China applies to join Pacific Rim trade pact
China has formally applied to join a major Pacific Rim trade agreement that was once pushed by the US as a way to extend its influence in the region at Beijing's expense.
China made an official application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP) yesterday, the commerce ministry said.
The 11-nation pact has so far been ratified by eight members, most recently Peru. The other members comprise Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam, while the UK has also applied to join.
The CPTPP is the successor to the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was initially proposed by the US under then President Barack Obama as a way to unite some of the region's biggest economies — notably excluding China — under a single free-trade agreement.
The US withdrew from the TPP in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration, leaving the 11 other members to forge ahead with a revised version. President Joe Biden has indicated he will not attempt to rejoin the agreement.
The CPTPP allows for inputs from member countries to be treated as local content, encouraging trade within the bloc. Several of the members — including Australia, Canada, Chile, Malaysia and Peru — are major exporters of minerals and other commodities, while petrochemical producers such as Singapore and Vietnam will benefit from selling finished products to other CPTPP members.
China's entry to the CPTPP, which would have to be approved by all other members, could tip the balance of trade in its favour given the sheer size of its economy. China dominates a rival Asia-Pacific trade deal, the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership, which was signed late last year.
Petrochemical producers elsewhere in Asia-Pacific are already expressing concerns about the prospect of oversupply given huge new capacity additions in China this year. The expansions have prompted Chinese polypropylene producers to seek export opportunities, a trend that is expected to continue despite current shortages of containers.
China has been lobbying other CPTPP members to support its application to join the pact, including Australia, a move that raised the prospect of an end to political tensions between Beijing and Canberra that have hit trade in coal and other commodities. But a potential detente is looking less likely after Australia, the UK and US announced a new military pact yesterday that could help cement US-China rivalry in the region.
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Brazil's Gerdau eyes special steel mill in Mexico
Brazil's Gerdau eyes special steel mill in Mexico
Sao Paulo, 3 May (Argus) — Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau is considering building another steel plant in Mexico as it seeks to expand its footprint in the country. The company started a feasibility study for the construction of a special steel unit that would have a production capacity of up to 600,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr, chief executive Gustavo Werneck said today. The move follows an optimistic outlook for the country's automotive industry and increased nearshoring — where companies move production closer to the US to tackle supply chain snarls seen during the pandemic. "Important players in the automotive industry, including current Gerdau customers, are expanding their operations to Mexico, which is becoming one of the most relevant countries in the production of automotive parts," Werneck said on a LinkedIn post. He did not give financial details. Gerdau's first quarter crude steel production in North America fell by 2.8pc , but it posted 3.3pc output growth in its special steel business — which includes operations in Brazil and US — mainly driven by automobile production in Brazil, it said. Mexico's auto sales to the US were 0.9pc higher year-on-year in March and first quarter auto exports rose by 1.9pc from the same period of 2023. Gerdau operates two mills in Mexico with a combined nameplate capacity of 1.5mn t/yr. By Carolina Pulice Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Chevron’s oily DJ basin buy boosts gas output
Chevron’s oily DJ basin buy boosts gas output
New York, 3 May (Argus) — Chevron's US natural gas production has surged in recent quarters due to its crude-focused acquisition of Denver-based PDC Energy last August, increasing the oil major's exposure to the US gas market months after that market entered an extended price slump. Chevron's US gas production in the first quarter was 2.7 Bcf/d (76mn m3/d), up by 53pc from the year-earlier quarter and the highest since at least 2021, according to company production data. Chevron's total US output rose by 35pc year-over-year to 1.57 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), while US crude output increased by 21pc to 779,000 b/d. The acreage Chevron picked up last year in the DJ basin of northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming has higher gas-oil ratios than the rest of its US portfolio. Chevron mostly focuses US production in the crude-rich Permian basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico. Since Chevron closed its acquisition of PDC on 7 August, US gas prices have mostly languished in loss-making territory. Prompt-month Nymex gas settlements at the US benchmark Henry Hub from 7 August 2023 to 2 May 2024 averaged $2.46/mmBtu, down from an average of $4.999/mmBtu in the year-earlier period. In a May 2023 conference call over Chevron's acquisition of PDC, chief executive Mike Wirth expressed optimism for the long-run outlook for natural gas, despite the more immediately dim outlook. "There's going to be stronger global demand for gas growth than there will be for oil over the next decade and beyond as the world looks to decarbonize," Wirth said. Despite lower US gas prices, Chevron has captured $600mn in cost savings from the PDC acquisition between capital and operational expenditures, the company told Argus . Crude prices have also been more resilient. Chevron's profit in the first quarter was $5.5bn, down from $6.6bn in the year-earlier quarter, partly due to lower gas prices. US gas prices have been lower this year as unseasonably warm winter weather and resilient production have created an oversupplied US gas market. A government report Thursday showed US gas inventories up by 35pc from the five-year average. By Julian Hast Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
