China issues new warnings over provincial energy use

Spanish Market: Coal, Crude oil, Metals
18/08/21

China's top economic planning body the NDRC has issued new warnings to some local governments that missed targets to control energy intensity in the first half of this year.

Nine provinces or regions — Guangdong, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Fujian, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang — have been issued code red warnings after increasing their energy intensity in January-June. These provinces must suspend approvals of new energy-intensive projects for the rest of the year, the NDRC said.

Seven of these provinces, as well as Hubei, also "severely" missed their targets to cap energy use in the period, the NDRC yesterday. Another 10 more provinces were issued less severe warnings after failing to cut their energy intensity by the required amounts.

The NDRC reiterated that China has a binding target to cut energy use per unit of GDP by 3pc this year compared with 2020. But its warnings do not appear to be having the desired effect. The number of provinces that received code red warnings is up from seven in the first quarter, with Jiangsu, Fujian and Shaanxi added to the list and Zhejiang removed.

It is unclear how flexible the NDRC will be with its targets to control energy intensity and cap volumes, given the low base in 2020 because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Electricity demand growth in most provinces that were issued red alerts exceeded the national average in January-June, resulting in the provinces missing both the energy cap and intensity targets.

Those provinces also have a higher-than-average elasticity factor — growth in power use divided by growth in GDP. The factor in Shaanxi and Qinghai is over 1.9 while in Guangdong and Yunnan it is more than 1.7, far above China's average of 1.28, according to Argus' calculations.

Output controls

China has been pushing policies to control production of commodities such as crude steel, oil products and ferro-alloys this year, although actual output in key emissions-intensive sectors still increased in January-June.

China raised export duties on some ferrous metal products from 1 August to shore up domestic steel supplies as part of a push to keep 2021 steel output flat with 2020 levels. State-owned steel mills have been ordered to cut output and exports.

Ningxia province ordered producers in energy-intensive industries to reduce output to control energy consumption after receiving the earlier warning from the NDRC. The local government in Zhongwei city told 22 steel, ferro-alloys, calcium-carbide and silicon-carbide producers to restrict output from 3 June to 31 December.

Oil refineries received lower crude import and oil product export quotas in the latest government releases this month, while Beijing has also imposed taxes on blendstocks and carried out inspections at state-owned oil majors over resales of imported crude.

China power use, emissions-intensive sector output growth, 1H '21						%
	GDP	Power use	Crude steel	Crude runs	Cement	Non-ferrous

Total	12.7	16.2	12.8	10.7	14.9	11.1
Provincial breakdown
Jiangsu	13.2	20.3	12.8	1.3	22.5	3.8
Fujian	12.3	19.6	15.7	25.7	19.0	19.0
Hubei	28.5	24.9	29.9	22.6	51.9	10.4
Guangdong	13.0	22.9	17.7	16.9	22.9	13.2
Guangxi	12.0	18.4	86.2	99.2	16.2	12.7
Yunnan	12.0	20.8	27.6	-15.6	3.2	46.0
Shaanxi	10.2	19.5	15.2	6.9	14.3	4.4
Qinghai	9.1	17.7	10.8	6.4	4.2	10.8
Ningxia	11.2	18.9	66.4	-0.6	12.1	2.4
Xinjiang	9.9	12.6	25.2	6.3	13.3	7.5
Source: NBS, China electricity council
% figures refer to year-on-year growth vs Jan-June 2020

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22/11/24

Cop: Brazil eyes $300bn/yr for climate finance goal

Baku, 22 November (Argus) — Brazil has set out a suggestion of "at least" $300bn/yr in climate finance to be provided by developed countries to developing nations. Brazilian representatives set out their proposal today, in response to a draft text on a new climate finance goal. Brazil's proposal of $300bn/yr in climate finance by 2030 and $390bn/yr by 2035 are in line with the recommendations of a UN-mandated expert group. Negotiations at Cop are continuing late into the evening of the official last day of the conference, with no final texts in sight. Discussions centre around the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) — the climate financing that will be made available to developing countries in the coming years to help them reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change. The presidency draft text released this morning put the figure at $250bn/yr by 2035, with a call for "all actors" to work towards a stretch goal of $1.3tn/yr. Representatives of developing countries have reacted angrily to the figure put forward in the text, saying it is far too low. Brazil's proposal appears to call for all of the $300bn-$390bn to be made up of direct public financing, which could then mobilise further funding to reach the $1.3tn/yr. It was inspired by the findings of a UN report, Brazil said. The UN-backed independent high-level group on climate finance today said that the $250bn/yr figure was "too low," and recommended the higher $300bn-390bn/yr goal. Brazil's ask would be a significant step up in the required public financing. The $250bn/yr target includes direct public financing and mobilised private financing, and potentially includes contributions from both developed and developing countries. Wealthier developing countries have been hesitant to see their climate financing fall in this category, which they say should be made up exclusively of developed country money, in line with the Paris Agreement. But $300bn/yr would represent an increase in ambition, Brazil said, while the $250bn/yr called for in the draft text would be very similar to the $100bn/yr goal set in 2009, after taking into account inflation. Delegates at Cop look set to continue discussions into the night. A plenary session planned for late in the evening, which would have allowed parties to express their positions in public, has been cancelled, suggesting groups still have differences to hammer out. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: Drafts point to trade-off on finance, fossil fuels

