Latest news with #oversupply
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
China's Steel Mills Lead Steep Drop in Building Materials Output
China made further headway in June in its bid to tackle oversupply of key industrial commodities, with crude steel production leading declines in construction materials with its biggest drop in 10 months. Output in June fell 9.2% year-on-year to 83.2 million tons, leaving first-half production at its weakest since 2020 and 3% off last year's pace, according to the statistics bureau on Tuesday. Cement output, meanwhile, fell 5.3% while glass-making dropped 4.5%.
South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Plunging pork and poultry prices put pressure on Chinese farmers
China's major protein categories – from pork to poultry – fell into a severe state of oversupply in the first half of this year, with prices declining across the board and widespread losses throughout the supply chain. Analysts said weak end-market demand and high inventory levels are weighing heavily on the breeding sector, and that while marginal improvements are expected in the second half of the year, the overall scope for recovery remains limited. The trend highlights the fragility of China's economic recovery under persistent deflationary pressure, with losses now common among livestock farmers. Many farmers have taken to social media to lament their plight. 'I haven't made any money since February, and I can't afford to replace the cages even though they're broken,' a farmer in Shandong province said on Monday in a post on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, adding that she was losing over 300 yuan (US$42) a day on her more than 6,000 egg-laying hens. China's consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, entered positive territory in June for the first time since January, but food prices were down 0.3 per cent year on year, the fifth straight month of decline, Lynn Song, Greater China chief economist at Dutch bank ING, said on Wednesday. Most types of food remained in deflationary territory, with the price of pork, down 8.5 per cent, and the price of eggs, down 7.7 per cent, exerting the most downward pressure. Aquatic products, up 3.4 per cent, and fruit, up 6.1 per cent, were among the few categories that saw price increases.
Bloomberg
06-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Oil Drops as Larger OPEC+ Supply Increase Raises Glut Concerns
Oil declined after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook. Brent slid as much as 1.4% toward $67 a barrel after falling 0.7% on Friday, and West Texas Intermediate was below $66. The group led by Saudi Arabia decided on Saturday to boost supply by 548,000 barrels a day, putting the group on track to unwind its most recent output cuts a year earlier than planned.
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Nickel oversupply to persist on expansion, slower demand growth, industry experts say
JAKARTA, June 5 (Reuters) - Oversupply in the global nickel market is expected to persist over the next few years given production capacity expansion and slower growth in demand for the metal used in batteries and stainless steel, speakers at an industry event said this week. A surge in new nickel supply in Indonesia, the world's biggest producer with a market share of about 63%, has led to benchmark prices halving over the past three years. "The market is in oversupply, and in Indonesia, several projects in the pipeline will be completed soon, increasing production capacity," Macquarie analyst Jim Lennon told an industry conference organized by Shanghai Metals Market in Jakarta. Lennon expects the surplus to continue until 2027-2028. The most-traded nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange traded at $15,380 per metric ton as of 0400 GMT on Thursday, after touching a five-year low of $13,865 on April 7. Nickel hit a record high above $48,000 a ton in early 2022. Lennon said the $15,000 level is key for industry costs. After production cuts began in 2022-2023, half of existing producers are at risk if prices fall below that level, he said. Meanwhile, nickel demand growth has been weighed down by the surge in use of cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries. The analyst has cut his estimate for the battery sector's nickel demand in 2030 to 967,000 tons, compared with an industry consensus forecast for 1.5 million tons two years ago. The battery sector consumed 518,000 tons of nickel last year. Denis Sharypin, strategic marketing director at Russia's Nornickel, said prices pushed down by oversupply mean that about one-fourth of nickel producers globally are making losses on a cash-cost basis. Indonesian smelters of nickel pig iron, an alloy used in stainless steel, have also been battling compressed margins, said Steven Chen, global sales head at Eternal Tsingshan Group Ltd, part of China's Tsingshan Holding Group. "Smelters are really struggling, which may lead to reductions in production, and widespread cutbacks or shutdown in some of the smaller smelting operations may be in a not-distant future," Chen said. Indonesia's mining minister has said the government will manage nickel ore supply and demand to support prices.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Philippine Developers Turn Cautiously Optimistic Amid Metro Manila Condominium Supply Glut
