‘Everybody is growing the ounces, making all these deposits larger’ - Northern Superior CEO Simon Marcotte

Gold is giving back $250 election premium, $300 China premium at risk from stimulus – Société Générale

There is no reason to revise gold forecasts after correction - Mind Money CEO

Gold rallies on more bargain hunting, short covering

Indian gold market fired on all cylinders in October despite record high prices – WGC’s Chacko

Investors interest in gold continues to grow as GLD celebrates 20th anniversary

Gold price up; bulls continue to claw back   

Gold market analysis for November 20 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

A multitude of factors are aligning for a silver supercycle – The Silver Institute

Go for gold says Goldman Sachs; prices still on track to hit $3,000 by year-end 2025

Gold rallies on safe-haven bids, short covering

Solid price gains in gold on safe-haven demand    

Gold market analysis for November 19 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

UAE surpasses London to become the world’s second-largest gold hub as Asian demand grows - DMCC

Gold is still on track despite severe selloff - State Street’s George Milling-Stanley

$2,604 in spot market is key to support next gold breakout with $2,700 in sight – FX Empire’s Hyerczyk

Gold, silver see strong gains on safe-haven bids, bargain hunting

Gold price sharply up on safe-haven demand, bargain hunting    

Gold market analysis for November 18 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

Bears rule both Wall Street and Main Street as gold’s slide sparks fear of further decline

Gold price set for countermove after 8% decline, analysts predict a demand surge

Gold price slips a bit after hotter U.S. retail sales data    

Gold market analysis for November 15 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

Gold to see medium-term weakness as safe haven bid takes a backseat to Trump policies – OANDA

Gold, silver weaker but up from daily lows

More price pressure on gold, silver as both hit two-month lows    

Gold market analysis for November 14 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

With long-term support and constrained supply, gold around $2,600/oz is a buying opportunity – IG’s Rudolph

Gold could fall to $2,500 before ‘Trump Trade’ euphoria subsides – Nicky Sheils

The Great Kentucky Hoard: $2 million in Civil War-era gold coins discovered

Gold, silver near steady as strong USDX limits buyer interest 

Gold price up after as-expected U.S. inflation data

Gold market analysis for November 13 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

Industrial demand for silver to set new record high in 2024 as market sees fourth straight annual supply deficit – Silver Institute

Gold pullback likely temporary amid rising stocks, crypto, and dollar – WGC

More solid losses for gold as bears gain more confidence

ETF and COMEX data show gold’s near-term weakness, but the trend is likely to reverse – Barchart’s Newsom

Gold market analysis for November 12 - key intra-day price entry levels for active traders

Gold price near steady as bulls work to stabilize market    

Gold’s dramatic decline is not Trump-specific, silver demand from solar boosts long-term projections – Heraeus

Rollercoaster markets: Bitcoin breaks $95k, gold rises, stocks see mixed results

Crypto revolution: How Trump's election could spark Bitcoin boom – S&P

Safe havens rally: Bitcoin taps $95k, gold soars as stocks slide

Bitcoin hits a new all-time high above $94k, gold rises amid Russia-Ukraine escalation

Trump Media reportedly in talks to acquire Bakkt crypto exchange

Stocks fall, gold rises, Bitcoin steadies as geopolitical tensions mount

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to develop blockchain-based financial hub

18 state coalition sues SEC over ‘gross overreach’ in cryptocurrency industry

‘Crypto won the election,’ Bitcoin will hit $200k in 2025 – Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan

Crypto lending set for a revival as institutions eye DeFi opportunities – industry experts

UK pension fund allocates 3% to Bitcoin as institutional adoption grows

Why Bitcoin’s path to $200k doesn’t depend on a collapse of the dollar - Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan

Stablecoins boost Treasury demand, says U.S. Treasury report

Trump doubles down on crypto, proposes no capital gains tax for Bitcoin and U.S.-made tokens

Emory University invests in Bitcoin ETFs as institutional demand reaches new peak

BRICS de-dollarization: New digital currency, gold, and Bitcoin all on the table

Pennsylvania House passes Bitcoin Rights Bill to protect crypto holders

India considers total ban on Bitcoin, private cryptos in favor of CBDC

Fed and ECB push for Bitcoin ban to enable permanent deficits

The fight for privacy: Using decentralized AI to overcome Orwellian surveillance

Trump family’s World Liberty Financial token sale falls flat, only hits 10% of goal

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: Bitcoin is on track to become ‘digital gold’

Central Banks of Australia, Canada, and Colombia put CBDC projects on ice

Crypto fraud exposed: FBI, DOJ and SEC charge 18 for market manipulation

47% of traditional hedge funds now have exposure to digital assets – Survey

HBO's Satoshi reveal flops: Bitcoin community calls case for Peter Todd ‘ludicrous’ 

Gold really is a barbarous relic -  Deutsche Bank analyst says Bitcoin to become 21st-century gold

JPMorgan predicts bullish ‘Uptober’ as Bitcoin begins Q4 rally

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? HBO documentary to answer crypto’s biggest question

Ohio state senator introduces bill to allow crypto to be used for tax payments

Gemini to exit Canadian market, close all accounts by end of 2024 

US Rep. Maxine Waters says ‘crypto is inevitable’ as the race to regulate stablecoins heats up

Kamala Harris highlights blockchain, AI, and tech leadership amid growing crypto focus

Bitcoin/gold ratio could increase by 400% in 2025 – Peter Brandt

Over 70% of leading financial advisors admit to holding Bitcoin, client allocations expected within a year – Bitwise CIO

HSBC unveils quantum leap in gold token security

Bitcoin price and the presidential outcome: $120k with Trump, $75k with Harris – analysts

Bank of Canada suspends plans to introduce CBDC to the public

Ethereum is the contrarian bet you shouldn’t ignore – Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan

Jamie Dimon admits JPMorgan is ‘a real user’ of blockchain as institutional adoption grows

‘I'm really bullish on the equities starting to outperform gold for the first time in many years’ - Michael Gentile

