According to global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft's latest Resource Nationalism Index (RNI) report, a total of 30 countries have registered a significant increase in resource nationalism risk metrics over the past year, 21 of which are considered major producers of oil, gas and minerals.The RNI is aimed to measure the risk of expropriation, the imposition of more stringent fiscal regimes, and...Read More

SANTIAGO - Chile's Antofagasta expects to reach an agreement with miner BHP to help ensure water supply at its Zalidvar copper mine in the country's northern desert, a company official told a Chilean newspaper on Friday.Antofagasta needs access to water for the future development of its Zaldivar copper deposit, which is near BHP's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine. Zaldivar's size, h...Read More

LUSAKA - Vedanta Resources has appointed Christopher Sheppard as the new chief executive officer for its Zambian unit Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM), the local firm said on Friday.Sheppard has 35 years of mining experience and takes over from acting CEO Venkatesan Giridhar, who will now revert to his role as chief financial officer, KCM said in a statement.Sheppard has previously held leadership r...Read More

MANILA - Philippine copper and gold producer Philex Mining Corp on Friday said the start of output at its Silangan mine in the south of the country would be delayed by four years until 2022, hit by a national ban on new open-pit mining.The Silangan copper and gold mine could be Philex's biggest source of revenue after its 61-year-old Padcal mine in the north is expected to close in 2022.Silangan w...Read More

Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) scored a big win this week after the U.S. Forest Service approved the company's mine plan of operations (MPO) for its $1.9 billion Rosemont copper project in Arizona."Rosemont is now a fully permitted, shovel-ready copper project and we look forward to developing this world-class asset," president and chief executive Alan Hair said in a statement.T...Read More

As of March 23, it has been a full year since US President Donald Trump's administration imposed tariffs against imported steel and aluminium under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to place restrictions on imports on national security grounds.Trump's trade measures have drawn criticism from several US trading partners who argue that these actions violate e...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets andthe reasons for any price moves.An overview of...Read More

Gains in non-ferrous auto shred (twitch) prices in the United States have whittled the spread to benchmark A380.1 aluminium to an over 20-month low.Fastmarkets AMM's assessments for non-ferrous auto shred (twitch) prices increased to 56.5 to 58.5 cents per lb on Thursday March 21, while benchmark A380.1 prices were steady at 83-85 cents per lb, sending the spread between both grades to 26.5 cent p...Read More

Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Friday March 22, ending the week down more than 3% and closing just above $6,300 per tonne.Meanwhile, a host of weaker-than-expected PMI data releases also softened price sentiment over the afternoon.The red metal's total volumes traded over the day were high, leading the complex at 25,647 lots changing ha...Read More

Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia moved to its highest level since early December due to unrelenting market tightness. The daily fob Australia alumina index rose to $412.94 per tonne on Friday March 22, up from $403.58 per tonne the previous day and 6.7% higher month on month from $386.90 per tonne on February 22. Key drivers  Tightness in the market continues to...Read More

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has revised its base metals price forecasts lower across the board for 2019 in its latest base metals outlook report, specifying global recession fears and a rising macro-financial tide in its adjustments. While the bank highlighted that a bounce in fundamental price indicators could improve price sentiment, ICBC has revised down its three-month L...Read More

A conflict between Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro and the Brazilian federal prosecutors' office, MPF, could put the company's bauxite production in the Northern state of Par?? at risk.MPF is claiming Minera????o Paragominas' operational license for an ore pipeline and a power transmission line expired in 2014. This would mean the bauxite producer is illegally operating the assets, according...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled coil and coated steel have held steady week on week in the United States, according to Fastmarkets AMM's most recent assessment.CRC was flat week on week at $41.50 per hundredweight ($830 per ton) on Thursday March 22 from a week earlier. Meanwhile, the assessment for domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel base prices remained unchanged at $42 cwt ($840 per ton), and the all-i...Read More

Brazilian apparent steel consumption recovered in February 2019, but figures were still down year-on-year in the first two months of the year, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday March 21.Apparent usage reached 1.63 million tonnes last month, 3.70% higher than the 1.57 million tonnes of February 2018. In this year's January-February period, volumes totaled 3.17 millio...Read More

Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have been largely stable over the past week, supported by strong demand in the construction industry, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 22.Fastmarkets' price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,220-2,320 zloty ($590-617) per tonne ex-works on March 22, compared with 2,200-2,320 zloty per tonne ex-works last week.The assessment r...Read More

Indian mills were keeping domestic HRC prices high in the week ended Friday March 22, even though cheaper imported coil products have beaten down spot prices for the commodity, Fastmarkets has heard.Indian domestic HRC prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at 41,500-42,000 rupees ($604-612) per tonne ex-mill on Friday, unchanged since last week.Indian importers and traders, meanwhile, were offering...Read More

The market for CIS export steel billet finally saw a thaw in buying activity in the week ended Friday March 22 despite the fact that not all customers were ready to accept the prices being offered by mills.Offers from CIS producers for April- and May-rolling material varied within the range of $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea, while most bids were still lower than $450 per tonne fob Black Sea.The...Read More

Prices for coated steel products in Turkey fell again in the seven days to Friday March 22, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets.Sources told Fastmarkets that demand is unlikely to improve in March because of market uncertainty ahead of the mayoral elections being held across the country on the last day of the month.The export market was also poor because of weak demand in Euro...Read More

Some steel coil prices in Turkey decreased again in the week ended Friday March 22, with buying activity remaining subdued.The market was unlikely to improve in March because of the uncertainty in the build-up to Turkey's mayoral elections to be held across the country on the last day of the month, sources told Fastmarkets. In addition, most market participants expected prices to fall further beca...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsThe plan defines the project scope and how the company will operate the US$1.9 billion copper-molybdenum-silver openpit project on the eastern slope of the Santa Rita mountains southeast of Tucson.When completed, the mine is expected to produce 127,000 tonnes per annum of copper concentr...Read More