National Development And Reform Commission News

China's state economic planner has approved natural gas company Hanas Group's plan to build a receiving terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the southeastern province of Fujian.The terminal will have an annual receiving capacity of 5.65 million tonnes of the super-chilled fuel, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Wednesday.(Reuters - Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Chinese iron ore futures dived more than 8% late on Friday after the country's regulators and industry association issued warnings against recent unusual price moves of the key steelmaking ingredient.Earlier on Friday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is the country's state planner, said it and the market regulator would dispatch investigation teams to the commodity exchange and key ports to look into iron ore inventories and trading in the spot and futures market.The NDRC…

China's state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Monday it and the market regulator are jointly looking into the iron ore spot market and have pledged to crack down on hoarding and speculation.The move comes after NDRC said on Thursday that new rules on the management of price indexes for commodities and services will be effective Aug. 1 and will standardise price index compilation and transparency of information.During a visit to the Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center Corporation (COREX)…

China has approved a long-awaited tax waiver on exports of cleaner ship fuel, paving the way for refiners to boost output, though Beijing may initially limit shipments to focus on growing its coastal marine fuel market, state refiner officials say.Ships globally have switched to lower sulphur fuels, or use emissions-removing devices, to comply with new rules imposed by the International Maritime Organization this year.China's State Council, or cabinet, gave the go-ahead to waive taxes on the 0.5% or very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO)…

Freight rates for dry-bulk and container ships, carriers of most of the world's raw materials and finished goods, have plunged over the last six months in the latest sign the global economy is slowing significantly.The Baltic Dry Index, measure of ship transport costs for materials like iron ore and coal, has fallen by 47 percent since mid-2018, when a trade dispute between the United States and China resulted in the world's two biggest economies slapping import tariffs on each other's goods.Dry-bulk commodities are taken as a leading economic indicator…

Abu Dhabi Ports on Monday inaugurated the new Cosco Shipping Container Terminal at Khalifa with a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).The new CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal, which includes the largest container freight station in the Middle East, is expected to boost Abu Dhabi’s position as a global maritime hub and support China’s One Belt One Road initiative.CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal is the first international green-field subsidiary of Cosco Shipping Ports; water depth of the semi-automatic terminal is 16.5 metres which allow it to accommodate megavessels typically in excess of 20,000 TEU, said a stock exchange annoucement.With an annual design capacity of 2.5 million TEU…

Moody's Investors Service says that the announcement by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of a cut in the handling tariff for import and export containers is credit negative for Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd (SIPG), but will not immediately affect SIPG's A1 issuer rating or the A2 backed senior unsecured bond ratings of Shanghai Port Group (BVI) Holding Co., Ltd. The ratings outlook remains stable. "The reduction in tariff will negatively impact SIPG's profitability and cash flow generation capability from 2018 onwards, and reduce the financial headroom for its standalone credit profile," says Osbert Tang, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst, and the Local Market Analyst for SIPG.

China's determination to tackle its choking pollution by cutting steel and coal capacity should be a long-term negative for exporters of iron ore and coal to the world's biggest commodity importer, but the reality is likely to be far more nuanced. "We will make our skies blue again," Premier Li Keqiang told the opening of parliament on Sunday. That's an unequivocal statement that gives political impetus to Beijing's plans to shutter more excess steel and coal capacity. The policy…

Eleven container liner transportation companies have promised to cut or standardize the Terminal Handling Charges (THC) in order to lower nearly 3.5 billion yuan burden of export enterprises each year, according to National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). According to a report in Shanghai Daily, the shipping companies include  China COSCO Shipping Cooperation, Maersk line, Mediterranean shipping, Hapag-Lloyd AG, Evergreen Marine, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines, Sinotrans Shipping. These companies have written to the NDRC and Ministry of Transport promising in standardize THC by adjusting cost standard. Chinese trading companies "reported" the excessively high and non-transparent surcharges to the NDRC.

Abu Dhabi Ports has signed a container terminal concession agreement with COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited - Abu Dhabi (CSPL SPV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of container terminal operator COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, a subsidiary of China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited. The event was held in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports, Zheng Chiping, Deputy Director of the foreign investment department of the National Development and Reform Commission of PRC and Wan Min…

China's import of  liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell 1.1% in 2015, marking the first year-on-year decline since imports began in 2006, according to a report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Chinese LNG imports have grown steadily in the last 10 years, from 0.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2006 to 1.3 Bcf/d in 2010, and have more than doubled since then. They reached their peak in 2014 at 2.7 Bcf/d, making China the third-largest LNG importer globally after Japan and South Korea, EIA said in the report. In 2015, however, LNG imports declined 0.1 Bcf/d to 2.6 Bcf/d, reflecting in part a slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy and lower prices of competing fuels, EIA said. China has 13 LNG import terminals in operation with a combined capacity of 5.4 Bcf/d.

Shipbuilders in China will continue facing rough weather. According to a report in Bloomberg, new orders received by Chinese shipbuilders fell by nearly half last year from 2014, suggesting more consolidation is in order as the country’s appetite for raw materials wanes and shipping rates languish at multiyear lows. Shipyards in China received new orders amounting to 31.3 million deadweight tons last year, a world-leading 34 percent share of the global market. Backlog orders fell 12 percent to 123 million deadweight tons, or 36 percent of global market share. The shipbuilding will lag behind their foreign rivals as cumbersome financing conditions and prolonged excess capacity continue to crimp industry profits and push smaller shipyards out, experts said.