Moscow – President Vladimir Putin accused the operator of Tomtor, Russia’s largest rare earth deposit, of delaying the deposit’s development, suggesting it should either raise investment or seek help from third parties, including the state.Tomtor, located in the north of the Siberian region of Yakutia, is a key project in Russia’s plans to boost output of the metals that are used in the defence industry and in making mobile phones and electric cars, to reduce reliance on imports from China.“Those business structures that took over these deposits many years ago are not investing. We need to somehow talk to them and resolve this issue,” Putin told First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov during a meeting in the Kremlin.“Either they invest, or they establish relationships with other companies and the state. This is a strategically important resource that the state needs now,” Putin added.Before the Ukraine conflict, Russia planned to invest $1.5 billion in rare earth minerals, striving to become the biggest producer after China by 2030.Other countries, including the United States, are also trying to curb their reliance on China, which controls 95% of the global production and supply of rare earth metals.Businessman Alexander Nesis, a former shareholder in Polymetal, a major producer of gold and silver, used to own a 75% stake in a firm called ThreeArc Mining, the operator of the project, through his IST group of companies.Polymetal used to own a 9.1% stake in ThreeArc Mining.Following the ownership change after the start of Russian military action in Ukraine, and subsequent Western sanctions on Russian businesses, the operator of the project is now controlled by IST’s former manager Vladislav Resin.Resin’s company TM-Energo Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Polymetal’s spokesman told Reuters that the company fully exited the project in June. In 2023, Polymetal wrote off $24 million in losses after the project’s development was put on hold.(Reporting by Nastya Lyrchikova and Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Putin scolds Tomtor rare earth deposit’s operator over development delays

Peru’s copper production fell 1.2% in September compared to the same month last year to settle at 232,423 metric tons, data from the ministry of energy and mines showed on Tuesday.Peru is one of the world’s largest suppliers of the industrial metal, and copper is a key national industry that churned out 2.76 million tons last year.The monthly drop in production was mainly due to lower supply from the Andean country’s two largest copper miners – Cerro Verde, controlled by Freeport-McMoRan, and Antamina, jointly controlled by Glencore and BHP.Output from Cerro Verde and Antamina fell 11% and 6.7% respectively year-on-year, the ministry of energy and mines said in a report.Accumulated copper output from January to September stood at 1,993,627 metric tons, 0.6% less than in the same period last year, the ministry added.Peru’s government recently lowered its 2024 copper production expectations to 2.8 million tons, from about 3 million tons projected at the beginning of the year.(By Marco Aquino and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Kylie Madry)

Peru copper output edges down 1% in September

Gold exports from Switzerland rose in October compared to September due to higher supplies to Britain, but were down from a year ago as high gold prices kept deliveries to China and Hong Kong subdued, Swiss customs data showed on Tuesday.Supplies from Switzerland, the world’s biggest bullion refining and transit hub, to Britain in October reached the highest level since June 2021, according to the data. London is the world’s largest centre for over-the-counter (OTC) trading of gold.This year’s 27% gold price rally, which took spot prices to a record high of $2,790.15 per troy ounce on Oct. 31, has been affecting physical demand in China, the world’s top consumer of the metal.However, gold exports from Switzerland to India, the world’s second-largest gold consumer and a major importer, rose in October from September amid festival purchases.(By Polina Devitt; Editing by Mark Potter)

Higher supplies to the UK lift Swiss October gold exports

Santiago – SQM, the world’s second-largest lithium producer, reported a 73% drop in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as higher sales volumes failed to offset a sharp decline in prices due to a supply glut.Lithium miners around the world have been impacted by a sustained drop in lithium prices in the past few months due to weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles. Lithium is a major component of batteries for electric cars.SQM reported net profit of $131 million for the quarter, below analyst estimates of $162 million, based on LSEG data.Revenue fell 41% year-on-year to $1.07 billion, in line with analyst forecasts.Lithium sales volumes rose almost a fifth compared with the same period last year, but average prices plunged 67%, the mining group said. Between the second and third quarters, prices dropped 24% for the metal.Prices are expected to fall further in the final months of the year, SQM said, tracking with the company’s prior forecasts of weak pricing throughout 2024.“Although demand continues to grow at a strong pace, mainly driven by strong EV sales growth in China, we continue to see the prices pressured by an oversupply,” CEO Ricardo Ramos said in a statement.The company said its third-quarter lithium sales included, for the first time, the SQM International division, which it launched in the prior quarter to focus on developing the company’s lithium business outside Chile.SQM, which also produces fertilizers and industrial chemicals, extracts lithium from the Atacama salt flat in northern Chile, a region with some of the world’s highest lithium concentrations.The company maintained its target for lithium sales volumes this year of 190,000 to 195,000 metric tons. Lithium made up 42% of its gross profit contribution this year.(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Alexander Villegas and Jane Merriman)

SQM’s net profit slips on lower lithium prices

Houston – Exxon Mobil said on Wednesday it has signed a non-binding lithium supply deal with battery parts maker LG Chem, the oil giant’s second agreement to supply the electric vehicle battery metal from its proposed Arkansas project.Exxon last year announced plans to extract lithium from the Smackover Formation, an underground deposit of salty water known as brine that stretches from Florida through Arkansas and into Texas, using at least one type of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.Exxon and other oil companies such as Occidental Petroleum and Equinor are increasingly investing in lithium projects, partly due to their belief that extracting the metal from brine involves similar processes as petroleum extraction.The LG Chem agreement, which would require Arkansas officials to set a state lithium royalty rate to be finalized, is for up to 100,000 metric tons of the ultralight metal over several years.The move allows Exxon – which plans to self-fund its Arkansas project – to incorporate LG Chem’s lithium quality specifications into its design plans. South Korea-based LG Chem plans to use the lithium at its Tennessee cathode facility, slated to open next year.“This is about building a relationship with a company that has the same ambitions as building out the North American (battery) supply chain as us,” Patrick Howarth, head of Exxon’s lithium business, told Reuters.Exxon expects lithium demand to rise despite US President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign vow to end the “EV mandate,” Howarth said.“We know that the world’s going to need a lot more lithium than it’s producing today,” he said.Financial terms of the deal – including the price per metric ton of lithium that LG Chem would pay Exxon – would be negotiated as part of any final contract. SK On, a unit of SK Innovation, signed a non-binding lithium supply deal with Exxon in June.Despite recent lithium market turbulence, Howarth said Exxon has “seen really strong support from our potential customer base.”Arkansas officials earlier this month rejected a proposed lithium royalty rate of 1.82% from Exxon and others.Officials have been debating a lithium royalty since at least 2018, with tension centering on how the metal should be valued given the cost for equipment to filter it from brine, which unlike oil typically has no intrinsic market value.Landowners want a higher rate, noting that most U.S. oil royalties pay between 8% and 12%.“It’s one of the key regulatory issues that we need to resolve to bring these projects to market,” Howarth said, adding that Exxon could leave Arkansas – where it has invested more than $100 million – if the rate was too high.Officials hinted a 2.5% rate could be acceptable, which Howarth said would be “in the range that we would be able to move forward.” Exxon would need to formally propose a new rate, which is likely in the near future, he added.Exxon declined to say how much lithium it expects to produce annually in Arkansas, although the amount would depend on which DLE technology it chooses.“We’re definitely narrowing down the selection,” Howarth said. “But we’re still keeping multiple providers in play.”(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jamie Freed)

