China’s Got Problems, But Inflation Ain’t One
Forecasts for the second year of strong global growth face two main dangers: the health of China’s economy and the prospect of much higher U.S. interest rates. How the world’s Continue Reading
China’s zero-Covid policy poses challenge for manufacturers and supply chains
China’s battle to contain the Omicron coronavirus variant risks choking already stretched global supply chains, manufacturing managers and analysts have warned, threatening production of goods ranging from smartphones to furniture. Continue Reading
Supply Chain Woes Could Worsen as China Imposes Covid Lockdowns
Companies are bracing for another round of potentially debilitating supply chain disruptions as China, home to about a third of global manufacturing, imposes sweeping lockdowns in an attempt to keep Continue Reading
China’s Economy is Slowing, a Worrying Sign for the World
Construction and property sales have slumped. Small businesses have shut because of rising costs and weak sales. Debt-laden local governments are cutting the pay of civil servants. China’s economy slowed Continue Reading
China’s crude throughput rises 5% to 14.13 mil b/d in 2021, falls 2% on year in Dec
China’s GDP expands 8.1% in 2021, grows 4% in Q4 Crude throughput to rise 454,000 b/d in 2022: Platts Analytics Crude output rises 3% to hit 4 million b/d in Continue Reading
Indonesia may release additional 22 ships amid coal export ban
Highlights 34 ships already released for export Miners hope ban to be lifted for those meeting domestic market obligation Meeting to review Nov-Dec DMO fulfillment Jan. 18-20 Indonesia may release Continue Reading
Japan to explore 1.4 Tcf of recoverable gas reserves for 46.7 Bcf/year output
Gas shows indicate more than Japan’s total 1 Tcf recoverable gas reserves Estimated gas production equates to 1.2% of the country’s consumption Gas self-sufficiency rate seen rising to 3.4%, from Continue Reading
China Cuts Interest Rate as Growth Risks Worsen With Omicron
China’s central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in almost two years to help bolster an economy that’s lost momentum because of a property slump and Continue Reading
China Home Market Slump Deepens as Prices Fall for Fourth Month
China’s home prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in December, as the credit crunch in the property sector showed little sign of easing. New home prices in 70 cities, Continue Reading
China’s Attempt To Kill The Oil Rally Is Bound To Fail
China’s recent announcement that it will release oil from its reserves has been largely ignored by oil markets A combination of a weak dollar, lower-than-expected OPEC+ production, supply issues in Continue Reading
China Set To Release Crude From Strategic Reserve In Early February
China has agreed with the United States to release crude from its SPR around the Lunar New Year holiday on February 1 The volume of the release may depend on Continue Reading
China’s Crude Imports Fell For The First Time In 20 Years
Crude oil imports into China fell by 5.4 percent last year on an annual basis for the first time in two decades, Reuters reported citing statistical data from Beijing. According Continue Reading
Hottest temperature recorded in Southern Hemisphere tied in Australia
The Southern Hemisphere may have just matched its hottest temperature on record Thursday. A station in Onslow, a small coastal town in Western Australia, registered a sweltering 123.3 degrees (50.7 Continue Reading
Beijing meets state air quality standards for first time in 2021
The Chinese capital Beijing met state air quality standards for the first time last year, officials said on Tuesday, a milestone lauded by experts, who also warned that pollution remained Continue Reading
China Faces Mounting Economic Damage From Its Covid-Zero Policy
In 2021, China managed to stamp out scattered Covid outbreaks while still delivering annual economic growth in the neighborhood of 8%. It helped that, even as the country kept its Continue Reading
U.S. criticizes China over canceled flights
The Biden administration on Wednesday criticized China’s decision to cancel a growing number of flights from the United States to China because of passengers who later tested positive for COVID-19 Continue Reading
Chinese city of Dalian finds Omicron case from Tianjin
The northeastern Chinese city of Dalian detected one COVID-19 infection of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, state television said in a report late on Wednesday. The virus Continue Reading
