China's Overcapacity Drive Faces Stubborn Oil-Refiner Revival
Of three small refiners in Shandong province that went bankrupt last year, one has resumed operations under a new owner and the other two are in talks that could see them return, according to people familiar with the matter. All are seeking crude-import quotas from the central government, they added.
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Fast Company
16 minutes ago
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Trump says he likes a strong dollar, but a weaker one is ‘good for inflation'
BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 1:31 U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he liked a strong dollar but 'you make a hell of a lot more money' with a weaker one. 'So when we have a strong dollar, one thing happens: It sounds good. But you don't do any tourism. You can't sell tractors, you can't sell trucks, you can't sell anything,' Trump said at the White House before leaving on a trip to Scotland. 'It is good for inflation, that's about it.' The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against six major currencies, steadied on Friday after hitting two-week lows earlier in the week. It is still down roughly 10% over the six months Trump has been in office. Trump has often complained that dollar strength blunts U.S. export competitiveness and hurts U.S. manufacturing and jobs. Trump told reporters on Friday that manufacturers would be the first to benefit from a falling dollar, citing construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar, whose shares have risen 16% over the last month. Japan and China fought for weaker currencies for decades and were able to dominate markets over the years, Trump said. 'Now it doesn't sound good, but you make a hell of a lot more money with a weaker dollar – not a weak dollar but a weaker dollar – than you do with a strong dollar,' he said. At the same time, he acknowledged that pushing for a weaker dollar wasn't a good look, saying a strong dollar is good psychologically. 'It makes you feel good,' he said. 'I love strong dollars.' —Steve Holland and Maiya Keidan, Reuters
Gizmodo
an hour ago
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Elon Musk Swipes Back at Trump After Apparent Peace Offering
Yesterday, President Trump seemed to offer an olive branch to his former 'first buddy,' Elon Musk, amidst their ongoing spat. In a post made to Truth Social, Trump claimed that he didn't wish any harm on Elon or his businesses. 'Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon's companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large-scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so! I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!' Trump wrote. Trump's screed may have been a response to a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal that claimed the Trump administration was interested in potentially cancelling some of the federal contracts associated with Musk's rocket company, SpaceX. The WSJ story notes that only days after Trump floated the idea of cutting ties with Musk's companies, 'the Trump administration initiated a review of SpaceX's contracts with the federal government.' The review was reportedly ordered by a senior official at the General Services Administration. Not long after Trump's supposedly conciliatory post, Musk replied on his own social media platform, X. 'The 'subsidies' he's talking about simply do not exist,' Musk wrote. 'DJT has already removed or put an expiry date on all sustainable energy support while leaving massive oil & gas subsidies untouched. SpaceX won the NASA contracts by doing a better job for less money. Moving those contracts to other aerospace companies would leave astronauts stranded and taxpayers on the hook for twice as much!' So much for a truce between America's two oligarchic doofuses. The crumbling of the Trump-Elon bromance is one for the literal history books—but it would also probably make a really good comedic movie, as well. The story of how an aged former reality TV star and his campaign sugar daddy fell in—and then out of—like with one another has been chortle-inducing at every turn. Take note, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Musk is likely still sore about Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which nixed the federal government's EV mandate. That mandate notably provided a key revenue source for Elon's company, Tesla, via the regulatory credit market. The regulatory credit market stemmed from state and federal fines against automakers who didn't adhere to certain environmental standards. CNN notes that the plan for OBBB was to roll 'back those standards' and strip 'states of the power to set their own emissions rules,' which would have the net result of destroying the 'market for those credit sales.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Australian Rare Earth Producer Braces to Take on Rival China With Help From Trump