China has fined seven shipping companies, including Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, a total of 407 million yuan ($62.85 million) for price-fixing, the country's state economic planner said in a statement on Monday. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the companies colluded to raise rates on shipments of cars, trucks, and construction machinery across five shipping routes, including between China and Europe, for at least four years, violating the country's anti-monopoly laws. The other six companies fined were Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines and Eastern Car Liner Ltd., South Korea's Eukor Car Carriers, Norway's Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS, Chile's Compania Sud Americana de Vapores, and a separate shipping subsidiary within CSAV, the NDRC said.

China is going after container shipping lines for freight rate abuses. The Chinese Ministry of Transport has fined a total of $65 million on price-fixing charges. The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that the imposed fines are equivalent to 4% to 9% of their international shipping sales “concerning transport to and from China". The investigation lasted for more than a year, the NDRC said. Japan's Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui OSK lines, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Eastern Car Liner, Korea's Eukor Car Carriers, Norway's Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, Chile's Cia Sud Americana de Vapores and its shipping line were the eight indicted after a year-long investigation.

China's National Development and Reform Commission  (NDRC) is visiting several major container shipping lines’ offices in Shanghai and throughout the country as part of its surcharges investigation. According to local media reports, NDRC investigators have been combing through emails and files at many liner carrier offices  since Friday. In September 2015, the Chinese government said that lines had been charging too much for things like bills of lading custody fees, port fees and document fees. In response, the shipping lines announced that they would cut several of these surcharges. Sources say that one of the companies whose offices were inspected was Maersk.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), Taiwan’s Evergreen, Wan Hai Lines, Yang Ming, China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and others  have notified of their initiatives to reduce various shipping surcharges in China. Reuters quotes a statement by the NDRC comes after China’s cabinet last month said it was probing shipping firms over allegations that they have been levying arbitrary and excessive charges. The shipping lines will lower various charges ranging from port fee, bill of lading fee, signing and cancellation fees, vessel licence fee, documentation fee, among others. NDRC said the companies are expected to implement the reduced surcharges from 15 October.

Asian shipping lines including Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and China Shipping Container Lines have voluntarily lowered shipping surcharges, the country's top economic planner said on Monday. The statement by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) comes after China's cabinet last month said it was probing shipping firms over allegations that they have been levying arbitrary and excessive charges. The NDRC said Korea's Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine as well as Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp were among firms the firms reducing their surcharges. Japan's Nippon Yusen KK had adjusted its fees on Sept. 15, it added.

Seven of Chinese state departments are investigating four local shipping companies over allegations that they have levied arbitrary and excessive charges for port services following complaints from foreign trade firms, reports Reuters. The National Development and Reform Commission had so far found that some shipping companies “have too many items on document charges and unreasonable telex release charges,” the notice said. The companies are Ningbo Dagang Pilotage, a subsidiary of Ningbo Port Group, Nantong Youbang Port Services, Taizhou Dingan Ocean Shipping Services, and Dandong Dehai Ship Services, which operate at the ports of Ningbo, Nantong, Taizhou and Dandong, respectively.

China has unveiled the principles, framework, and cooperation priorities and mechanisms in its Maritime Silk Road initiative in a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future together. The plan consists two segments - One is centered on the Asian land mass and called the Silk Road Economic Belt; the other looks to the South China Sea, the South Pacific and Indian Ocean and is known as the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Together, they go by “one belt, one road” to Chinese officials. China will encourage local companies to issue bonds overseas to fund projects to create the 'one belt, one road', a plan to boost connectivity across Asia for which it has created a $40 billion fund, according to a framework agreement.

The Chinese government on Wednesday rolled out more details of the building work it is undertaking in the disputed South China Sea, listing lighthouses, communications stations and other facilities for civilian and emergency use. China stepped up its creation of artificial islands last year, alarming several countries in Asia and drawing criticism from Washington. There have been recent tensions between the Chinese navy and the U.S. military around the Spratlys. China, which said this week some of the reclamation work will be completed soon, says the construction on the islands will help with maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, environmental protection and offer navigational assistance as well as have undefined military purposes.

Ship scrapping subsidy program originally due to run to end-2015; show of government support amid continuing industry downturn. China on Tuesday extended by two years a subsidy programme that encourages shipping companies to scrap old vessels in a bid to support an industry struggling to emerge from a global downturn. The scheme, which began in 2013 and was due to end this year, gives shipping lines grants of 1,500 yuan ($241.67) per gross ton to replace old vessels with newer, more environmentally friendly models. These subsidies helped state-backed shippers including China COSCO  and China Shipping Development to post a higher 2014 profit despite the slump in the global industry. China Cosco said it would have posted a loss had it not been for the subsidies.

“One Belt, One Road” is a Chinese development strategy launched at the end of 2013 that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia. The strategy has two main components, namely the land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the ocean-going “Maritime Silk Road.” Antwerp has a potentially very important role to play in both these routes as a major trading hub, and so the Port Authority is setting up a special taskforce for this purpose. The importance of this project for Europe can hardly be underestimated, and so during the recent state visit to China by king Philippe of Belgium the country applied to join the new Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, the investment bank behind the strategy.

The approved ODP allows KRL to operate and drill up to 1,008 wells in Fuyu 1 Block over a course of five years. RH Petrogas Limited, which is engaged in the business of exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, said that the Group’s Overall Development Plan for the phased development of the Yongping Oilfield in the Fuyu 1 Block has received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China. The approval of the ODP will allow the Group to advance into the development and production phase for Fuyu 1 Block. The approved ODP allows KRL to operate and drill up to 1,008 wells in Fuyu 1 Block over a course of five years. These are shallow wells with average depth of less than 300m.