Exxon Mobil signs non-binding lithium supply deal with LG Chem

At more than 3,700m above sea level, the “karachi” swims happily in dense salt flat waters, but locals worry a future lithium project will endanger this extreme-environment fish.The Orestias ascotanensis is a small ray-finned fish that grows to just 7.5 cm, but has adapted to the Ascotan salt flat’s high concentrations of heavy metals and variable salinity.The salt flat also sees high solar radiation and temperature variations that reach 26 Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) during the day and below freezing at night, according to Marco Mendez, a professor at the University of Chile who studies evolutionary biology.Scientists at the Millennium Institute’s genome center have been studying the fish and found genes that allow it to resist each element of its hostile environment, from solar radiation to heavy metals to low oxygen levels.The fish has also evolved to do it quickly.“We’ve seen how they’ve done this in a short evolutionary time because there are other variants of this fish in less hostile environments,” said Miguel Allende, director of the institute.“They’ve taken these genes and exacerbated them.”While the fish can survive extreme environments, it still needs an environment to live in and residents say copper mining has reduced the fish population due to water extraction.“That’s what’s hurting them, when they take the water, the fish die,” said Mauricio Anza, a local resident, who said people in the area are working to preserve the areas flora and fauna.But Ascotan is also one of the salt flats where the government plans to launch a private lithium mining project, something locals and experts say must come with guarantees to safeguard the ecosystem.“Mining activity, while important from an economic point of view, must be carried out with the aim of ensuring that this very particular environment is not lost forever,” Allende said.&nbsp;

Chile’s rare salt flat fish faces threat from lithium mining project

Nippon Steel will not import steel to the US from its international mills, the Japanese company’s executive vice president Takahiro Mori said on Monday in a letter to United Steelworkers union members.Nippon is looking to close its $14.9 billion deal for US Steel by the end of the year before President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to block the deal during his campaign, enters the White House in January.In its effort to ease the challenges posed by the union and President Joe Biden, the company has pledged investments to US Steel and assured job security to the United Steelworkers union.It has also promised to sell a stake in a US steel plant joint venture if the company succeeds in the buyout.In his letter, Mori reiterated the promises made over the past year and addressed concerns raised by union leaders, including USW president David McCall.“We are here to inform you, not to negotiate as president McCall has suggested. I have asked president McCall to meet, most recently on November 11. I await his response,” Mori said.In September, an arbitration board jointly selected by the company and the USW, ruled in favor of the deal, but the union disagreed with the decision.Mori, who is scheduled for a US visit next week, will meet steelworkers in Pittsburgh and also visit New York and Washington.The Japanese steel company is making efforts to finalize the deal, as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has extended its review until the end of December.(By Aatreyee Dasgupta; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Arun Koyyur)

Nippon Steel not to import from overseas mills in bid to save US Steel deal

Australia’s SRG Global won contracts worth A$700 million ($455.35 million) from companies such as Pilbara Minerals, South32, New Zealand’s Fonterra, London-listed Glencore, the construction &amp; engineering firm said on Tuesday.The firm has also signed a five-year contract for asset integrity services with Switzerland-based Glencore at the latter’s Murrin Murrin mining operations in Western Australia.SRG has been awarded an infrastructure contract with Pilbara Minerals to build a tailings dam at the Pilgangoora mining operation in Western Australia.It signed a five-year contract with world’s biggest producer of manganese, South32, for maintenance services at the miner’s Worsley Alumina bauxite and alumina refinery operations in the southwest region of Western Australia.SRG Global has also entered a three-year contract with dairy producer Fonterra across seven sites in New Zealand to provide specialist engineered access services for its dairy operations.A few other contracts have been awarded by existing clients within the water, dairy and resources sectors.($1 = 1.5373 Australian dollars)(By Rajasik Mukherjee)

SRG Global wins $455m worth of contracts across Australia, New Zealand

Nuclear fuel supplier Centrus Energy said on Monday it has received a notice from Russia’s TENEX that its government passed an order, which canceled its licence to export low-enriched uranium to the US, effective through Dec. 31, 2025.Shares of Centrus were down 4.3% at $73.14 in trading after the bell.Russia, the world’s largest supplier of enriched uranium, said last week it had imposed temporary restrictions on the fuel’s export to the United States, a symbolic tit-for-tat move after the US banned Russian uranium imports.TENEX is required to obtain a specific export licence from the Russian authorities to make each of the remaining 2024 shipments of low-enriched uranium to Centrus and for shipments in 2025.Centrus said TENEX is seeking the necessary export licences, in a timely manner. But there is no certainty whether they will be issued by the Russian authorities and if issued, whether they will be in a timely manner, it said.If TENEX is unable to secure export licences, it would affect Centrus’ ability to meet delivery obligations to customers, it said.(By Tanay Dhumal; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

Centrus says Russia canceled TENEX’s licence to export low-enriched uranium to US

Beijing – Iron ore futures rose for a second consecutive session to a one-week high on Tuesday, supported by a weaker dollar and the start of restocking by Chinese steelmakers to maintain production in January.The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 3.05% higher at 776 yuan ($107.17) a metric ton. It hit the highest since Nov. 11 at 779.5 yuan a ton in the afternoon trading session.The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 2.02% higher at $101.15 a ton, as of 0717 GMT, after touching the highest since Nov. 11 at $101.9 a ton.A weaker dollar USD/ makes greenback-priced commodities less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.“Data over the weekend showed that the issuance pace of local government debts has accelerated, indicating more capital available for property projects, boosting the ferrous market,” said Pei Hao, an analyst at international brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS).“Moreover, $100 a ton is a key level that traders have been closely monitoring as once prices fall below the level, buying interest for seaborne cargoes picked up even amid high portside stocks.”Also underpinning prices of the key steelmaking ingredient is some mills kicking off buying seaborne cargoes to meet their production needs over the week-long Chinese New Year holiday break in January, said one Chinese steelmaker and one trader, both requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to media.“Such buying will lend some support to prices, preventing them from falling sharply, but it’s far from sufficient for any strong price rebound given that portside stocks hovered at a pretty high level,” FIS’s Pei added.Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE posted gains, with coking coal and coke up 1.69% and 1.46%, respectively.Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained ground. Rebar added 1.84%, hot-rolled coil rose 1.19%, wire rod climbed 0.59% and stainless steel advanced 0.57%.($1 = 7.2405 Chinese yuan)(Reporting by Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Iron ore price at one-week high on softer dollar, pre-holiday stocking