22/11/24

Cop: Drafts point to trade-off on finance, fossil fuels

Baku, 22 November (Argus) — The new draft on the climate finance goal from the UN Cop 29 climate summit presidency has developed nations contributing $250bn/yr by 2035, while language on fossil fuels has been dropped, indicating work towards a compromise on these two central issues. There is no mention of fossil fuels in either the new draft text on the global stocktake — which follows up the outcome of Cop 28 last year, including "transitioning away" from fossil fuels — or in the new draft for the climate finance goal. Developed countries wanted a reference to moving away from fossil fuels included, indicating that not having one would be a red line. The new draft text on the climate finance goal would mark a substantial compromise for developing countries, with non-profit WRI noting that this is "the bridging text". Parties are negotiating the next iteration of the $100bn/yr that developed countries agreed to deliver to developing nations over 2020-25 — known as the new collective quantified goal (NCQG). The new draft sets out a figure of $250bn/yr by 2035, "from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources". It also notes that developed countries will "take the lead". It sets out that the finance could come from multilateral development banks (MDBs) too. "It has been a significant lift over the past decade to meet the prior, smaller goal... $250bn will require even more ambition and extraordinary reach," a US official said. "This goal will need to be supported by ambitious bilateral action, MDB contributions and efforts to better mobilise private finance, among other critical factors," the official added. India had indicated earlier this week that the country was seeking around $600bn/yr for a public finance layer from developed countries. Developing countries had been asking for $1.3 trillion/yr in climate finance from developed countries, a sum which the new text instead calls for "all actors" to work toward. The draft text acknowledges the need to "enable the scaling up of financing… from all public and private sources" to that figure. On the contributor base — which developed countries have long pushed to expand — the text indicates that climate finance contributions from developing countries could supplement the finance goal. It is unclear how this language will land with developing nations. China yesterday reiterated that "the voluntary support" of the global south is not part of the goal. The global stocktake draft largely focuses on the initiatives set out by the Cop 29 presidency, on enhancing power grids and energy storage, though it does stress the "urgent need for accelerated implementation of domestic mitigation measures". It dropped a previous option, opposed by Saudi Arabia, that mentioned actions aimed at "transitioning away from fossil fuels". Mitigation, or cutting emissions, and climate finance have been the overriding issues at Cop 29. Developing countries have long said they cannot decarbonise or implement an energy transition without adequate finance. Developed countries are calling for substantially stronger global action on emissions reduction. By Georgia Gratton and Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s Taketoyo to resume biomass co-firing in 2027

22/11/24

Japan’s Taketoyo to resume biomass co-firing in 2027

Tokyo, 22 November (Argus) — Japan's largest electricity producer Jera aims to resume coal and biomass co-firing at the 1.1GW Taketoyo plant in 2027's first quarter, after a fire halted plant operations in January. Jera announced on 22 November that the thermal power plant in central Japan's Aichi prefecture would resume co-firing wood pellets with coal at a rate of 8pc, around the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year ending in March. This will come after its safety measures are completed. The plant's co-firing rate was 17pc before the serious fire, which was caused by an explosion of dust from wood pellets. The company will consider increasing the co-firing rate again in the future, provided safety can be ensured. But the plant will restart coal-only combustion in early January 2025, operating mainly during the summer and winter seasons, when electricity demand is high. Jera will keep operation rates low at Taketoyo and other coal-fired plants when electricity demand is low and rely more on gas-fired generation, to achieve its initial plan to cut CO2 emissions through co-firing at Taketoyo. Taketoyo started co-firing operations in August 2022 and burned around 500,000 t/yr of wood pellets imported from the US and Vietnam. It will burn 200,000 t/yr after it resumes co-firing at 8pc. The plant will slow down the speed of wood pellet conveyors to reduce friction as a part of safety measures, which means it must also reduce its coal and biomass co-firing rate. It is also currently working on other safety measures, such as installing air pressure conveying facilities dedicated to wood pellets and explosion suppressor systems to inject fire extinguishing agents. The outage at Taketoyo has encouraged Jera to boost replacement gas-fired generation, with the extra gas-fired costs accounting for most of the estimated cost resulting from the shutdown, which could be tens of billion yen in the 2024-25 fiscal year ending in March. By Takeshi Maeda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Pemex's lean Zama spending undercuts goals

21/11/24

Pemex's lean Zama spending undercuts goals

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US alleges Nippon dumped HRC at higher rates

21/11/24

US alleges Nippon dumped HRC at higher rates

Houston, 21 November (Argus) — The US government alleged that Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel dumped hot-rolled (HR) flat steel products at higher rates than previously determined. The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) determined that during the period from October 2022 through September 2023, Nippon sold HR steel flat products with a weighted-average dumping margin of 29.03pc, up from the 1.39pc dumping margin the ITA determined for the prior period of October 2021 through September 2022. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, which was also investigated, was determined to have not sold HR flat steel below market value, unchanged from a prior review. US imports during the period from October 2022 through September 2023 of the investigated items from Japan were 202,000 metric tonnes (t), down from the 293,600t imported in the same period the prior year, according to customs data. The original investigation into imports of Japanese flat-steel products was concluded in 2016. The ITA is now reviewing the time period of October 2023 through September 2024 and expects to issue the final results of these reviews no later than 31 October 2025. The US imported 235,700t of the investigated products from Japan during that time, customs data showed. By Rye Druzchetta Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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