The commissioning process for the Browns Range Rare Earth project of Australia’s heavy rare earth producer Northern Minerals is progressing well, and all parts of the pilot plant at the concentrator and hydrometallurgical plant have been commissioned as part of the Northern Australia project.

“The development of the Browns Range project was exchanged for years of sweat and tears from Northern Mining Corporation, Sinosteel, construction engineering company Primero Group and other contractors,” said George Bower, General Manager and CEO of Northern Minerals. Bauk said that as the company turned from an explorer to a quality supplier of important raw materials to the development of electric vehicles, people’s perception of the northern mining industry is undergoing a fundamental change.

Last month, the company reported that about 1,000 tons of ore were crushed, and the first ore was processed by the concentrator and continued to be processed according to the production process. At the same time, the hydrometallurgical plant began commissioning and testing through the concentrate dryer and the sulphate roaster process. The balance of the hydrometallurgical plant will be adjusted with the availability of the calcined material.

The Northern Minerals report shows that the field laboratory has produced rare earth carbonates as part of the testing process during the commissioning process. This is the precursor to the export of quality products being produced.

The company is currently expected to export its rare earth carbonate products for the first time in the fourth quarter of September. The research and development phase of the pilot plant project began in June and is expected to take up to three years. During this time, the company will investigate the technical and economic feasibility of the proposed large-scale project.

In addition, the first phase of the test was carried out at two ore sorting suppliers, completing the conceptual design of the ore sorting at the Browns mine. A large number of samples from the Wolverine and Gambit West Mine have been collected, screened and separated to prepare for the next stage of the sorting test. Testing is expected to begin last month. The Browns Range project will be the first major plutonium producer outside of China, the company said.

After the 2016 review, Northern Mining has developed a new business plan to support the project’s entry into production. The program divides the project into three stages of development, allowing the company to test the processing and sales of hybrid rare earth carbonate products, and to develop the project to a feasibility study level, which will eventually be fully operational.

According to a report by Mining Weekly in May, the pilot plant is expected to produce 573,000 kilograms of mixed heavy rare earth carbonate containing lanthanum and cerium as a revenue product within three years.

Australian Regional Development, Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan officially announced the implementation of the Browns Range project last month.

According to Platts Energy’s London report on August 17, Saudi Arabian National Oil Company (Saudi Aramco/Aramco) said in its annual report released on Friday that Saudi Arabia’s crude oil and crude oil last year due to the decline in crude oil production from 2016 levels last year. The condensate reserves increased slightly.

Saudi Aramco said in its annual report that Saudi Arabia’s total crude oil and condensate reserves reached 260.9 billion barrels last year, higher than the 260.8 billion barrels disclosed in the 2016 annual report.

Saudi Aramco said that the company produced an average of 10.2 million barrels of crude oil per day last year, while the daily output of crude oil in 2016 was 10.5 million barrels.

As a result, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports last year averaged 6.7 million barrels per day, down 1 million barrels per day from 2016.

First, the price trend

This week, the yellow phosphorus market continued to be weak, the price market continued to decline, and the manufacturers’ price mentality was no longer. At the beginning of the week, the average price of yellow phosphorus was stable at 14,433 yuan/ton, and the average price at the weekend was 14,366 yuan/ton. At present, the actual transaction price in the domestic market is seriously reduced. The actual transaction price in Sichuan and Yunnan is quite different, and the lowest is even at 13,800 yuan/ton. The actual transaction price in Guizhou is relatively uniform, about 14200-14300 yuan / ton. In the face of bad market, the manufacturers have a good price mentality, and are unwilling to lower the factory price. Some enterprises have a high price, basically biting the 14400 yuan/ton line, but the bargaining power is insufficient, and the actual price decline is far above 100 yuan/ton. .

Second, the market analysis

Product: The operating rate of yellow phosphorus in July is slowly rising. In the early stage, due to environmental pressures, the production of a large number of enterprises has been reduced due to the suspension of work, resulting in a large supply of yellow phosphorus in short supply and tight shipping conditions. Continued to the end of July, attracted a lot of production stoppages to start the operation, into August, only the first two weeks of the yellow phosphorus market once again showed a downward trend. The overall downstream demand in China has not improved, and the operating rate of yellow phosphorus has not decreased, resulting in further intensification of market share competition. The supply and demand balance has fallen from the demand side in early July to the supply side in early August, and suppliers no longer have market voice.

Industry chain: The price of phosphate ore in the upstream has continued to be high this week. The mainstream offers have been raised by RMB 30/ton. The equipment started normally and the supply is stable and normal. There is no yellow phosphorus manufacturer in the near future that the upstream goods are difficult to get. The market price of downstream ammonium phosphate is bullish. Most enterprises are in short supply and demand is low, which drives the downstream demand of phosphoric acid. However, the overall operating rate of ammonium phosphate and phosphoric acid in China is still low, and it is difficult to pull demand for yellow phosphorus in the short term.