Japanese trading house Mitsui &amp; Co. has emerged as the highest bidder for a stake in First Quantum Minerals’ Zambian copper mines, according to people familiar with the matter.Mitsui submitted an offer that’s higher than a rival proposal from Saudi Arabia’s state-backed Manara Minerals Investment Co, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The Japanese company is considering buying a roughly 20% interest in First Quantum’s Sentinel and Kansanshi mines for about $2 billion, according to the people.Tokyo-based Mitsui is now seeking to negotiate terms of a deal with First Quantum, according to the people. There’s no certainty the deliberations will lead to a transaction, and First Quantum could sell a stake to another party or decide against pursuing a deal, the people said.Shares of First Quantum have gained about 67% in Toronto trading this year, giving it a market value of about C$15.1 billion ($10.8 billion). Zambia accounted for about half of First Quantum’s copper output and revenue last year and delivered more than $450 million in operating profit.A spokesperson for Mitsui didn’t immediately respond to queries, while representatives for First Quantum and Manara declined to comment.Copper mines are attracting interest from a range of investors because demand for the metal is expected to soar in coming years. Copper is crucial for the production of electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure, while there is a lack of new mines being built.

Mitsui said to be highest bidder for First Quantum’s stake in Zambia mines

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling US EV transition. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s biggest EV maker – have told a Trump-transition committee they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest backers and the world’s richest person, said in July that killing the subsidy might slightly hurt Tesla sales but would be “devastating” to its US EV competitors, which include legacy automakers such as General Motors.Shares of Tesla ended nearly 6% lower at $311.18, while shares of smaller EV rival Rivian closed down 14% at $10.31. Lucid, another EV maker, tumbled 5% to $2.08.Repealing the subsidy, a signature measure of Democratic President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is being discussed in meetings by an energy-policy transition team led by billionaire oilman Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, and Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, the two sources said.The group has met several times since Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, including at his Florida Mar-a-Lago club, where Musk has also spent considerable time since the election.Representatives of Tesla and Ford did not respond to requests for comment. GM and Stellantis declined to comment.The Alliance for Automotive Innovation urged Congress in an Oct. 15 letter to retain the EV tax credits, calling them “critical to cementing the US as a global leader” in future auto manufacturing.US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Friday that cancelling the credits would make the US less competitive.“It would be so counterproductive,” she told reporters at the COP29 climate conference in Baku when asked about the Reuters report. “You eliminate these credits, and what do you do? You end up ceding the territory to other countries, particularly China.”The Trump transition team did not comment on the fate of the EV tax credit but said in a statement that the president-elect would deliver on “promises he made on the campaign trail.”Trump campaigned on ending Biden’s “EV mandate,” without spelling out specific targeted policies. The energy-focused transition team has determined some of Biden’s clean-energy policies will be tough to end because they are popular and already funneling money to Republican-dominated states, the sources said.The team views the consumer EV credit as an easy target, believing that eliminating it would get broad consensus in a Republican-controlled Congress.Trump could use the cost savings from killing the credit to help pay for the extension of trillions of dollars in tax cuts from his first term that are set to expire soon, the two sources said. Congressional Republicans plan to take up the broader tax bill as one of their first actions.Energy transition team members expect the Republican Congress will deploy a legislative measure known as reconciliation to avoid relying on Democratic votes. Biden used the same tactic to pass the IRA.Killing EV tax credits is strongly supported by Hamm, a long-time Trump supporter, along with the broader oil-and-gas industry.Trump promised while campaigning to boost US oil production, even as it has hit record highs, and to roll back Biden’s clean-energy initiatives, which also include subsidies for wind and solar power and the mass production of hydrogen.Shares of South Korean battery makers tanked on Friday after the Reuters report. LG Energy Solution, a supplier for Tesla, General Motors and other automakers, fell as much as 10%, while Samsung SDI lost 9.6%Why Tesla could benefit Tesla has historically been the biggest beneficiary of consumer EV subsidies passed by Biden and previous administrations. It now may stand to gain from killing the incentive because that could hurt rising EV competitors more than Tesla.Musk himself pointed out as much in a July earnings call, saying losing the subsidy under Trump would “probably benefit Tesla” in the long term.Tesla sold just under half of all US EVs in the third quarter, according to data from Cox Automotive. Other automakers with notable EV sales such as GM, Ford and Hyundai, individually trail far behind. But Tesla’s US EV rivals collectively have steadily eroded its market share, which exceeded 80% in the first quarter of 2020.Nicholas Mersch, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments, a Tesla investor, said Tesla can withstand a potential sales hit from losing subsidies because the automaker’s “engineering and manufacturing prowess” lowers its costs.“Getting rid of the subsidy means that competitors can’t catch up and won’t be able to compete on a cost basis,” Mersch said.Musk and Tesla also stand to gain hugely from Biden policies that Trump will likely leave in place or strengthen – like steep trade barriers blocking imports of Chinese EVs, including a 100% tariff.Chinese EV makers led by Tesla rival BYD have rocketed past the rest of the industry, with the help of generous government subsidies. Electric vehicles and hybrids have accounted for more than half of all cars sold in recent months in China, the world’s largest auto market.Tesla is a major player in China but, like all foreign automakers, has been recently losing market share to homegrown players that sell EVs for as little as $10,000.Tesla “can’t beat Chinese EVs,” Mersch said, but with Trump’s help may be able to keep them out of the US market.Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist who runs the EV Politics Project – an advocacy group seeking bipartisan EV support – described ending the subsidy as a “Tesla first, everybody else second” policy.He described the move as “really bad for American automakers” trying to catch up to highly subsidized Chinese EV industry.“The Trump administration is proving they have absolutely no interest in helping the US auto industry survive the coming Chinese invasion,” he said.Why Detroit needs EV subsidiesAutomakers in the US market have been bracing for automotive-policy changes under Trump. Some could provide greater flexibility to build more gas-powered SUVs and trucks that generate big profits for the Detroit Three – General Motors, Ford and Jeep parent Stellantis.But other changes, like losing the EV tax credit, could cripple their nascent efforts to transition to electric vehicles.Losing EV subsidies would make it tougher for Tesla’s struggling rivals to achieve profitability on those vehicles. GM, Ford, Hyundai and others are still ramping up EV production and scrambling to cut manufacturing costs.Ford, which expects to record a $5 billion loss on its EV and software operations this year, has previously relied on EV tax credits to boost demand from price-conscious consumers.Yet even with the credits, demand for Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup has faltered, leading Ford to idle the truck’s production through the year-end.The United Auto Workers labor union, which represents workers at the Detroit Three – but not Tesla – has supported Biden’s pro-EV policies, including the $7,500 incentive. Last month, UAW president Shawn Fain slammed Trump’s threats to repeal the policies, saying “hundreds of thousands” of auto-industry jobs were at stake.GM, which touts plans to boost EV production, previously said it had received $800 million in separate EV manufacturing credits this year – also enacted in Biden’s IRA legislation – and expected that figure to grow.GM recently said it planned to slash its annual EV losses next year by between $2 billion and $4 billion, which would be more difficult without the tax credit.In a push to further cut costs around EVs, GM and Hyundai in September announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding to work together.(By Jarrett Renshaw, Chris Kirkham, Nora Eckert, David Shepardson, Hyunjoo Jin and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Brian Thevenot, Anna Driver and Lincoln Feast)

