
China's April coal output rises by 3.8% year-on-year
BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) - China's coal production in April rose 3.8% from a year earlier, statistics bureau data showed on Monday.
April coal output was 389.31 million metric tons, up from the year-earlier level but down from March's record monthly high of 440.58 million tons.
Production for the first four months of the year was 1.58 billion tons, a 6.6% increase compared with the same period last year.
China's coal imports last month fell 16% from a year earlier as weaker prices made imports less profitable and buyers turned to domestic coal.
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Reuters
17 minutes ago
- Reuters
Interbank traders turn focus to dollar-rupee forwards as spot treads water
MUMBAI, June 12 (Reuters) - India's FX market traders have increased activity in the dollar-rupee forwards market as spot market price action continues to be rangebound on two-sided client flows and the lack of firm cues. The rupee has hovered in the 85.30 to 86.02 range against the U.S. dollar over June so far with its 1-month realised volatility declining to 4.5%, the lowest in about six weeks. Dollar-rupee forward premiums, meanwhile, have witnessed sharper moves, sparked by the Reserve Bank of India's outsized rate cut last week and changes in expectations of U.S. rate cuts. The 1-year dollar-rupee implied yield fell to its lowest in nearly one year earlier this month while the 1-month forward premium has fallen about 4 paisa to its lowest level since November. The fall in dollar-rupee forward premiums leaves the rupee vulnerable to further depreciation by reducing the currency's "carry trade" appeal and diminishing the incentive for exporters to hedge receivables, analysts said. Speculative activity has picked up on forward premiums as markets are "largely playing the range (on spot USD/INR)," a trader at a large private bank said. To be sure, large moves in global foreign exchange markets could spur the dollar/rupee to break out of its prevailing range, said Apurva Swarup, vice president at Shinhan Bank India. If the dollar index breaks below the 98 level, that could unlock room for rupee appreciation from prevailing levels, Swarup said. On Thursday, the rupee was nearly flat against the U.S. dollar at 85.5125 as of 11:00 a.m. IST. Asian currencies were mostly stronger with the offshore Chinese yuan rising 0.2% as the latest trade truce between Washington and Beijing raised hopes that the world's two largest economies could avoid escalations in their tariff row.


Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
India to tighten remittance rules, bar offshore time deposits, sources say
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
China approves world's biggest amphibious plane for mass production
China has greenlighted the mass production of a homegrown amphibious aircraft that is the world's largest. The Civil Aviation Administration of China on Wednesday certified the AG600 plane for production, paving the way for its entry into the commercial market, according to state broadcaster CCTV. China has developed the AG600 as part of a drive to modernise its military, amid a more muscular approach to territorial disputes in places like the South China Sea. The AG600 "Kunlong" aircraft boasts capabilities of low-altitude and low-speed performance, high efficiency in firefighting and rescue operations, stable takeoff and landing on water along with a domestically developed support system, Global Times reported. The aircraft, roughly the size of a Boeing 737, was designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires. It has a range of up to 4,500km and is designed to be able to take off and land in 2m waves. Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 people during maritime search-and-rescue missions and scoop up 12 metric tonnes of water within 20 seconds for firefighting trips, according to state media. State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China said the production approval was a milestone towards a 'more high-end and standardised' aviation manufacturing sector. It added that the approval 'strengthened China's ability to independently build a complete civil aviation ecosystem'. Wang Huafeng, an official with the Jilin provincial department of emergency management, told reporters that the prototype was tested for aerial fire suppression over Changbai mountain. "The trial run has shown to us that the seaplane is good at emergency-response tasks," he said. "Its service is a big help to us in terms of grassland and forest fire control." The AG600 is expected to greatly improve the responsiveness and efficiency of forest fire rescue efforts, said Ye Junwei, director of the Zhejiang emergency management air rescue centre. The first batch of the AG600 completed its production test flight in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, in May this year. The aircraft completed a 12-tonne water drop test, flying in the air for 17 minutes before landing smoothly, state media reported. The development of AG600 began in September 2009, just three months after the Chinese government had approved the programme. The aircraft's prototype construction began in March 2014 and was completed in two years before its debut take-off and landing in 2017 at Zhuhai. The aircraft completed its first sea-based test flight over the Yellow Sea in 2020.