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Plans to more than double bonded warehouse space

Shanghai will more than double its bonded warehouse space this year amid speculation the world's biggest harbor will be the site of China's first delivery point approved by the London Metal Exchange. Shanghai will add 80,000 to 90,000 square meters by the middle of this year to an existing 50,000 sq m, said Eric Ni, a business development manager at Shanghai Free Trade Zones United Development Co. Bonded warehouses are exempt from tariffs and value-added taxes. Increased space may boost trading volume for metals after record copper inventories forced warehouses to stack stocks outdoors last year.

Profit potential in property market played down

Potential property market profits related to the new round of urbanization should not be overestimated, a researcher with a government think tank said on Wednesday. "People think that the new round of urbanization will definitely push up the property market, which I think is too optimistic," said Qin Hong, director of the policy research center under the Ministry of Land and Resources, China's top land and housing authority. "What I understand about the new urbanization is the quality of the urbanization, about how to change the previously unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable model," she said.

PepsiCo, Burger King form partnership in China

US food and beverage giant PepsiCo Inc said Wednesday it has formed a partnership with Burger King Corp. PepsiCo will be the exclusive supplier of soft drinks in more than 100 Burger King restaurants throughout China. As of Jan 1, Burger King stores in China have provided a range of PepsiCo soft drinks, including Pepsi-Cola, 7UP, Mirinda and Tropicana. This is the first time the two giants have cooperated in China. The two companies have a business relationship in other markets, such as in the US, Latin America, Russia and Turkey, PepsiCo said.

Benxi Steel's sales revenue exceeds 100b yuan

Benxi Steel Group Corp's sales revenue exceeded 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) in 2012, up 10 percent year-on-year, the company said. Unlike its battered rivals at home and abroad, the company was supported by exports. In 2012, its exports contract volume reached 4 million metric tons, up 48 percent year-on-year, which contributed $2.3 billion. The company, based in Benxi, Liaoning province, is one of the main iron and steel producers in China with an annual output of 20 million tons of high-quality steel products.

Rebar futures climb to six-month high

Steel reinforcement-bar futures advanced to the highest close in six months as an unexpectedly strong expansion of exports fueled expectations that industrial activity will increase in China, the biggest user and producer. Rebar for delivery in May rose 0.6 percent to end at 4,020 yuan ($639.25) a metric ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the highest price at close for the most-active contract since July 9. China's exports rose 14.1 percent year-on-year in December, while imports increased 6 percent, producing a trade surplus of $31.6 billion, the customs administration said on Wednesday.

Industrial Bank net profit up 36% last year

Industrial Bank Co Ltd said its net profit rose 36 percent to 34.7 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in 2012. According to a report released on Thursday, the bank's operating revenue was 87.6 billion yuan, up 46.35 percent year-on-year. The bank's total assets were 3.24 trillion yuan at the end of last year, up 34.47 percent year-on-year. The bank's bad-loan ratio was 0.43 percent, and the bad-debt provisions ratio was 466 percent, up 81 percent from the start of the year, the report said.

Exports to ASEAN countries up 20.1% year-on-year

China's exports to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2012 rose 20.1 percent year-on-year to $204.27 billion, the fastest export growth amid China's top 10 trade partners, Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, told a news briefing on Thursday. China's trade with the United States grew 8.5 percent year-on-year to $484.68 billion, accounting for 12.5 percent of China's total foreign trade in 2012, Zheng said.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 01/11/2013 page14)