[+/-] : My Compatriots are in danger, plz help!

Thank you so much my friends who cares me and the other chinese.  Many many thanks for those who asked me if I'm ok, I live in Shanghai, in east coast of China where is almost not affected by the earthquake on May.12

BUT, millions of other Chinese live in Sichuan are now extremely suffering from the disaster, all I can see in the TV is that the situation is terrible, plz plz everyone just pray for those who are still not rescued and do something for the victims.

If you wanna donate for them, below is the link of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, PLZ help!  Thank you!

http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/response/sichuan-earthquake/index.asp ...
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[+/-] : Earthquake Hits Britain

The Biggest Tremor in 25 Years 二十五年来最强烈的地震

	The earthquake came as a surprise to people in Britain

On 27th February 2008, something very unusual happened in the UK; there was a rather large earthquake.

It was the biggest earthquake in 25 years in the UK. There have been very small tremors in the past but they pale into insignificance compared to this one.

It was felt in a large area across the country too, from as far north as Edinburgh in Scotland to as far south as Plymouth on the south coast of England.

The epicentre of the earthquake was in a small town in Lincolnshire, which is an area about two and a half to three hours north of London by car. A magnitude of 5.2 was registered on the Richter scale.

There were lots of reports in the news from people who felt the earth move. One man said, "We had loads of vibrating and wall shaking and stuff, noise coming off the roof. I came outside – the chimney's on the floor!"

A collapsed chimney was the cause of what was probably the worst injury from the earthquake; a man broke his pelvis when the chimney fell on him.

Another man who spoke to the BBC described the moment the earthquake occured, "Everything was shaking. As soon as it happened we all went outside and saw everyone else down the street, coming out and just realised it was an earthquake."

The huge rumble, that was felt by a lot of people, surprisingly caused very little structural damage to property.

Most British people would be surprised to learn that there are 200-300 earthquakes in Britain every year, but most of them are so small, they go unnoticed.

The magnitude of this earthquake is fairly small in comparison to some other natural disasters that have made international news, but for the people affected, it certainly came as quite a surprise.

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[+/-] : Chinese companies squeezed by electrolytic manganese export tariff

Unforged manganese, manganese scraps and powder, some other kinds of manganese and products made of manganese were put in Promulgating Catalog of Commodities under Administration of Export License, according to the latest announcement by the Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs.

This is another policy adopted by the government to regulate the industry of electrolytic manganese, following the 15 per cent export tariff on unforged manganese that began on Nov. 1, 2006. At the present, price of electrolytic manganese are surging, with a lot of contract-breaching on the market. And at the same time manganese companies are finding ways to export electrolytic manganese without paying the tariff. smm.Com.Cn

The export tariff levied since Jan. 1, 2006 heats the market of electrolytic manganese a lot. At the beginning, the buyers and sellers could not reach agreements on the prices of electrolytic manganese and this made lots of signed contract with the goods unshipped called off. But with the new year approaching, many buyers were starting to accept the prices which are raised from 1260-US$1280 per ton (FOB) to 1500-US$1550 per ton (FOB). 有色金属行业网站 www.smm.cn

Since Dec. 2006, the domestic prices of electrolytic manganese are surging again, because the supply of it are insufficient, especially the supply from Huaheng of Hunan and Xiushang of Chongqing, which are the top two source of manganese. Domestic sellers lift their prices to 1750-1800 US dollars pre ton (FOB) but the buyers abroad did not accepted them. The market depressed again. An analyst from Umetal.net notes that Chinese sellers may raise their prices again with the administration rules specified and the battle on prices will start again. 

According to the statistics of China customs, the production and exports of unforged manganese are affected seriously since Nov. last year. Many enterprises stopped exporting and the volume of manganese exports and the number of export enterprises decreased a lot. Unforged manganese exports in November is 2.4 tons and US$31.68 million, down by 2.7 per cent and 12.9 per cent year on year. Many large producers in Hunan province (the main place in China the manganese exported come from) stops exporting in November. For instance, Eastern Manganese Group Co. Ltd, once the top manganese export enterprise under administration of Changsha Customs, with a production capacity of 3500 tons had done no exports in Nov.

Nowadays, breaching contract in manganese industry is very popular, because plenty of companies would gain nothing, if they carry the original contract out. Such as, the contracts with shipping date after Nov. 1 about 70 per cent of which cannot be performed as prescribed. Many small enterprises with incapability to execute the contract breached them. Only a few huge enterprises performed their contract, protecting their enterprises' reputation.

Besides raising their prices, many companies try to haven the tariff in producing manganese. There are mainly two ways to avoid tariff: One is to export manganese as manganese and aluminium alloy. They first produce pure electrolytic manganese and then blend the manganese and aluminium together, which contains 85 per cent of manganese, 15 per cent of aluminium, in a way of forging them into some shapes. When they declare customs, they use such names as manganese and aluminium, manganese and aluminium additive, manganese and aluminium briquette, and so on. In this way, they get 13 per cent tax reimbursement tariff free. So such exporting is expanding quickly.