Lynas Rare Earths reported a jump in fourth-quarter production and revenue, and sounded optimistic about benefiting from President Trump's efforts to loosen China's chokehold on critical minerals needed for cars, smartphones and missile systems. Earlier this month, the U.S. Defense Department agreed to invest in rival producer MP Materials in a deal that included a guaranteed price floor at nearly double recent rare-earth prices. Biden Sells Memoir for Roughly $10 Million, Less Than Obama and Clinton The West's Insatiable Demand for Missiles Is Boosting U.S. Weapons Makers Tesla Profit Falls, Hurt by Plunging EV Sales Why Amazon Wants an AI Bracelet That Records Everything You Say Home Prices Hit Record High in June, Dragging Down Sales Lynas Chief Executive Amanda Lacaze said Thursday that the unusual deal sent a clear message that the U.S. is determined to rebuild a rare-earth supply chain outside China, which currently refines around 90% of the world's rare earths. That should ease concerns among manufacturers about the availability of future supplies, and result in a much larger and more dynamic industry elsewhere in the world, Lacaze told analysts on a call. 'On balance, our view is that developing a vibrant outside-China industry will be good for everyone,' she said. 'But it will be best for us,' she added. Lynas is the largest producer of separated rare earths outside of China. Western companies have long complained that China uses its control over rare earths to suppress competition, sometimes flooding the market to drive out rivals and at other times imposing restrictive export policies that disrupt manufacturers. Lacaze's remarks followed Lynas's fourth-quarter production results, in which the Perth, Australia-based miner said rare-earth output rose 68% from the prior quarter. The company produced 3,212 metric tons of rare earth oxide in the three months ended June 30, including 2,080 tons of neodymium and praseodymium, up 38% from the previous quarter. Sales revenue rose by 38% to 170.2 million Australian dollars, around US$112 million. It is the first time Lynas has produced more than 2,000 tons of neodymium and praseodymium, used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles and consumer electronics, in a single quarter. The rise in output reflects recent investments in its plant, Lynas said, adding that it aims to stabilize production at higher levels while also ensuring output aligns with market demand. 'We continue to be very focused on how we deliver growth in what is an excellent market in which to be participating, and which we expect will continue to be a significant growth market,' said Lacaze. Lynas said it is experiencing a significant increase in demand from customers and new magnet manufacturing projects. 'We continue to sell pretty much everything that we produce,' Lacaze said. According to Lynas, its average sales price rose to the highest level since mid-2022. That reflects an ongoing focus on building strategic customer relationships and some pricing agreements independent to the market index, it said. Lynas also announced a memorandum of understanding with South Korean permanent-magnet maker JS Link to collaborate on a new magnet manufacturing facility in Malaysia. Shares in the company rose more than 3% by mid-afternoon in Sydney. Lynas recently began producing some heavy rare earths, the first time those critical minerals have been commercially produced outside China in decades. It began producing dysprosium in May and terbium in June. The company said it has received strong interest from customers for those products. 'Our heavy rare earth production is key to our competitive advantage,' said Lacaze. She said that the industry has been on 'a rollercoaster' in recent months as rare earths became a key battleground in the U.S.-China trade war. As U.S.-China tensions escalated in early April, Beijing said it would begin requiring licenses for the export of certain rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium. China's exports of rare-earth magnets last month increased nearly threefold from the previous month after the country lifted some export controls following a truce with the U.S. Lacaze said that it is unclear how the price floor in the Pentagon's deal with MP Materials will affect the industry's benchmark price index, but she believes a dynamic market should generally support higher prices for the critical minerals. Lynas, which is developing a rare-earth processing facility in Seadrift, Texas, continues to maintain a very positive relationship with the U.S. government, Lacaze said when asked whether the Australian company is now at a disadvantage to MP Materials. Under MP Materials's deal with the Pentagon, the U.S. government is committing to spend billions of dollars investing in that company and purchasing its output. The price floor protects the company if China fully lifts its restrictive export policies, which could tank global prices. A White House spokesman earlier said the deal marked 'a major step in rebuilding America's domestic rare earth industry.' Lynas is well positioned to sign new supply deals to take advantage of market strength following that agreement, Jefferies analyst Mitch Ryan said in a client note. 'We are today the only scale producer of light rare earth and heavy rare earth,' Lacaze said. 'And I think, as we have seen at times over the past decade in particular, having our assets in place as operational when the cycle turns—and we are looking at some very positive moves in terms of price right now—means that we can take full advantage of that upswing.' 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