Third, the market outlook

Yellow Phosphorus analysts of the Chemical Industry Chemicals Branch believe that the downstream demand for yellow phosphorus is fixed, but the recent operating rate has increased significantly, especially the small and medium-sized production capacity has entered the market positively, and the market competition is fierce. It is expected that the market price of yellow phosphorus will remain weak in the short term.

International Interfax News Agency Minsk, August 15th, Eurasia Energy Commission Director Shenets said in an interview with the Belarusian News Agency that the proposal for the Eurasia Economic Union to unify the natural gas market freight rate will be completed in October this year. She said that according to the plan to establish a unified natural gas market for the Eurasian Economic Union, there are still differences on the issue of the formation mechanism of natural gas freight. The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are coordinating the issue at the level of the energy ministers and intend to hold a special meeting. The results will be reported to the Prime Ministers at the Eurasian Economic Union Heads of Government Council meeting in October this year.

According to the work arrangement, the plan for establishing a unified natural gas market for the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to be signed at the end of this year. In 2020, an international treaty on the establishment of a unified natural gas market will be formulated and submitted to countries for internal approval procedures, which will be formally signed in 2021. The Eurasian Economic Union’s unified natural gas market is expected to be officially established in 2025.

On August 14, the National Bureau of Statistics released the main data of industrial production above designated size in July 2018. In July 2018, the national raw coal output was 281.5 million tons, down 2% year-on-year.

Compared with last month, the national raw coal output in July decreased by 16.52 million tons, down 5.54%.

From January to July 2018, the cumulative production of raw coal in the country was 197.818 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%.

In July, the country, especially the coal producing area, was affected by environmental protection, safety inspection, and precipitation. The production of raw coal in coal mines was limited, resulting in shrinking production.

However, from the downstream point of view, due to the impact of high temperature weather, in July, the country’s strong demand for electricity, coupled with the peak energy consumption in summer also reached a peak, the demand for coal surged, resulting in a large increase in imported coal, coal imports surged in July 49%, up 14% from the previous month to 29.01 million tons, the highest level since January 2014.

However, overall, the supply and demand balance in the national coal market. The data shows that this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Energy Bureau have approved 12 coal mine projects involving a total capacity of 49 million tons. Most of these coal mines are located in Xinjiang, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other provinces with high quality coal resources. In this year’s list of safe production standardization coal mines announced by the Emergency Management Department and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, it can be found that the coal mines in the high-quality coal producing areas have greatly increased.

In the first half of the year, Hebei, Hunan, Fujian, Heilongjiang and other places successively organized coal capacity index replacement. Among them, Hebei completed 12.08 million tons of coal capacity index replacement, while Hunan involved 1.183 million tons of indicators. Heilongjiang Province is also organizing coal capacity replacement. Under the blessing of a series of capacity release measures, China’s coal output has increased significantly. In the first half of the year, the country’s cumulative raw coal output was about 1.7 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%. In the first seven months, the cumulative production of raw coal in the country was 1,79,818 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%.

First, the price trend

According to the data of the large-scale commodity list of the business community, the domestic formaldehyde market rose slightly this week. The average price of formaldehyde at the beginning of the week (August 6th) was 1453.33 yuan/ton, and the average price of formaldehyde on the weekend (August 10) was 1488.89 yuan/ The increase was 2.45%, and the current price rose by 22.54% year-on-year.

Second, the market analysis

Product: Domestic formaldehyde market price rose slightly. At the beginning of the week, the mainstream factory price in Hebei was around 1350-1400 yuan/ton. The weekend price was 1450-1550 yuan/ton, up 100 yuan/ton. At the beginning of Shandong, the price of Shandong factory was 1420-1570 yuan. / ton, weekend quoted at 1450-1570 yuan / ton, up 30 yuan / ton, the mainstream factory price in Jiangsu at the beginning of the week 1550-1650 / ton, weekend offer at 1600-1700 yuan / ton, up 50 yuan / ton. The supply of formaldehyde in the market is not sufficient, and the pressure on manufacturers is not high.

Industry chain: The upstream methanol market continued to rise. Due to the impact of the trade war, the price of imported methanol boosted the price of the mainland market. The price at the beginning of the week was 2,890 yuan/ton, and the weekend was 30,48.75 yuan/ton, an increase of 5.47%. Finished product support, but the atmosphere of purchase and sale in the market is general, the downstream maintenance just needs to purchase, the market is more cautious, and the price of formaldehyde has risen slightly.

Third, the market outlook

The upstream methanol market continued to rise, the cost support was sufficient, and the downstream operating rate was general. Therefore, the formaldehyde analyst of the business community chemical branch predicted that the domestic formaldehyde price or shock consolidation was the main.