Trump’s transition team aims to kill Biden EV tax credit

Indonesia’s imports of nickel ore surged to 9.3 million metric tons in the first ten months of 2024, more than 50 times the corresponding figure of 161,917 tons for the year earlier period, the statistics bureau said on Friday.The world’s biggest nickel producer has bought record volumes of the ore from the Philippines since April as smelter demand rose and Jakarta delayed the issue of mining quotas with heavy rains hurting mining activity, Reuters reported.Alexander Barus, chief executive officer at nickel-focused Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, said the imports were ‘a rational business decision’ made by owners and management of domestic smelters.“Domestic ore supply is lower than demand that reached 200 million tons per year for all specifications. Maybe because of the delay in nickel RKAB issuance,” Barus said, referring to the quotas.Imports of nickel ore during January to October mostly came from the Philippines and China, for a total value of $406 million, up from $7.1 million a year earlier.Indonesia changed the way it issued mining quotas this year, which affected nearly all miners in the resource-rich country. In June, authorities said they had issued 240 million metric tons of output quotas for the next three years.However, ore shortages seemed to have continued later into the year. Top nickel producer China’s Tsingshan has cut its Indonesia ferronickel output because of ore shortage, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in September.Indonesian authorities have defended the nickel ore quota, saying volumes approved were more than enough for smelters.(By Bernadette Christina and Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Gayatri Suroyo, Clarence Fernandez and Kirsten Donovan)

Indonesia’s Jan-Oct nickel ore imports surge by 50 times from year ago

Australia’s Resolute Mining said on Monday that it would pay $160 million to Mali’s government to help resolve a tax dispute after the West African country detained its CEO Terence Holohan and two other employees this month.Resolute has made an initial payment of $80 million as part of the settlement from existing cash reserves and will make future payments of about $80 million in the coming months from existing liquidity sources, it said in a statement.Resolute shares were down as much as 14.3% in early trading on Monday to A$0.345, the lowest since March 1.The detained employees were in Mali’s capital Bamako to hold discussions with mining and tax authorities regarding general activities related to the company’s business practices, the company said last week.Resolute is currently working with the Mali government to release the detained employees, who remain “safe and well” and are receiving support from the UK and international embassies and consulates, the miner said on Monday.Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and the detention of mining company employees, which have also included some senior local staff at Canada’s Barrick Gold, is becoming part of a pattern as the government seeks to extract more income from the sector.Resolute’s gold mine in Syama, Mali – one of its two operational mines – contributed nearly two-thirds of its annual sales of 329,061 ounces in 2023. Resolute owns an 80% stake in the project, while Mali’s government holds the rest.“The company notes that operations on site continue as normal and have not been impacted,” Resolute said in its statement.(By Sherin Sunny; Editing by Jamie Freed)

Resolute Mining says it will pay Mali $160 million in tax dispute

Seoul – Korea Zinc, whose management is embroiled in a takeover battle for the world’s top refined zinc producer, said on Monday a government panel had found its lithium-ion battery material technology was subject to export controls.The industry ministry, which has a committee of experts to review and rule on applications for designating “national core technology”, also said the panel had recently granted Korea Zinc’s case and notified it of the decision without elaborating.Korea Zinc has been trying to thwart a takeover by rival zinc maker Young Poong and private equity firm MBK Partners.During the takeover tussle, Korea Zinc has raised concerns about whether new management could opt to sell the zinc producer, which also supplies materials used for microchips and electric vehicle batteries, to a foreign entity.MBK and Young Poong said last month they had no plans to sell Korea Zinc to China, which is the world’s largest zinc producer.MBK said on Monday as the largest shareholder it welcomed the designation, but the ruling on national core technology did not erase damage to shareholders caused by the company borrowing a large sum to finance a tender offer.Korea Zinc borrowed heavily to buy back $1.5 billion of its shares at a premium last month.Korea Zinc together with affiliate KEMCO hold the technology for the precursor material for cathodes in lithium ion batteries made from nickel, cobalt and manganese.“The ruling will be the foundation to build a stable self-sufficient supply chain of the key material for secondary batteries based on entirely domestic technology,” Korea Zinc said in a statement.The designation is yet to be made official through a public notice.South Korean law states that the government controls the transfer of such technology “whose leak abroad could have a material adverse effect on national security and development of the national economy.”Last week, Korea Zinc announced it was dropping a plan to issue $1.8 billion in new shares in the latest bid by Chairman Yun B. Choi to retain control of the company.Choi and a group friendly to him hold about a 35% stake. Young Poong and MBK have nearly 40% of the shares after a tender offer.(Reporting by Jack Kim and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Ed Davies)

Korea Zinc wins export control ruling amid fight to thwart takeover

Beijing – Prices of iron ore futures clawed up towards the psychological level of $100 a metric ton on Monday, underpinned by firm near-term demand and revived hopes of further economic stimulus from top consumer China.The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was up 2.78% at $99.4 a ton, as of 0700 GMT, after touching the intraday high at $100.3 a ton earlier the session. It fell by more than 5% last week.The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.87% higher at 761 yuan ($105.08) a metric ton.Analysts said near-term demand for the key steelmaking ingredient remained strong, supporting prices.The average daily hot metal output among steelmakers surveyed was up 0.8% week-on-week at 2.36 million tons, as of Nov 15, the highest since early August, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.Shanghai said on Monday that it would reduce some taxes on real estate transactions, effective from Dec. 1, a move that will support the local property market, according to a state media report.Hopes resurfaced that Beijing may announce more stimulus in the coming months after a string of disappointing data in the property sector, the largest steel consumer in the world’s second-largest economy, despite a raft of stimulus unveiled since late-September. “With Beijing quite open about keeping its powder dry ahead of potentially higher tariffs in 2025, we think the possibility of additional stimulus measures is high,” ANZ analysts said in a note.“This should keep sentiment in the iron ore and steel industry relatively buoyant,” they added, reiterating short-term price target of $95 a ton.Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE gained ground, with coking coal and coke up 0.51% and 0.65%, respectively.Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced. Rebar edged 0.06% higher, hot-rolled coil added 0.38%, wire rod climbed 0.53% and stainless steel edged up 0.15%.($1 = 7.2420 Chinese yuan)(Reporting by Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Iron ore price flirts with key $100/T level on firm demand, China stimulus hopes

