Australian barley hits 3-year low amid friction with Beijing

Exports to China nosedive, triggered by conflict over origin of pandemic

3 October 2020
A worker at Chinese steel mill cuts scrap metal. Beijing may lift import restrictions on the raw material.
Commodities

Japan scrap steel prices spike as China prepares to resume imports

Harvested from demolished buildings, material is a steelmaking input

3 October 2020
A hot steel slab heads to the rollers at Nippon Steel's Kimitsu works in 2018. (Photo by Kotaro Igarashi)
Materials

Nippon Steel to restart blast furnace on car and appliance demand

Exclusive: Japanese crude steel capacity to return to 90% of pre-pandemic level

3 October 2020
Windmill turbines in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam: the pace of growth in alternative energies could easily end up lagging the decline in oil and gas production.
Opinion

Asia's real energy crisis will hit the day it stops looking for oil

Alternative energy nowhere near being able to replace traditional fossil fuels

2 October 2020
Boys watch an Australian Navy ship maneuver off the coast of Dili, the capital of East Timor: the country's long-held dream to create a domestic petroleum industry is in jeopardy.
Opinion

COVID-19 wipes out East Timor's dreams of oil and gas riches

Chinese investment the only hope for project championed by Xanana Gusmao

26 September 2020
Wilmar has a distribution network covering more than 50 countries and regions with its largest operations in China. 
Food & Beverage

Singapore agribusiness giant Wilmar joins China IPO rush

Core subsidiary to raise $2bn in Shenzhen listing partly from state funds

24 September 2020
A coffee plantation in Vietnam, the largest producer of robust beans in the world: Japanese imports of robusta, mostly used in instant coffee products, are rising.
Commodities

Vietnam now Japan's top coffee supplier, fueled by COVID

Demand for robusta beans used in instant brew gets jolt from home drinkers

19 September 2020
A farmer harvests soybeans in Indiana. China purchases about 40% of U.S.-grown soy.
US-China tensions

China doubles US soybean contracts ahead of November election

Beijing uses possible delays and cancellations in diplomatic game with Washington

17 September 2020
A Canadian icebreaker in Nunavut: Many countries, including China, are interested in the Arctic's rich mineral and gas deposits.
International relations

Chinese gold miner's Arctic ambitions face chill in Canada

Many oppose state-owned company gaining foothold in the northern sea

17 September 2020
Top Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group seeks a stronger presence in China, the world's biggest pork market. (Photo courtesy of CP Foods)
Agriculture

Thai CP Group to build China pork business through share swap

Conglomerate will acquire 43 operations, from breeding to food processing

14 September 2020
A protest in Perth following Rio Tinto's destruction of two ancient rock shelters. Shareholders also voiced concern over the mining giant's actions.
Commodities

Australia miners fear further blast fallout after Rio CEO's exit

Resource companies expect more curbs after destruction of ancient Juukan cave

11 September 2020
Public concern in China about food security has intensified since June this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and severe flooding.
Caixin

Chinese wheat farmers expect prices to soar and hoard harvest

COVID and bad weather stoke food security fears despite government assurance

9 September 2020
China ramped up oil imports by more than 10% year over year in the first seven months of 2020.
Commodities

China hoards resources as trade war and pandemic threaten supply

Data points to rising oil, cobalt and grain reserves amid disasters

7 September 2020
Petronas reported its first quarterly net loss since fourth quarter of 2015 in the April-to-June period.
Energy

Malaysia's Petronas reports $5bn net loss for April-to-June period

State energy company faces low oil prices and COVID lockdown-induced weak demand

4 September 2020
Children scoop rice into their bowls during lunch time at a Japanese nursery school.
Commodities

Japan's appetite for rice takes biggest plunge in 7 years

Besides tax hike and economic downturn, Tokyo's farm policy also blamed for drop

3 September 2020
An Olam pepper plantation in Vietnam. The Singaporean trading house handles cocoa, coffee, spices, edible oils and cotton along supply chains that span more than 60 countries.
Interview

Cotton and rubber demand recovery more than 2 years off: Olam CEO

Singapore trader says supply chain and logistics disruptions have bottomed out

31 August 2020
Tugboats dock an oil tanker at the port of Zhoushan: Chinese refiners ramped up imports of U.S. crude arriving in July and August to more than 1 million barrels a day.
Opinion

Oil price shocks set to jolt Asia, no matter who wins US election

Region's oil-hungry economies should start preparing to roll with the punches

27 August 2020
Mist shrouds the Simandou mountains in Guinea, a region that holds untapped reserves of iron ore.
Caixin

China's opportunities and risks in Africa's giant iron ore field

Guinea region holds world's largest untapped reserves but lacks infrastructure

26 August 2020
A tractor reinforces the banks of the Gantang River near the Qingshitan Reservoir in Lingchuan county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on July 17, 2020.
Companies

China's flooding slams rare earth, fertilizer and other industries

Economy recovering from coronavirus lockdowns now threatened by deluge

24 August 2020
A rare earth mine in China's Inner Mongolia. China is said to control 90% of heavy rare earth minerals.
Commodities

US-Australia bid for 'China free' rare earth faces challenges

Mining the minerals is seen as akin to buying a whole cow for the sirloin

18 August 2020
Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, pictured in June 2016, admitted that he did not know the cultural significance of the site before his company blew it up. 
Opinion

Rio Tinto chief must resign after Aboriginal site demolition

Pension funds should divest after mining giant destroyed culturally significant caves

15 August 2020