China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec Corp." or "the Company") (HKEX: 00386; SSE: 600028; NYSE: SNP) announced that it has filed its 2019 Annual Report on Form 20-F with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

KB Home, China Petroleum & Chemical, SunPower, Tesco and Mitek Systems highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

Moody's Investors Service has today affirmed Origin Energy Limited's Baa2 long term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings, and its P-2 short-term issuer rating. Moody's has also affirmed Origin Energy Finance Limited's Baa2 backed senior unsecured rating and its (P)Baa2 backed senior unsecured MTN program rating.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Under the watchful eye of Beijing’s energy hawks, China’s oil and gas majors have splurged for more than a decade, first on deals abroad and then drilling at home. Yet with crude prices at less than half where they were at the start of the year and demand battered by a coronavirus epidemic, they’re preparing to cut back.Cnooc Ltd. signaled Wednesday it might reduce its 2020 capital expenditure budget, which was set at as much as $13 billion, the highest since 2014. PetroChina Ltd., the country’s largest oil producer with a market value of $117 billion, suggested Thursday that it would do the same. Given the delicate politics involved, it’s a welcome hint of rational frugality.Energy security has always been a top concern for China’s leadership. Overseas deals peaked at $28 billion in 2012, the year Cnooc bid for Canada’s Nexen. Local production growth has been less exuberant, and China has been importing ever more. As trade tensions with Washington rose in 2018, President Xi Jinping urged the country’s state-owned titans to drill. That set off a frenzy from deepwater fields in the South China Sea to shale gas in Sichuan, where China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, has led. Performing national service is fine when oil is at $60 a barrel, even if the improvements are unimpressive compared to the capital spent. It’s a different matter when West Texas Intermediate is just coming off an 18-year low of less than $20. That’s a price at which no one can make money — not even Cnooc, with an all-in production cost of less than $30 per barrel of oil equivalent. Cnooc’s adventures in U.S. onshore and Canadian oil sands look terrible; its buccaneering domestic ventures are little better.Overseas, oil majors from Chevron Corp. to Saudi Aramco are cutting spending to preserve capital. Dividends are precarious. Logic dictates that China’s producers, even with healthier balance sheets, will follow the same pattern. The question is whether they can put financial logic ahead of political necessity. So far, the message is cautious: Cnooc executives pointed out that 2020 spending targets were drawn up when oil was at $65, so adjustments would be made. It gave no specifics. PetroChina, meanwhile, didn’t disclose precise targets for the year. That’s no accident, given a volatile market. After a string of personnel changes, there are new bosses across the industry. Political priorities haven’t been set in stone, given the delay in the annual National People’s Congress meeting. Still, the official message has been clear: Life is returning to normal after a devastating shutdown. Announcing a drastic spending cut, or anything that might hint at job losses or a weak economy, simply isn’t on the cards. PetroChina employed 476,000 at the end of 2018.That doesn’t mean that there won’t be mild cuts followed by steeper ones later in the year, a pattern seen before.How steep? Unlike during the last price crunch, in 2014 and 2015, the forward curve suggests prices will remain low, with little prospect for a quick solution to the Russia-Saudi spat that has worsened a global supply glut. Demand, meanwhile, is in the doldrums. China’s economy, and therefore its own appetite for oil and gas, is recovering only slowly, and the rest of the world is ailing as more lockdowns, factory closures and travel restrictions are imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Analysts at UBS Group AG forecast Cnooc’s capex could come down 25% over the next two years, a cut that could be far deeper if oil averages closer to $30 this year. Overall, they project Chinese state-owned oil producers could cut spending by over a third, dragging production down 8% to 9%. Exploration budgets may be trimmed, though domestic production — where job preservation remains key — will mostly be spared. That leaves refining and other downstream activities, plus projects abroad, to bear the brunt. Low energy prices aren’t all bad for China, which imports more than 70% of the crude it consumes. Even liberalization of the domestic gas market becomes easier when prices are low enough for consumers to cope with change, Michal Meidan of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies points out. Cheaper oil could eventually stimulate demand. For now, a little less drilling all round. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Electricity and gas retailer Origin Energy Ltd said on Thursday revenue from its stake in the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) joint venture fell 17.7% in the third quarter, hurt by lower contracted LNG sales. Origin, which controls a third of Australia's energy retailing market, said its share of APLNG revenue came in at A$628.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, down from A$763.9 million a year earlier. The figure was slightly below a RBC Capital Markets estimate of A$692 million.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A1 senior unsecured rating to the USD senior unsecured notes to be issued by Sinopec Group Overseas Development (2018) Limited and guaranteed by its parent, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group, A1 stable). Proceeds from the notes will be used to refinance Sinopec Group's existing debt and for general corporate purposes. The A1 rating on the notes reflects the irrevocable and unconditional guarantee from Sinopec Group and the fact that the notes will rank pari passu with all of Sinopec Group's other senior unsecured obligations.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG: 0386, "Sinopec"), China's leading energy and chemical company, was named the number one brand in China's energy and chemical industry in terms of brand value at China Brand Day 2020, held on May 10.

