On July 29, the rare earth index was 350 points, which was the same as yesterday. It was 65.00% lower than the highest point in the cycle (2011-12-06), which was 29.15% higher than the lowest point of 271 points on September 13, 2015. (Note: Cycle refers to 2011-12-01 to date)

The average price of metal lanthanum in rare earth metals is 41,250 yuan / ton; the average price of metal bismuth is 1.625 million yuan / ton; the average price of metal bismuth is 660,000 yuan / ton. The average price of niobium oxide in rare earth oxides is 327,500 yuan/ton; the average price of antimony oxide is 1.155 million yuan/ton; the average price of antimony oxide is 410,000 yuan/ton; the average price of antimony oxide is 320,000 yuan/ton. The average price of niobium alloy in rare earth alloy is 420,000 yuan/ton; the average price of niobium iron alloy is 1.17 million yuan/ton.

Recently, the domestic rare earth price trend is stable, most rare earth separation enterprises stop production, resulting in a decline in supply, especially some mainstream rare earth oxides, supply performance is tight, but the downstream receiving is not active, just as the rare earth industry sales off-season, domestic rare earth products prices fluctuate at low levels. Recently, the number of buyers has been reduced accordingly, and the transaction volume is very limited. The major manufacturers of products are also cautiously waiting to see each other. The mutual inquiry has become more frequent. The downstream receiving goods are not actively leading to the low price of some rare earth products. The division expects some products in the rare earth market to go down.

The concentration of Brazil’s agrochemical market in large transnational corporations is getting higher and higher. This will be worse than the “oligopoly”. Recently, Tulio Teixeira de Oliveira, executive president and agronomist of Brazilian Association of Nonproprietary Pesticides, made the above comment.

He said, “When the market is monopolized by a few competitors, we call this phenomenon an oligopoly. This monopoly has intensified, further limiting the room for growth of other competitors. This is one of the largest agrochemical markets in the world. What is going on in Brazil.”

From 2015 to 2017, the market value of the Brazilian agrochemical industry has been maintained at around US$9 billion, which also indicates that Brazil accounts for about 15% of the global market. Oliveira said, “In the past three years, the top nine companies in the market have owned 70% of Brazil’s agrochemical market share. This is already a considerable number, and it is likely to increase further.”

According to Oliveira, the market concentration will be greater next year because the number of companies with the largest market share will be reduced from 9 to 5. Dow and DuPont have already merged. Now Bayer will acquire Monsanto again. Syngenta and Andorma are independent, but they still represent China National Chemical Corporation. Companies with 70% market share will further focus on Bayer, Syngenta/Andorma, Corteva (Dow/DuPont), BASF, and Fumeishi.

Offshore oil and gas production in the US Gulf Coast is expected to hit a record high during the year, though local energy companies have cut spending and reduced exploration activity.

Wood Mackenzie’s report released last week showed that off-shore crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to rise to 1.9 million barrels / day during the year, a 13% increase over last year and a 10% increase from the peak hit in 2009. It is noteworthy that local energy companies have cut spending and reduced exploration activities.

William Turner, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said: “Even offshore offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has undergone tremendous pressure over the past three years but has now regained its competitiveness.”

On the other hand, Wood Mackenzie expects global crude exploration spending to fall 7% to $ 37bn this year, meaning it will slide about 60% from its peak in 2014 when U.S. crude oil prices were above $ 100 a barrel.

According to data from energy research firm Rystad Energy, the total amount of oil and gas resources discovered by global energy companies last year has been less than that of any one since the 1940s. In 2017, a total of about 7 billion barrels of new oil and gas resources were discovered. In 2012, up to about 30 billion barrels.

Sonia Mlada Passos, a senior analyst with the company, said: “We should note that the newly discovered decrease in oil and gas resources implies that the supply side will face severe challenges in the next 10 years.”