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☆ Chinese titanium producers expect boost from new iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's titanium producers said on Wednesday they expect stronger demand for the lightweight metal after the launch of a new model of Apple's iPhone with a titanium shell. China accounts for more than 60% of the 240,000 metric tons of titanium and titanium alloys produced globally each year, according to the CNIA. A consumer product "monster" such as the iPhone would help bring wider adoption of titanium in new industries, replacing materials like stainless steel, he added. The titanium shell on the new iPhone is made with an alloy known as Grade 5 Titanium that also contains small amounts of aluminium and vanadium, according to three Chinese titanium producers. "There's a technical barrier to produce titanium alloys and international enterprises such as Apple require high standards.

Persons: Stephanie Lecocq, Zhao Wei, Zhao, Foxconn, Ningwei Qin, Amy Lv, Siyi Liu, Dominique Patton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Rights, China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, Ningwei, Thomson Locations: Lille, France, Rights BEIJING, China

☆ Le Maire says France wants better China market access
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, July 30 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in Beijing on Sunday his country wants to get better access to Chinese markets. To have a balanced trade relationship with China, France needs to export more goods to China, he told a press conference after meeting Chinese officials. Le Maire said France was on the right track, paving the way to better access to the Chinese market for French cosmetics, adding he opposed the "illusion" of countries "decoupling" from China. There was no possibility of decoupling among China, the U.S. and Europe, the minister said. It would be good to have Chinese companies investing and developing their activities in Europe, Le Maire said.

Persons: Bruno Le Maire, Le Maire, Martin Pollard, Kevin Yao, William Mallard Organizations: French Finance, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, China, France, U.S, Europe

☆ Northern China faces Doksuri floods as south mops up from storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

China's National Meteorological Center kept its red alert, the country's highest, for rainstorms on Sunday, state media Xinhua reported. Doksuri, one of the strongest storms to hit China in years, had prompted thousands to evacuate in southern province Fujian and ripping coastal areas and pushing north and inland. Although the authorities downgraded the storm from typhoon on Sunday, the China Meteorological Bureau maintained a red alert for heavy rain in various provinces, especially northern areas such as Hebei, Beijing, Shanxi and Henan. The capital was likely to receive record rainfall, while cities in Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, were waterlogged, local media reported. In Hebei, 209 weather stations recorded extremely heavy rainfall and 1,283 heavy rainfall，local TV reported.

Persons: Typhoon Doksuri, Doksuri, Khanun, Ningwei Qin, Kevin Yao, William Mallard Organizations: cnsphoto, REUTERS, National Meteorological Center, Xinhua, China, China Meteorological Bureau, Ningwei, Thomson Locations: Xincuo, Fuqing, Fuzhou, Fujian province, China, REUTERS BEIJING, Beijing, Fujian, Philippines, Taiwan, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei province, Zhejiang province, Shanghai

☆ Rice to get costlier as weather, India's farm perks threaten supply
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Rajendra Jadhav | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"As Indian prices moved up because of the new minimum support price, other suppliers also started raising prices." Yet even before the weather phenomenon can disrupt production, the global rice price index of the Food and Agriculture Organization hovers above an 11-year high. The price of Indian rice exports has jumped 9% to a five-year high, following a hike of 7% last month in the price the government pays farmers for new-season common rice. "Rice prices have already been rising due to limited supplies," added Olam's Gupta. Last month Indonesia signed a rare pact with India to import 1 million tons if El Nino disrupts domestic supply.

Persons: El Nino, Krishna Rao, REA, Rice, El, Nitin Gupta, Gupta, Rosa Wang, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Himanshu Agarwal, Rajendra Jadhav, Qin Ningwei, Tony Munroe, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Rice, Association, Reuters, El, Food and Agriculture Organization, U.S . Department of Agriculture, El Nino, Reuters Graphics, Shanghai JC Intelligence, Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Satyam Balajee, Vietnam, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India, Ukraine, Asia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, New Delhi, Singapore, Myanmar, Pakistan, Indian, Philippines

☆ Explainer: How is extreme weather testing China's climate resilience?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING, July 5 (Reuters) - Dramatic swings between extreme heat and intense rainfall are testing China's ability to cope with increasingly wild weather, as high temperatures challenge power grids and water security while floods ruin crops and threaten urban populations. The average number of high-temperature days stood at 4.1 in January-June, already higher than the full-year average of 2.2 days. Heatwaves spur demand for electricity to cool homes, malls and offices, taxing power supply and even triggering blackouts. Factories also shut when power demand exceeds supply to meet demand from residential and non-industrial users. The southern province of Hunan, which produces around 13% of China's rice, has been hit by continuous rain since late June.

Persons: Qiaoyi Li, Ethan Wang, Qin, Ryan Woo, Andrew Hayley, David Stanway, Sonali Paul Organizations: Factories, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Beijing, Yunnan province, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhengzhou, Guangxi, CHINA

The rains are also causing the kernels on his wheat crop to begin sprouting early, which, more crucially, means the grain will produce lower quality flour unsuitable for noodles or bread. "Look, all this wheat has sprouted," Chen told Reuters, pouring kernels into his hand while standing in his fields about 40 km (25 miles) north of the town of Zhumadian. About one-third of China's wheat is grown in Henan province, earning it the nickname the granary of China. A Xiping-based grain dealer surnamed Wang is paying growers 2,100 yuan ($295) per metric ton of germinated wheat, about 75% of the market price for food-grade wheat. "These (sprouted) wheat have a bad taste as they are sticky and doesn't mix well to make dough."

Persons: Chen, it's, Darin Friedrichs, Tang Renjian, Wang, Qin Ningwei, Josh Arslan, Dominique Patton, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Reuters, Sitonia Consulting, El, China's Agriculture, Thomson Locations: COUNTY, China, China's Henan, Zhumadian, Henan province, Henan, Anhui, Shanxi, Shandong, Shanghai, Australia, Ukraine

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