Bear of the Day: China Petrol (SNP)

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec Corp." or the "Company") (HKEX: 00386; SSE: 600028; NYSE: SNP) today announced its unaudited first quarterly results for the three months ended 31 March 2020.

Tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) are on their way to China after Beijing started granting tax waivers to some importers, according to shipping and trade sources. This is the first time since March 2019 that shipments have resumed after a long-standing trade war that saw China raise tariffs on LNG imports from the United States to 25% last year.

Moody's Investors Service has today revised the outlook on Australia Pacific LNG Processing Pty Ltd's (APLNG Processing) senior secured ratings to negative from stable. At the same time, Moody's has affirmed APLNG Processing's senior secured Baa2 ratings.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Venerable apparel retailer Brooks Brothers says it is “in the process of converting its New York, North Carolina and Massachusetts factories from manufacturing ties, shirts and suits to now making masks and gowns.” Michigan-based workwear maker Carhartt is shifting over to mask and gown production, too. In Houston, Gourmet Table Skirts & Linens, which normally sells to hotels and cruise ships, has gone all-in on surgical masks.These are encouraging signs for a country that remains way short on the personal protective equipment needed by health-care workers treating patients with Covid-19 — and eventually by the rest of us to help keep the disease from continuing its spread. But you’re not going to see a lot more announcements like these by U.S. apparel manufacturers, because there aren’t a lot more U.S. apparel manufacturers. Employment in the industry was actually up slightly in March — unlike employment in just about every other industry — but it has fallen 89% since 1990. In textile manufacturing, it’s down 79%.Manufacturing employment overall is down over that stretch too, of course, but by a much smaller 28%. And real value added by manufacturing (its contribution to gross domestic product, basically) is up 52% since 1997, when that data series begins, so part of the story is that productivity gains have allowed U.S. manufacturers to make more with fewer workers. For apparel, though, real value added is down 65% since 1997 and for textiles it’s down 39%, and while the latter has seen production rebound a bit over the course of the current expansion, apparel has not.Apparel making for the U.S. market basically moved overseas, with a quick look through my closet revealing “made in” labels from China, Honduras, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia and Mauritius. It had not been what you’d call a high-value industry, and the pay for workers certainly wasn’t great. U.S. consumers seem to have gained from the shift, with clothing and footwear’s share of consumer spending falling from 5.2% in 1990 to 2.7% last year. Still, it left a lot of jobs to replace and has left the country short-handed at a time when the ability to sew things is suddenly and unexpectedly of great value.To be sure, most of the protective respirators and the surgical masks in use today are not the product of traditional textile manufacturing or cut-and-sew production. They are generally made of spun or blown plastics — Chinese oil and petrochemicals company Sinopec has a peppy video about the factory it built over 12 days in February and early March that can produce 1.2 million N95 respirators or 6 million surgical masks a day. The U.S. still has a huge petrochemicals industry, and the biggest company in it, Exxon Mobil, announced Thursday that it is working with the Global Center for Medical Innovation in Atlanta “to rapidly redesign and manufacture reusable personal protection equipment for health care workers.” That’s good news. But in the meantime, it’s nice that Brooks Brothers, Carhartt and Gourmet Table Skirts & Linens are still around to fill in some of the gaps.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Justin Fox is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He was the editorial director of Harvard Business Review and wrote for Time, Fortune and American Banker. He is the author of “The Myth of the Rational Market.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, Sinopec Corp (HKG: 0386), China's leading energy and chemical company, has shown support and solidarity to the international community by supplying 10,256 tonnes of much-needed bleaching powder to countries grappling with an outbreak. To date, Sinopec Jianghan Salt & Chemical Complex has shipped bleaching powder to more than ten affected countries, including Italy, France, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers.