Omicron Spreads in China; Germany Cases at Record: Virus Update
China detected omicron in a second major port city, deepening concern of a wider outbreak at Beijing’s doorstep and raising the prospect that more foreign businesses might follow Toyota Motor Continue Reading
Omicron Puts China’s Zero-Covid Strategy to Its Toughest Test
Over the past two years, China has used some of the strictest measures anywhere to keep Covid-19 out and long succeeded in holding numbers down. But as Omicron poses the Continue Reading
China Is The Only Winner In This Huge Iraqi Oil Field
The statement last week from Iraq’s Oil Minister, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, that the newly resurrected Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) has been given government approval to acquire ExxonMobil’s 32.7 percent Continue Reading
China Buys More Sanctioned Oil From Iran, Venezuela at a Bargain
China doubled down on imports of Iranian and Venezuelan crude in 2021, taking the most from the U.S.-sanctioned regimes in three years as the nation’s refiners brushed off the risk Continue Reading
China’s Consumers Risk FOMO (fear of missing out) as Electric Cars’ Popularity Soars
Stay on top of the electric car revolution by signing up to our Hyperdrive newsletter here . Welcome to 2022 from Beijing. After the explosive growth last year in China’s Continue Reading
Why Australia Is Struggling To Kick Its Coal Addiction
Developed nations around the world are aggressively pursuing the replacement of coal power, but Australia is struggling to turn its back on what it sees as an economically vital commodity Continue Reading
China Gorges On Cheap, Sanctioned Oil From Iran, Venezuela
China doubled down on imports of Iranian and Venezuelan crude in 2021, taking the most from the U.S.-sanctioned regimes in three years, as refiners brushed off the risk of penalties Continue Reading
China locks down third city, raising affected to 20 million
A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people. It wasn’t Continue Reading
China’s Solar Giants Have a Fix for Their Broken Supply Chain
The supply chain snarl that tripled the price of a key raw material for solar panels is about to get fixed, clearing the way for a renewed boom in the Continue Reading
What We Can Learn From South Korea’s Hydrogen Strategy
South Korea plans a pivot to hydrogen. Should we care? Well, South Korea, with a population of 52 million, is the tenth largest economy in the world, has the fifth Continue Reading
U.S. poised to break covid-19 hospitalization record
The United States is poised to surpass its record for covid-19 hospitalizations as soon as Tuesday, with no end in sight to skyrocketing case loads, falling staff levels and the struggles of Continue Reading
U.S. breaks COVID-19 hospitalization record at over 132,000 as Omicron surges
COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States reached a record high on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as a surge in infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant strains Continue Reading
Threat of omicron keeps China walled off, as scientists search for more-effective coronavirus vaccines – The Washington Post
A year ago, Chinese health experts had hoped the country could safely reopen to the world by now, as it attained herd immunity against the coronavirus. China achieved last month the Continue Reading
Indonesia may allow coal exports to resume Monday or Tuesday – minister
Indonesia may allow coal exports to resume by the end of Monday or Tuesday, as domestic demand has been met, senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan said. “End of today or tomorrow Continue Reading
Omicron Inches Closer to Beijing Ahead of Winter Olympics
How the Covid Surge Could Impact Beijing Olympics Omicron arrived in a port city that borders Beijing and spread inland before Chinese officials detected it, seeding the highly contagious variant Continue Reading
Covid-19 and Vaccine Mandate News: Live Updates
Cities across Germany braced for major protests against coronavirus restrictions on Monday, and a tough new vaccine requirement came into force in Italy as governments across Europe continued to tighten Continue Reading
Sinopharm protein-based booster stronger against Omicron than earlier shot -study
A protein-based COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinopharm, when given as a booster after two doses of an earlier shot from the Chinese firm, elicited a stronger antibody response against the Continue Reading
