China’s germanium, gallium ban could cost the US $3.4 billion
According to the USGS, gallium prices could increase by more than 150% and germanium prices by 26% in the event of a total ban.
Iron ore rebounded as China announced another briefing on policy support, rebooting speculation major fiscal measures will be rolled out after an address on Tuesday left investors disappointed.
The steelmaking staple spiked more than 3%, before giving up most of that gain, after the State Council said Finance Minister Lan Fo’an would introduce moves “to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustment of fiscal policy” at a briefing on Saturday. Copper rose more than 1% on the London Metal Exchange before paring the advance.
Iron ore has been whipsawed in recent sessions as investors seek to gauge whether China will act more aggressively to support growth in the largest importer. It fell to a two-year low in September amid deep pessimism over prospects in the country, which has been hurt by a property slump and Beijing’s apparent reluctance to go ahead with major capital spending projects.
“Monetary policies have already been unleashed and other measures including fiscal policies will follow,” said Li Xuezhi, head of Chaos Ternary Research Institute. “We still tend to go long on both equities and ferrous metals amid expectations on more stimulus coming up.”
Beijing has announced a blitz of supportive measures since late September, aimed at shoring up confidence and underpinning China’s stock market. But this week’s disappointing briefing by China’s top economic planning agency didn’t announce significant new spending, and investors are hoping the finance ministry might deliver something stronger.
Away from the big policy-driven swings in commodity futures and equities, there have been tentative signs that the steel market in China is picking up. Prices of spot rebar — a basic product vital to construction — rose to the highest in more than two months on Wednesday, during what’s typically a stronger season for demand.
“Saturday’s briefing will be key to show what specific sectors the government will spend money on,” said Eric Liu, head of trading at ASK Resources Ltd., a Shanghai-based metals trader. “A lot of funds are still waiting to see what sectors the government will focus on developing before they chip in.’
Iron ore rose 0.2% to $105.25 a ton in Singapore as of 3:04 p.m. local time, after falling 5% on Tuesday, China’s first day back from a week-long public holiday. Copper was up 0.2% at $9,765 a ton on the LME.
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