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. refiners kept focused on shareholder returns with hefty stock buybacks and dividends in the third quarter even though profits fell due to weakening fuel demand and refining margins.Margins for gasoline, diesel and other products narrowed sharply from record levels hit after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Fuel demand has softened since then, and new refining capacity has come online.In the third quarter, the average earnings per share for U.S. oil refiners fell to 25 cents from $4.75 in the same quarter a year ago and $4.85 in 2022, according to Reuters calculations. Combined, the three largest U.S. refiners returned more than $5.2 billion to shareholders through stock repurchases and dividends during the third quarter, Reuters calculations show, down only slightly from $5.9 billion in the previous quarter.Those companies rewarded shareholders with $6.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago and $6.81 billion two years ago."While large refiners were not immune to the downturn in the refining market, they were still able to generate positive cash flows," Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng said.Marathon paid out $3 billion to its shareholders and boosted its share repurchase plan by $5 billion. The Findlay, Ohio-based refiner has approximately $8.5 billion available under its share buyback authorizations."We are committed to leading our peers in capital returns through all parts of the cycle," Chief Executive Officer Maryann Mannen told analysts during a conference call this month. While volatility could continue, the company remains constructive on the long term outlook, Mannen said.Year-to-date, shares of Valero are up 5.7% while Marathon is up about 6% and Phillips 66 is down 3.58%. That compares with the S&amp;P 500 energy sector's (.SPNY), opens new tab 13.03% increase so far this year.Weaker gasoline and diesel cracks in the third quarter weighed on refiners' profitability, said Matthew Blair, managing director at TPH&amp;Co. Still, most companies kept their promises to reward their shareholders, Blair said.During the quarter, the U.S. gasoline crack spread fell to $11.73 a barrel in September, the lowest since November 2023. The diesel crack spread traded at $17.98 a barrel in September, its lowest since July 2021.Valero Energy returned $907 million to stockholders, a higher payout ratio than the same quarter a year ago, despite an 86% slump in third-quarter profit.The refiner's financial results reflected a period of heavy maintenance during a weak margin environment, Valero Chief Executive Lane Riggs said.Looking ahead, he added, refining margins should find support in export demand from Latin America and low product inventories through year end.Phillips 66 returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in the quarter even as costs, including those related to the upcoming closure of its Los Angeles refinery, put a dent in earnings. The Houston-based refiner reported earnings tumbled to $346 million in the third quarter from $2.1 billion a year earlier.Many analysts expect margins to remain weak throughout the fourth quarter with some refiners cutting back on share repurchases."The fourth quarter is shaping up to be a pretty challenging one," said TPH&amp;Co's Blair, adding that soft gasoline and distillate margins will continue to weigh on profitability."Naturally as the earnings and cash flow come off, your buyback should come off," Scotiabank's Cheng said. Reporting by Nicole Jao; Editing by Liz Hampton and David Gregorio

Top 3 US refiners return $5.2 billion to shareholders in Q3 despite profit slide

Beijing – China’s Zijin Mining said on Thursday that some “high-grade ore bodies” in the shallow areas of the Buritica gold mine in Colombia had been illegally mined by organized groups.The illegal mining has led to certain losses for its subsidiary, Continental Gold Inc, though the exact amount of lost resources is still being verified, a company statement said.(Reporting by Beijing newsroomEditing by Mark Potter)

Zijin Mining reports illegal mining at Buritica gold mine, losses being assessed

Singapore – Iron ore futures prices fell to a three-week low on Thursday, as supply of the key steelmaking ingredient remained firm amid a weaker steel market outlook, although fresh stimulus measures by top consumer China for its property sector limited the losses.The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.37% lower at 756.0 yuan ($104.38) a metric ton. The contract earlier in the day hit its weakest level since Oct. 24 at 751.5 yuan.The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 1.81% lower at $98.72 a ton, as of 0714 GMT.Shipments from Australia’s leading Port Hedland terminal totaled 45.6 million tons in October, bringing this year’s total to the highest level for this period in four years, ANZ analysts said in a note.The Australian government expects exports to increase 1.9% to 908 million tons in 2024, ANZ said.Mounting stocks of the steelmaking material at China’s major ports stands in stark contrast to the underperformance of imported iron ore prices and demand since the start of this year, said Chinese consultancy Mysteel.The rise in stockpiles comes amid “passive restocking” by portside traders as the iron ore market weakens further, Mysteel said.For Chinese steelmakers, this year has been tough as flagging steel prices frequently squeeze profits amid a protracted slump in the property sector, Mysteel said.China unveiled tax incentives on home and land transactions on Wednesday, aiming to support its crisis-hit property market, which remains the country’s largest steel consumer.Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking coal and coke down 1.59% and 1.31%, respectively.Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar dropped around 0.9%, hot-rolled coil shed nearly 1%, wire rod ticked down almost 0.3% and stainless steel declined about 0.8%.($1 = 7.2425 Chinese yuan)(Reporting by Gabrielle Ng; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Subhranshu Sahu)

Iron ore price hits 3-week low on firmer supply, softer steel outlook

Gold Fields may look for buyers for its smaller mines in Ghana and Peru to focus on bigger operations and is hoping to make new mineral discoveries at both mines to enhance their appeal, CEO Mike Fraser said on Thursday.Gold Fields shares were down 4% at 0842 GMT.The Johannesburg-based gold miner is shifting focus to advancing its new Salares Norte mine in Chile as well projects belonging to Osisko Mining, which it recently bought for about $1.6 billion. Gold Fields could potentially sell its Damang mine in Ghana where it is only processing stockpiled ore after stopping mining operations last year, Fraser said.The miner could also seek buyers for its Cerro Corona mine in Peru – which has five years left on its lifespan – the CEO added.Gold Fields is studying the potential for new mineral discoveries at both mines to help attract buyers, he said.“We do want to set it up in a way that, if we keep it, we know we have unlocked the value,” Fraser told Reuters. “If we decide to sell it to someone else, we would have sold it with an embedded option for life extension.”Gold output at Damang, which has been mined since 1997, fell 11% to about 33,000 ounces in the three months to September, the company said. The Peru mine produced 20,800 ounces compared to 16,800 ounces the previous quarter.Gold Fields’ output rose 12% to 510,000 ounces in the September quarter and the company maintained its production for the year at about 2.1 million ounces.The ramp up at Salares Norte resumed towards the end of the last quarter after being disrupted by severe weather and the new mine is expected to produce up to 50,000 ounces this year, with output potentially rising to 375,000 ounces in 2025.A plan to merge Gold Fields’ Tarkwa and AngloGold Ashanti’s Iduapriem mines in Ghana, to help cut costs, has been held back by a parliamentary recess as the west African country holds elections on Dec.7.“Due to the election we just ran out of time,” Fraser said.(Reporting by Nelson Banya and Felix Njini; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Tomasz Janowski)