Explainer: How Indonesia, the world’s top thermal coal exporter, hit a supply crunch
Indonesia, the world’s biggest thermal coal exporter, sent shockwaves through global energy markets this week by suspending exports of the fuel in January due to critically low coal supplies at Continue Reading
Vinfast announces all-electric strategy and full electric vehicle lineup; halting ICE production by end of year
At CES 2022, Vietnam-based VinFast announced its new development strategy and revealed its complete electric vehicle lineup covering five segments. VinFast said will stop producing vehicles with internal combustion engines Continue Reading
China’s Latest Lockdown Shows Stubborn Resolve on Zero-Covid
Every two days at the University of Xi’an in China, cleaners dressed in white hazmat suits taped tight to their bodies disinfect the dormitory hallways. Zhang Shengzi, a 24-year-old student, Continue Reading
Xi’an Is China’s Biggest Covid Challenge Since Wuhan
Every two days at the University of Xi’an in China, cleaners dressed in white hazmat suits taped tight to their bodies disinfect the dormitory hallways. Zhang Shengzi, a 24-year-old student, Continue Reading
Analyst Outlines Omicron Oil Demand Impact
Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen, offers his insight. Real-time transportation data globally suggests there has not been any significant impact on oil demand so far from Omicron. Continue Reading
China Secures Foothold In This Strategic Middle East Oil State
Oman continues to expand its cooperation with China as it looks to build out its petrochemical sector Oman’s options to raise money through conventional bond offerings remain constrained China already Continue Reading
Anger at Xi’an Lockdown Spreads in China – WSJ
Authorities in the Chinese city of Xi’an relented in some of their pandemic restrictions after a nationwide outcry over the account of a woman who lost her unborn baby in Continue Reading
Yuzhou: Second Chinese city forced into Covid lockdown
The first city out into a recent lockdown was Xi’an on 23 December China has put a second city into total lockdown after just three asymptomatic Covid cases were discovered. Continue Reading
China Slashes Fuel Export Quotas By 56%
China has considerably reduced the allowances for fuel exports in the first export quota batch for 2022, signaling its intention to limit fuel sales abroad and curb excessive refinery output. Continue Reading
China reports major drop in virus cases in locked-down Xi’an
China on Wednesday reported a major drop in local COVID-19 infections in the northern city of Xi’an, which has been under a tight lockdown for the past two weeks that Continue Reading
Evergrande Is Told to Tear Down 39 Buildings on Man-Made Island
The crisis engulfing China Evergrande Group EGRNF 6.68% deepened, as the embattled property developer said it had been ordered to tear down dozens of buildings on an extravagant man-made island in southern China. At the same Continue Reading
Lockdown of Chinese City Leaves 13 Million Stranded
A week and a half into one of the biggest pandemic lockdowns in China, residents of Xi’an voiced desperation online about challenges in getting food and medical care. China’s Covid-19 count remains Continue Reading
Sony Looks to Sell Its Own Electric Vehicles
Sony Group Corp. said it would create a car unit and explore entering the electric-vehicle market, in another sign of how the electronics and car businesses are overlapping. At the CES Continue Reading
Chinese banks cut back traditional lending as concern over economy mounts
Chinese banks rushed to meet their annual state-imposed lending quotas last month by buying up low-risk financial instruments rather than issuing loans, a surge that bankers and analysts said reflected Continue Reading
In China’s Xi’an lockdown, tales of anguish as hospitals demand patients are covid-free – The Washington Post
On the first day of 2022, outside Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital, in the middle of China’s worst coronavirus outbreak since Wuhan, a woman eight months pregnant miscarried after being refused care until she Continue Reading
China’s Dec manufacturing PMI rises, uptrend likely to continue in early 2022
Highlights Manufacturing sector continues to recover in H1 2022 Concerns remain on overseas demand in H2 2022 The Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers index continued to rise in December at 50.3 Continue Reading