Adds services PMI in first, fifth paragraphs, factory PMI reference in sixth paragraph. Houston, 3 May (Argus) — The US added fewer jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up and average earnings growth slowed, signs of gradually weakening labor market conditions. A separate survey showed the services sector contracted last month. The US added 175,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported today, fewer than the 238,000 analysts anticipated. That compared with an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in March and a downwardly revised 236,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9pc from 3.8pc. The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.7-3.9pc since August 2023, near the five-decade low of 3.4pc. The latest employment report comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its target lending rate unchanged for a sixth time and signaled it would be slower in cutting rates from two-decade highs as the labor market has remained "strong" and inflation, even while easing, is "still too high". US stocks opened more than 1pc higher today after the jobs report and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.47pc. Futures markets showed odds of a September rate cut rose by about 10 percentage points to about 70pc after the report. Services weakness Another report today showed the biggest segment of the economy contracted last month. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 49.4 in April from 51.4 in March, ending 15 months of expansion. The services PMI employment index fell to 45.9, the fourth contraction in five months, in today's report. Readings below 50 signal contraction. On 1 May, ISM reported that the manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in April, after one month of growth following 16 months of contraction. In today's employment report from the Labor Department, average hourly earnings grew by 3.9pc over the 12 month period, down from 4.1pc in the period ended in March. Job gains in the 12 months through March averaged 242,000. Gains, including revisions, averaged 276,000 in the prior three-month period. Job gains occurred in health care, social services and transportation and warehousing. Health care added 56,000 jobs, in line with the gains over the prior 12 months. Transportation and warehousing added 22,000, also near the 12-month average. Retail trade added 20,000. Construction added 9,000 following 40,000 in March. Government added 8,000, slowing from an average of 55,000 in the prior 12 months. Manufacturing added 9,000 jobs after posting 4,000 jobs the prior month. Mining and logging lost 3,000 jobs. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Kazakhstan outlines Opec+ compensation plan
Kazakhstan outlines Opec+ compensation plan
London, 3 May (Argus) — Opec+ member Kazakhstan has submitted a plan to Opec detailing how it intends to compensate for producing above its crude production target in the first four months of the year. Kazakhstan and Iraq — which has also submitted a compensation plan — are the Opec+ alliance's largest overproducers and a key reason why the group exceeded its overall production in the first three months of the year . Kazakhstan's energy ministry said it produced above its target by 129,000 b/d in January, 128,000 b/d in February, and 131,000 b/d in March, according to secondary source estimates. Opec secondary sources, of which Argus is one, have yet to formally submit their production estimates for April, but Kazakhstan said it is factoring preliminarily overproduction of 100,000 b/d for April. The ministry said it kept oil production high because of high winter demand for natural gas — much of its gas production is associated and is produced alongside its oil. Kazakhstan said it would start its compensation plan in May with an initial cut of 18,000 b/d below its official target of 1.468mn b/d. It would then stick to its target in June and July before implementing a cut of 131,000 b/d in August, none in September, 299,000 b/d in October, 40,000 b/d in November and zero in December. The cuts have been designed to coincide with scheduled maintenance at the country's key oil fields of Kashagan and Tengiz, the ministry said. Kazakhstan would have to reduce its output by 149,000 b/d in May compared with its March production of 1.599mn b/d to meet its pledge, according to Argus calculations. The compensation plan is set to be adjusted once a final figure for April is available. The plan would be further adjusted to accommodate any change in the Opec+ alliance's output policy — for which a meeting is scheduled to take place on 1 June in Vienna. Opec has been increasing pressure on members exceeding their targets. It called last month on countries that have overproduced to submit detailed compensation plans by the end of April. The Opec+ alliance has implemented a series of cuts — voluntary or collective — worth a combined 5.4mn b/d since October 2022 in a self-described bid to "support the stability and balance of the oil market". The latest round of "voluntary" output reductions by several members came into force in January and is due to run until the end of June. By Aydin Calik and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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