Gold Fields may sell smaller mines after Osisko acquisition

Gaborone – De Beers’ CEO said he expected negotiations on a new diamond sales pact with Botswana’s government to be wrapped up within weeks, after meeting with the country’s new president.De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, last year agreed a new sales pact with Botswana, the world’s top diamond producer by value, but it has yet to be signed.Botswana’s new President Duma Boko has criticized his predecessor’s handling of the negotiations with De Beers, saying the relationship could have been damaged and the company had considered walking away.“Both sides are very confident that we will reach alignment on those agreements very shortly. The teams are actively negotiating,” De Beers CEO Al Cook said in a video clip posted on Facebook by Botswana’s presidency.“We see negotiations concluding in days and weeks, not months and years,” Cook added.Boko won last month’s election by a landslide, defeating the party that had ruled the southern African country for nearly six decades.Former president Mokgweetsi Masisi touted the merits of the deal his administration agreed with De Beers last year, under which Botswana’s share of diamonds from its Debswana joint venture with the company would gradually increase over the next decade.Cook said the spirit of the meeting with Boko was one of “renewed energy”.“What we agreed is that the world’s leading diamond country, the Republic of Botswana, and the world’s leading diamond company, De Beers, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder in marketing and creating desire for natural diamonds,” he said.Separately on Thursday, Boko picked former minister of trade and industry Bogolo Joy Kenewendo as minister of minerals and energy in his new cabinet.Botswana’s economy is still largely dependent on the export of diamonds, and a downturn in the global diamond market means economic growth is projected to slow sharply this year.Mounting economic grievances, particularly among young people, were a key reason behind Boko’s election win, analysts say.(Reporting by Brian Benza; Writing by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Sharon Singleton)

De Beers upbeat on Botswana diamond pact after meeting new president

London – The London Metal Exchange’s clearing house proposed reforms on Thursday to boost stability including tripling the capital requirements for members.The exchange, the world’s oldest and largest market for industrial metals, also said in a statement that LME Clear would reduce the amount members have to contribute towards its default fund.“These are the latest set of proposals designed to increase transparency, predictability and overall resilience for clearing members and market participants more broadly,” said LME Clear CEO Michael Carty.A consultation will be held until Dec. 16 on the proposals, which would boost the minimum net capital requirement for members to $30 million from $10 million.“This proposal… (would) reassure market stakeholders of the resilience of LME Clear markets,” the statement said.LME Clear would move towards a so-called “defaulter pays” model and introduce an upper limit to its default fund, which would restrict the amount paid by clearing members, it added.The clearing house also plans to introduce new methodology to limit the percentage by which the default fund can fall in any one re-calculation, making contributions more stable.In March 2022, the LME said it had to cancel $12 billion in nickel trades when prices skyrocketed because a record $20 billion in margin calls could have led to at least seven clearing members defaulting.The LME is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.(Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

LME clearing house unveils reforms, to triple member capital requirements

Promoting the use of aluminum to save copper would be conducive to maintaining the security of China’s copper resource, the head of the country’s base metals smelting industry group said on Wednesday.China depends on overseas imports for 60% of its aluminum resources as opposed to 70% of its copper resources and finding ways to use more aluminum would save money and provide more security for the smelting industry, said Ge Honglin, chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), at the Asia Copper Week conference.“In terms of resources, copper is more precious and scarce compared to aluminum,” Ge said.“The price of copper is 77,000 yuan ($10,666) a ton and the price of aluminum is 21,000 yuan, so using aluminum instead of copper already presents economic advantages,” Ge said.In his speech, Ge emphasized the need for mergers and the reorganization of copper refining capacity in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the red metal used in electronics.($1 = 7.2189 Chinese yuan renminbi)(By Joe Cash, Amy Lv and Christian Schmollinger; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast)

Swapping aluminum for copper will maintain China’s resources, group says

Nairobi – The International Monetary Fund should sell 4% of its gold to help offer debt relief to low income countries devastated by climate-related catastrophes, a study said as climate financing dominates early talks at the COP29 summit.From the Caribbean to Africa, low income countries have turned to the IMF in recent years for support in the face of shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic, driving up repayments to the lender of last resort in subsequent years.Although the IMF has a facility known as Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust (CCRT), this only covers 30 poor countries and has just $103 million available, said researchers from the Boston University Global Development Centre.The CCRT is used to pay off an eligible member state’s loans to the IMF for up to two years, providing immediate relief and allowing those funds to be targeted at other priorities.“Many climate-vulnerable countries have been unable to access the CCRT as its eligibility criteria fails to account for climate vulnerability … and funding is severely limited,” the researchers said in a report.The solution lies in selling some of the IMF’s 90.5 million ounces of gold reserves, the report said, taking advantage of elevated prices to boost the fund and cover more countries.Selling 4% of the IMF’s gold would generate $9.52 billion, the study said, covering debt relief for 86 countries.“With current gold prices exceeding $2,600 per ounce, selling a small fraction of gold has the potential to generate significant revenues and easily replenish the CCRT,” it said.Gold was trading at $2,606.42 per ounce on Wednesday.IMF gold reserve sales are rare. The last was in 2009/10, when it offloaded an eighth of its reserves, which was triggered by the need to boost its lending capacity.At its inception in 1944, member states used to pay their IMF quotas with gold, the research report said, meaning it accumulated reserves at a historical cost of just $45 per ounce.Repayments of IMF loans are taking a bigger chunk of annual debt servicing costs for vulnerable economies, the report said.The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar will pay $106 million to the IMF next year, a quarter of its debt service, rising to $158 million and 41% in 2026, the report added.Mozambique will also experience an increase in repayments to the IMF during a similar period, the researchers found.Any sale of IMF gold would require support from the bulk of its executive board members, and for member states to pledge to channel their share of the proceeds to the CCRT, they said.“Replenishing the CCRT should be considered a high priority because, in contrast to other IMF lending programs, the CCRT comes with no conditionality,” they concluded.(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alexander Smith)