On August 8, the PX Commodity Index was 66.40, which was the same as yesterday. It was down by 35.16% from the highest point of 102.40 points (2013-02-28) in the cycle, which was 45.77% higher than the lowest point of 45.55 on February 15, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2013-02-01 to date)

Recently, the domestic market price of para-xylene remained at 8,300 yuan/ton, the on-site installation of Pengzhou Petrochemical was overhauled, and the Urumqi petrochemical plant was started at 50%. The Tenglong aromatics plant has been in operation, other devices are temporarily operating stably, and the domestic paraxylene market is normal. The operating rate of PX devices in Asia is less than 70%. On August 8, the closing price of the paraxylene market in Asia increased by US$4/ton, and the closing price was 1105.5-1107.5 USD/ton FOB Korea and 1124.5-1126.5 USD/ton CFR China, USA WTI crude oil September futures market prices fell to 66.94 US dollars / barrel, a decrease of 2.23 US dollars, Brent crude oil October futures prices fell to 72.28 US dollars / barrel, a decrease of 2.37 US dollars. The downstream PTA market was affected by the delay in resumption of production due to equipment maintenance. The PTA supply was slightly tight or continued. By the end of the 8th, the domestic PTA operating rate was around 77%, the PTA price continued to rise, and the average price of the East China region was 7200-7350 yuan. /Ton the vicinity of the self-lifting, coupled with the downstream production and sales maintained relatively high level of smooth operation, PTA is still in a balanced small de-stocking state, it is expected that the PX market price will remain high in the later period.

According to the business community monitoring: throughout July, due to weak demand, hydrogen peroxide fell, on July 31, 27.5% hydrogen peroxide average price of 1058 yuan / ton, down 28.34% from the beginning of the month. Entering August, the price of hydrogen peroxide ushered in a sharp rise and completely got rid of the July trend. On August 6, the average domestic price of 27.5% hydrogen peroxide was 1,118 yuan/ton, and the price rose by 5.67%.

In August, the price of hydrogen peroxide in Hebei Zhengyuan and Xinhua’s two leading enterprises was raised sharply. The price of Zhengyuan was 1,000 yuan/ton, and the price rose by 120 yuan/ton. The new price is 970 yuan / ton, up 90 yuan / ton. Shandong Waterworks has risen, and Hengtong, Huatai, Haineng and Mingshui have all quoted more than 900 yuan/ton. The mainstream price in Anhui is 1,000 yuan/ton, and the price is raised by 20-50 yuan/ton. Coupled with the purchase of hydrogen peroxide by Shan Dongfang, the demand for hydrogen peroxide in Shandong Water Plant continued to increase. On August 6, the mainstream price of Hengtong, Huatai, Haineng and Mingshui was 920-950 yuan/ton, and the price was raised by 50 yuan/ton. The mainstream price in Anhui is 1050-1100 yuan/ton, and the price is 50-100 yuan/ton.

The hydrogen peroxide analyst of the business community believes that the price increase of hydrogen peroxide is affected by the Hebei market and the increase in terminal demand. In September, hydrogen peroxide will enter the peak season. It is expected that the price of hydrogen peroxide in the market will still have room to rise, or it will return to the 1,500 yuan mark.

First, the price trend:

According to the data monitoring of business organizations, on August 2, the average price of acetic anhydride enterprises was 7137.50 yuan/ton, which was more stable than the previous trading day, up 46.30% year-on-year.

The commodity index of acetic anhydride on August 1 was 141.46, which was 0.49 points lower than yesterday, which was 14.64% lower than the highest point of 165.73 points (2018-06-19) in the cycle, which was higher than the lowest point of 82.58 points on September 20, 2016. 71.30%. (Note: Period refers to 2013-02-01 to date).

On August 2, the domestic acetic acid anhydride factory price was temporarily stabilized, and the market transaction price was stable. In most areas, the factory price is 6500-7200 yuan / ton, the actual transaction price is temporarily stable, the actual transaction price is about 6300-6800 yuan / ton, the market price is the reference price, the actual transaction price is subject to actual negotiation.

Recently, the price of raw material acetic acid rebounded slightly, the price of raw material methanol fluctuated and the cost of acetic anhydride manufacturers increased, which was good for the price increase of acetic anhydride. Recently, the maintenance plan of acetic anhydride factory has increased, the operating rate of equipment is not high, and the reduction of equipment operating rate is a positive effect of the price increase of acetic anhydride. However, at this stage, acetic anhydride is still in the off-season. The demand for acetic anhydride is negative, the raw materials are rising slightly and the operating rate is falling. It can only slow down the price of acetic anhydride, and it is difficult to promote the price of acetic anhydride. It is expected that the market will be stable.