Economy/Resources - 67. page

Taiwanese newspaper Commercial Times recently reported that, in response to the tight power supply situation, the Chinese government has asked coal companies to increase their mining production. China’s coal production this year is expected to increase by 220 million tons, exceeding the annual mining output of all of Western Europe and hitting the global carbon reduction target. This happened while the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) debuted in Glasgow, Scotland. Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping did not attend COP26. Currently, China is the world’s largest carbon emitter. A few weeks ago, due to the shortage of the coal supply, China experienced widespread power cuts, which paralyzed many industrial cities. Now a “Supply Guarantee” has become a national slogan across Chinese media and among government announcements. Before the current official government requirements to accelerate coal production, China’s coal mining and consumption had already exceeded the rest of the world’s coal production combined. This will cause a huge loss to the global efforts to respond to climate change.

Source: Commercial Times, October 31, 2021
https://ctee.com.tw/news/china/540592.html

On October 31, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued a “Food Conservation Action Program.”

It has the following sections:

1. Overall requirements
2. Improve the conservation and loss reduction in the agricultural production chain
3. Improve the loss reduction in food storage
4. Improve the loss reduction in food transportation
5. Improve the conservation and loss reduction in food processing
6. Resolutely curb the waste in food and drink consumption
7. Push for innovation on food conservation and loss reduction
8. Strengthen the propaganda and education on food conservation and loss reduction
9. Strengthen the food safeguarding measures

Source: China’s Government Site, November 1, 2021
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-11/01/content_5648085.htm

Sina reported that on October 26, China’s Foreign Investment Department of the Development and Reform Commission, together with the Capital Department of the Foreign Exchange Bureau, held a forum with some key industry players to discuss their foreign debts.

Nine Chinese real estate companies have missed the payments on their U.S. dollar debts, including Oceanwide Holdings (泛海控股), Fantasia (花样年), China Fortune Land Development (华夏幸福), Sunshine 100 China (阳光100中国), The Tianfang Group (天房集团), The Sannong Group (泰禾集团), Sinic Holdings (新力控股), Languang Dev (蓝光发展), and Modern Land (当代置业). The combined unpaid debt is US$ 28.073 billion.

Source: Sina, October 27, 2021
https://finance.sina.com.cn/china/2021-10-27/doc-iktzqtyu3754338.shtml

On October 15, Zhongwang, the Hong Kong-listed Chinese aluminum extrusion manufacturer, suddenly announced that its subsidiaries had encountered serious operational issues. Three of the independent non-executive directors resigned. The Zhongwang Group is Asia’s largest manufacturer of industrial aluminum extrusion products and a Chinese Communist-controlled military-civilian fusion company.

The Zhongwang Group was formed in 1993 in Liaoning province. In 2009, the holding company, China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2017, Zhongwang acquired Una Aluminum, a high-end German aluminum extrusion company, and Silver Yachts, an Australian all-aluminum super yacht maker. On August 30, Zhongwang suspended trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after it failed to release its financial results by the day they were due.

In 2014 through 2017, Forbes and Hurun named Liu Zhongtian, founder of the Zhongwang Group, the richest man in Liaoning province and the richest man in Northeastern China. He was once worth nearly 30 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion). In 2020, Zhongwang’s share price dropped below 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion). In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Liu for an alleged scheme to avoid payment of $1.8 billion in custom duties.

Source: Epoch Times, October 21, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/10/16/n13309339.htm

On October 18, 2021, the French newspaper Les Echos published an article entitled, “The World’s Incredible Dependence on Chinese Containers.” The article pointed out that the global container industry is heavily dependent on China and almost all container boxes are made in China. China produces more than 96 percent of the world’s dry cargo containers, 100 percent of the world’s refrigerated containers and more than 90 percent of tank containers. The shortage of containers is one of the main bottlenecks affecting maritime cargo transportation and global supply chains.

In the Spring of this year, the purchase price of the popular 40-foot container on the market exceeded US$6,500,  which is double the price from a year ago and reached the highest point since 1998. The prices of refrigerated containers and tank containers are also on the rise. According to Eurotainer, the world’s leading tank container leasing company, within one year, the purchase price of tank containers has risen from US$13,000 to US$21,000.

Drewry, a maritime research and consulting firm, said the first six months of this year saw China’s dry container production jump 235 percent year-on-year to 3 million 20-foot equivalent units. Manufacturers’ order books are full and delivery times are getting longer and longer. Driven by this strong demand, the container manufacturer China International Marine Containers Co. (CIMC) achieved a net profit of 4.39 billion yuan (600 million euros) in the first half of this year, an increase of 1,739 percent over the same period last year.

Source: Radio France International, October 18, 2021
https://rfi.my/7q89