Matthew Dalton of The Wall Street Journal reports how China destroyed Europe’s solar panel industry and how the continent continues to struggle with an onslaught against other green sectors. Dalton writes: French solar-panel company Photowatt once powered Europe’s ambition to become a renewables manufacturing giant, one that would provide the technology to help achieve the continent’s far-reaching climate goals. Today, Photowatt is instead hanging by a thread, a potent symbol of the West’s struggles to fend off fierce competition from China. [...] “We have managed to free ourselves from … [Read more...]
China and U.S. Trade Tensions Rise
Jason Douglas and Clarence Leong of The Wall Street Journal report Beijing is accusing firms of dumping stocks of propionic acid after an investigation. They write: China slapped a levy on imports from the U.S. of a widely used chemical, a small salvo in an escalating trade dispute between Washington and Beijing. China’s commerce ministry said imports of U.S.-made propionic acid would be subject to a levy of 43.5% after an investigation that began in July concluded the chemical was being dumped in China at rock-bottom prices and hurting Chinese producers as a result. [...] China last … [Read more...]
A Conflict of Interest: True Costs of Investing in Energy Transition
Analysts from Wook Mackenzie report on the cost of investing in the energy transition in a high interest-rate era and how the increase in the cost of capital has profound implications for the energy and natural resources industries, particularly the cost and pace of the transition to low-carbon technologies. They write: The ‘zero era’ for interest rates has come to an end. In the past two years, rates have risen sharply as central banks have scrambled to fight inflationary pressures. Governments, companies and households face markedly higher market rates and bond yields, which could yet rise … [Read more...]
China’s Slowing Property Market Fuels Surplus of Steel
Jason Douglas of The Wall Street Journal tells his readers that cheap Chinese steel is flooding the global market as producers try to unload a surplus of metal created by the country's property-market downturn. He writes: China’s epic property bust has saddled its steelmakers with a glut of unsold metal. They are now shipping it overseas at knockdown prices—and the U.S. isn’t the only country pushing back. President Biden on Wednesday asked U.S. trade officials to hit imports of Chinese steel with heftier tariffs, the latest move in a broader campaign against cheap Chinese exports that … [Read more...]
US Plans to Restore Solar Tariffs
Nicola Groom and Jarrett Renshaw of Reuters report that the US plans to restore tariffs on solar technology. They write: The Biden administration is expected to grant a request by South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells to reverse a two-year-old trade exemption that has allowed imports of a dominant solar panel technology from China and other countries to avoid tariffs, two sources familiar with the White House plans said on Wednesday. The news sent shares of solar manufacturers including U.S.-based First Solar (FSLR.O), higher in afternoon trade. [...] Qcells' request is supported by seven other … [Read more...]
Tight Supply and Higher Demand – Copper and Aluminum Soar
Joseph Hoppe of The Wall Street Journal reports that the green transition and increased use of AI applications are feeding demand for copper, while sanctions on Russian metals push aluminum prices higher. Hoppe writes: Copper and aluminum prices both breached their highest levels since 2022 and 2023, respectively, as global demand picks up and supplies tighten. Copper three-month futures in London rose 1.2% to $9,582 a ton, having peaked earlier in the session at $9,616.5, a price last seen in June 2022. Aluminum futures likewise gained 1.1% to $2,587 a ton, having earlier hit $2,593, … [Read more...]
China Imported Record Amounts of Crude Oil in 2023
Jimmy Troderman of the EIA reports that China’s largest volumetric increase in crude oil imports in 2023 was from Russia. He writes: China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, imported 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in 2023, 10% more than in 2022, according to China customs data. Refiners in China imported record volumes of crude oil in 2023 to supply the country’s increasing refining capacity in order to support the country’s transportation fuel needs and produce feedstocks for its growing petrochemical industry. Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were … [Read more...]
Trucking Companies’ Hopes for Earnings Rebound Fade
Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal tells his readers that industry analysts say many trucking companies are barely clinging on as freight rates are in retreat, thanks in part to earnings they tucked away during the pandemic. He writes: A push by retailers and manufacturers to cut shipping costs is sending trucking industry hopes of an earnings rebound into a skid. Freight rates have been retreating for much of the year in the trucking sector’s spot market. Analysts and industry executives say longer-term contract prices are also declining as shipping customers focus on keeping … [Read more...]
Home Energy Storage Boom in U.S.
Ed Cooks of WoodMac.com tells his readers that changes to net metering rules in California have created new incentives to add batteries to solar systems. He writes: Alexis de Tocqueville, the French diplomat and famous observer of America, noted in 1840 that in democratic countries such as the US, a citizen’s independence “fills him with self-reliance and pride amongst his equals”. That same spirit might have been expected to help make the US a global leader in residential solar power, with homeowners wanting to reduce their reliance on the grid. In fact, however, the US has lagged far … [Read more...]
FBI Probes Baltimore Bridge Collapse
Sadie Gurman, Costas Paris, and Scott Calvert of The Wall Street Journal tell their readers of an FBI probe into whether the crew aboard the containership Dali failed to report any problems with the vessel before it left port. They report: The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to last month’s deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a law-enforcement official said on Monday. The probe is examining issues including whether the crew aboard the containership Dali failed to report any problems with the vessel before it left port, the … [Read more...]