Philippine builders from Ayala Land to the billionaire Sy family's SM Prime are slowing down the construction and marketing of new high-rise housing projects as the real estate industry grapples with an oversupply of middle-income condominiums in Metro Manila. Demand for condominiums ebbed after the government banned offshore gaming operators in the Philippines and the country's economic growth slowed, developers were left with more than 70,000 of unsold units as of end-2024, according to estimates by property consultants Colliers and Leechiu. To move the inventory, developers have introduced creative pricing schemes to make the condominiums more affordable to buyers. The menu of enticements include low down payments, longer payment periods as well as rent-to-own schemes. Companies are also throwing in furniture and free parking space as well as helping buyers lease out their properties to prospective tenants. 'We are highly selective with new launches.' While the promotions have spurred first-quarter take-up to rise 14% from fourth-quarter 2024 per Leechiu's assessment, developers have slowed the introduction of new projects. That should help minimize the oversupply, which Colliers estimates would take the market almost eight years to clear. 'Our outlook for the residential market in 2025 is cautiously optimistic,' Mybelle Aragon-Gobio, president and CEO of Robinsons Land, part of the billionaire Gokongwei family's JG Summit, told Forbes Asia. 'We are highly selective with new launches, focusing on high-demand locations, and we offer more flexible payment terms, to match what the market needs today.' An artist impression of the 285-unit Aurelia Residences, a luxury condominium project being jointly developed by Robinsons Land and Shang Properties, controlled by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok and his family. Ayala Land—which offers longer payment terms on some of its high-rise residential projects in Metro Manila—is focusing on horizontal developments, according to CEO Ma. Anna Margarita Dy. The company spent 12.6 billion pesos ($227 million) in the first quarter on horizontal development projects outside of Metro Manila, Dy said. It will start marketing the bulk of its new residential projects in the second half when interest rates are seen to ease, she adds. 'We've just become more cautious based not so much on our inventory levels but on industry wide inventory levels,' Dy said. 'We will focus mostly on horizontal developments.' Ayala Land's sales in Metro Manila fell 15% in the first quarter, while those outside the capital region rose 3%. While demand in the premium residential segment where properties are priced at 12 million pesos ($215,000) to 50 million each increased slightly during the quarter, Colliers noted that sale of units priced between 7 million pesos and 12 million pesos have been softening. Bulk of the oversupply is in this middle-income segment of the market, according to the property consultancy. An artist's impression of The Crestmont, a 49-story residential tower DMCI Homes is building in Querzon City, north of Manila. Meanwhile, demand for ultra luxury apartments priced at 50 million pesos and above remains robust, Colliers added. Ayala Land—the real estate arm of tycoon Jaime Zobel de Ayala's Ayala Corp., the country's oldest conglomerate—is set to launch in the second half a resort-themed luxury tower in Makati, building on the strong demand for Park Villas, a 51-story ultra-high-end residential tower at the heart of the central business district where each floor has a single unit priced at over 500 million pesos ($9 million) each. DMCI Homes—controlled by tycoon Isidro Consunji and his family's DMCI Holdings—is offering buyers a rent-to-own option to make the company's projects more affordable, requiring minimal upfront costs. 'This setup offers a practical solution for those who are keen to secure a home but remain mindful of their financial commitments,' said Alfredo Austria, president of DMCI Homes. Austria said the company's top selling residences are in prime locations, designed for resort living, as well as those offering smaller and more affordable units. 'This may indicate continued strong demand for well-located, value-driven properties that align with shifting buyer preferences,' he said. 'We expect these trends to persist in 2025.' An artist's impression of the Air Residences, a residential skyscraper being built by SM Prime's SM Development Corp. at the heart of the Makati financial district. SM Prime—controlled by the family of late retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr.—is also optimistic demand will pick up in the second half of this year with the central bank expected to further cut interest rates, the company's president Jeffrey Lim said. While SM Prime is pushing forward its 360-hectare reclamation development in Manila Bay, Lim said the company is also building projects outside of Metro Manila where demand remains strong. 'Demand in provincial markets continues to be healthy.' One of the projects SM Prime will start in the second half of this year is a 200-hectare upscale residential estate in Carmona, south of Metro Manila. 'Demand in provincial markets continues to be healthy, particularly in our integrated property developments,' Lim says. SM Prime has built more than 20 mixed-use projects that integrate residential, office and hotel properties around its shopping malls.