Another way is to export manganese in the form of manganese-iron alloy. In the process of producing manganese, they add iron to manganese, which makes the manganese contain only 4-5 per cent of iron. In clearing customs they use the name of manganese-iron alloy and they only pay 10 per cent tariff. Foreign buyers are likely to accept it because of its higher purity.

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[+/-] : Antimony prices hold high

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 4 May 08 – Supported by the high price in European spot market, antimony ingot price keeps firm in China. The tight supply of antimony concentrate is also considered as one of the factors leading to the strong market.
"As Chinese government is enhancing the control of dynamite for safety concern, many small mines were forced to close, and thus the supply of antimony is tightening," a Hunan-based antimony ingot producer said. "Therefore, antimony ingot producers insist on high offers of the material for fear that they cannot get enough raw material for production in the following two months."
The source, who concluded a few deals at RMB38,000-38,100/t (USD5,429-5,443/t) VAT excluded for standard grade-two antimony ingot, is currently offering RMB38,300/t (USD5,471/t) VAT excluded for the material.
The smelter is operating according to antimony concentrate obtained and holds 50-60t of antimony ingot in stock. With an optimistic attitude towards the future market, the source is not hurried to sell at the moment.
Another trader from East China also attributed the firm price of antimony ingot to the short supply of raw material. Additionally, the strong market in Europe also strengthens Chinese producers' confidence about a bullish market.
The source reported that many producers are holding on for higher prices and thus he has difficulty replenishing stocks at a reasonable price. "Some producers quote as high as RMB42,000/t (USD6,000/t) ex works for standard grade-two antimony ingot," said the source who put the mainstream price at RMB41,000-41,300/t (USD5,857-5,900/t) ex works.
Confirming that the raw material supply is getting tighter owing to the control of dynamite, the source predicted that the market would keep at the current high level in the near term. ...
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[+/-] : Antimony trioxide export prices up

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 5 May 08 - Stimulated by higher production cost and the appreciation of Chinese currency, suppliers raise export offers of antimony trioxide to USD5,350-5,400/t FOB Chinese main ports from USD5,300-5,350/t FOB seen late April. Meanwhile, products with famous brand such as Twinkling Star are being offered at USD5,450-5,500/t FOB, market sources reported to Asian Metal.
A Guangdong-based trader raised export quotation to USD5,400/t FOB for antimony trioxide 99.5%min without famous brand whereas the previous deal was concluded at USD5,250/t FOB two weeks ago. The source reported that the main reasons for the price adjustment are higher purchase cost and also the depreciation of US dollar.
The source reported that demand keeps moderate from overseas market and the company exports 100- 150t of the material every month. However, the source acknowledged that many buyers are scared away by the price jump and plan to watch for a while before purchasing.
A Hong Kong-based trader also reported that the export price of antimony trioxide has been on the rise in line with the increasing market of antimony ingot. Offers received after the May Day holiday were at USD5,350-5,400/t FOB for products with common brand while the famous-branded materials were offered at USD5,450-5,500/t FOB, nearly USD100/t higher than the offers late April.
"We were told that the material is sold at RMB36,500-37,000/t (USD5,214-5,286/t) ex works in Chinese domestic market, and that's why suppliers lifted offers to USD5,400-5,450/t FOB," said the source. As the antimony ingot market is showing signs of rising further on the tight supply of antimony concentrate, the
source thinks that the antimony trioxide price will also keep at the upward trend in the near term. ...
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[+/-] : Analysis: risks ahead China's nonferrous metal industry

Worldwide economic risks and China's tight economic measures are anticipated to exert negative influence on China's nonferrous metal industry.

Credit crunch triggered by the U.S. real estate industry is passing on its influence to developing countries including China, adding risks on nonferrous metal industry from macro-economic prospective.

Influenced by credit crisis, nonferrous metals in late March ever experienced price nose-dive on international futures market.

Also affected by worldwide crisis, such preliminary products as crude oil, iron ore, copper and alumina are undergoing price rise, pushing up production cost of nonferrous metals.

Under such circumstances, international giants hasten acquisition of small metal companies, further reinforcing their monopolistic position but weakening China's enterprises weight on international market.

Domestically, the tight economic measures to be implemented this year will deteriorate the situation for nonferrous metal industry. China has lifted doorsill for entering industries related to manufacture copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, tungsten, tin and antimony in a bid to wash out backward production capacity.

Besides, other factors such as RMB appreciation and tight credit would affect the development of nonferrous industry.

Snow disaster that hit southern China this winter brought huge economic losses to nonferrous metal enterprises.

According to statistics, 28 electrolytic aluminum makers suffered more than 1.6 million tons of production capacity. A majority of nonferrous metal enterprises in Hunan province had to halt production.

Other heavyweight enterprises such as Jiangxi Copper Corporation, Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group, Daye Nonferrous Metals Company, Jingxi Tungsten Industry Group and Zunyi Titanium were all influenced production. – China Mining

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