Sinopec (SNP) plans to accelerate its low-sulfur bunker fuel projects to seize a sizable market share in compliance with the IMO-2020 rule.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec Corp." or the "Company") (HKEX: 386; SSE: 600028; NYSE: SNP) today announced its annual results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2019.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When you’re in a critical fight, you need to use all the weapons at your disposal. And so, it’s time once again for America to marshal its great arsenal of democracy. Just as Detroit automakers became aircraft, tank and gun manufacturers during World War II, today’s industrial companies need to repurpose their factories for the tools needed to fight the current enemy: the coronavirus.Countries across the globe sealed their borders over the weekend and relegated citizens to the confines of their homes in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly virus before it overwhelms the Western World’s health-care systems. The president of Massachusetts General Hospital called on Sunday for the federal government to go into a “war-like stance” and launch a “Manhattan Project” to accelerate production of protective gear. No such plan has been announced by the Trump administration, but U.S. industrial companies should heed the call anyway. Because as far as wars go, this is one for which the country is woefully unprepared.The U.S. has fewer than 170,000 ventilators available for patient care, including estimates for those in the national stockpile, according to a report last month from the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (The school is supported by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.) The number of face masks in that strategic reserve was depleted in the swine-flu outbreak of 2009 and as of early March it held only about 12 million N95 respirators and 30 million surgical masks, significantly fewer than the 3.5 billion masks experts estimate the U.S. would need in a severe pandemic, according to the Washington Post. It falls to private manufacturers to step in and fill the void.With airlines parking jets, consumers locked in their homes and companies focusing on managing the disruption, demand for jet engines, HVAC systems and factory equipment is going to shrivel up for the near future. Rather than sit idle, American factories should be redeployed for the products needed to fight the coronavirus, whether that’s face masks, ventilators, other health-care equipment or even toilet paper for that matter. The Trump administration has already leaned heavily on companies such as Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, Roche Holding AG and Walmart Inc. to improve the availability and access to testing. But White House virus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned on Sunday that there will be a spike in cases as more people get access to tests. That’s when the real work is going to begin for the nation’s hospitals. It’s in every U.S. company’s interest to make sure they’re as prepared as possible, and manufacturers have a key role to play. Companies such as 3M Co. and Honeywell International Inc. already make masks and personal-protective gear, but they will need help to meet the huge demand.After China declared a “people’s war” on the outbreak in that country, companies including electric automaker BYD Co., petroleum refiner Sinopec and iPhone assembler Foxconn started making masks instead. French luxury-goods maker LVMH announced Sunday it’s converting perfume and cosmetics factories to make hand sanitizer, which it will deliver free of charge to the local authorities and hospital system. In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling on manufacturers including Dyson, Unipart Group, Honda and Ford to help with that country’s ventilator shortage, according to the Financial Times. American companies need to follow this lead. Apart from the moral and patriotic implications, it’s just good business sense. The faster the world responds to this health crisis, the faster it can get back on its feet.To contact the author of this story: Brooke Sutherland at bsutherland7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Beth Williams at bewilliams@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Brooke Sutherland is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

The coronavirus pandemic had quite a damaging impact on Sinopec's (SNP) Q1 earnings.

Today, we'll introduce the concept of the P/E ratio for those who are learning about investing. We'll look at China...

A close-up video of production lines in Sinopec ("Sinopec", HKG: 0386) Yanshan Factory was recorded and released on the social account of Stuart, a British vlogger who lived in China, to showcase how disposable facial masks and KN95 masks are made from polypropylene grain into masks with vacuum-sealed packages.