IMF urged to cash in on gold price to help poor countries hit by climate change

Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it had approved the construction of a new 25-megawatt (MW) solar plant at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah, bringing the mine’s total solar capacity to 30MW.(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

Rio Tinto approves new solar plant for Kennecott copper operations

Sao Paulo – Brazilian steelmaker and miner CSN reported a third-quarter net loss of 750.9 million reais ($130.6 million) on Wednesday, a sharp decline from the 91 million reais profit recorded a year earlier.CSN is one of Brazil’s largest steelmakers and miners.The steelmaker reported 2.28 billion reais in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the third quarter, down 18.9% from a year earlierIt posted gross profit of 2.73 billion reais, down 3% year-on-year, and said net revenue fell 0.5% to 11.07 billion reais. Its steel and iron ore sales in the period rose 14.5% and 2.1%, respectively.CSN said in the filing that its net loss was down to a combination of a lower operating profit and higher costs.The steelmaker attributed its lower core earnings to factors beyond its control, citing international prices, “mainly in mining amidst a series of uncertainties regarding Chinese demand”.“On the other hand, the solid commercial performance presented in the period shows that CSN is well positioned to continue with solid results from now on,” it added.($1 = 5.7481 reais)(Reporting by Luana Maria Benedito; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Brazil’s CSN posts $131 million net loss in Q3

Melbourne – The final bidders for Anglo American’s Australian coal assets are down to Yancoal Australia, Stanmore Resources and Peabody Energy Corp, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.The final bid submissions are due on Wednesday, said one of the sources, who asked to remain unidentified.Yancoal, Peabody and Anglo American declined to comment on the bidding process. Stanmore did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Anglo is acting on a plan to restructure its business by selling and divesting unwanted assets after fighting off a $49 billion takeover bid from larger rival BHP Group in May.That has kicked off with the sale of its portfolio of five steelmaking coal assets in Australia – Moranbah North, Grosvenor, Capcoal, Dawson and Jellinbah.Anglo last week agreed to sell a 33.3% stake in a joint venture that owns a 70% interest in the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont steelmaking coal mines for A$1.6 billion ($1.04 billion).The sales would end Anglo’s active mining operations in Australia but it will continue exploration activities in the country.The sales process is expected to conclude by the end of the month, when a freeze on BHP making an approach for Anglo set down by the UK takeovers legislation expires.Analysts at Jefferies estimated the value of the five assets at $4.5 billion before a fire at its Grosvenor mine earlier this year.($1 = 1.5342 Australian dollars)(Reporting by Melanie Burton and Scott Murdoch; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Anglo American coal bidders down to three, say sources

The global silver deficit is expected to fall by 4% to 182 million ounces in 2024, with growth of 2% in total supply offsetting demand growth of 1%, the Silver Institute industry association said on Wednesday.Silver, used in jewellery, electronics, electric vehicles and solar panels as well as an investment, faces the fourth year of a structural market deficit, the Silver Institute said in a review prepared with consultancy Metals Focus.Record industrial demand and a recovery in jewellery consumption will lift demand to 1.21-billioln ounces in 2024 despite a 16% decrease in physical investment, according to the review.Mine supply is expected to rise by 1% led by higher production in Mexico, Chile and the US, while recycling will add 5% due to a spike in western silverware scrap.With spot silver prices up 32% so far this year amid gold’s rally and improved outlook for industrial demand, exchange-traded products (ETPs) are on track for their first annual inflows in three years, according to the review.

Higher silver supply to reduce global deficit by 4% in 2024

Sao Paulo – Vale (NYSE: VALE) said on Tuesday that it had signed deals with Eneva and Origem Energia for natural gas supplies under free market conditions as part of its goal to source 90% of its intake from the free market by 2025.Unlike the captive market, in which the customer buys energy from a distributor at a regulated price, under the free energy market Vale is able to negotiate prices directly with its suppliers.According to Vale, the contracts signed with Eneva and Origem Energia will supply its Tubarao unit in the Southeastern state of Espirito Santo, responsible for around 60% of all of Vale’s natural gas consumption, until December 2025.“Our goal is to obtain a reliable supply of natural gas at competitive prices in a more open, dynamic and transparent market,” said Vale’s director of strategic supplies, Mariana Rosas, in a statement.(Reporting by Leticia FucuchimaEditing by Mark Potter)

Vale signs deals with Eneva and Origem Energia for free market natural gas supply

Australia’s Vulcan Energy Resources said on Tuesday it had received 100 million euros ($106.42 million) in funding from the German economy ministry for its renewable energy plant in Landau, Germany.The Vulcan project is for generating renewable geothermal heat to support Landau’s transition to sustainable and renewable district heating, starting 2026.The project is part of Vulcan’s Phase One Lionheart Project, which aims for a 24,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide production capacity per year, strengthening Europe’s green lithium supply chain.The company’s Phase One Lionheart Project financing process is on track, led by BNP Paribas, with a debt structuring group including the European Investment Bank, and others.The German Recovery and Resilience Plan funding programme is one of the several grants under the German national government and European Commission initiatives for which Vulcan has applied, the company said.Shares of Vulcan Energy surged as much as 16.8% to a more than 18-month high on Tuesday, before closing up 12%.($1 = 0.9397 euros)(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

Vulcan Energy gets $106m funding from German ministry

Fertilizer producer Mosaic missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by production snags, and said its Chief Financial Officer Clint Freeland would retire.Mosaic had cut its third-quarter production forecast in September following equipment failures in Canada and hurricanes at the US Gulf Coast.Shares of the company fell 1.7% premarket.The company also appointed Luciano Siani Pires as its new Chief Financial Officer, who will start from Jan. 1. Pires succeeds Freeland who is retiring from his role as executive vice president and CFO, but will continue as a senior advisor until July 1.Siani Pires was the group finance chief of Brazilian miner Vale for nearly a decade and also served on Mosaic’s board for more than four years until August 2022, according to his profile at the professional networking platform LinkedIn.His appointment follows the tenth successive quarter where the Tampa, Florida-based company failed to beat market estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.Mosaic said its third-quarter net sales declined 21% compared with a year earlier to $2.81 billion, weighed down by lower potash prices. Analysts expected net sales of $3.16 billion.Global potash prices have been pressured as supplies are back up to the levels seen before the invasion of Ukraine, as top producers Russia and Belarus sidestep Western sanctions by increasing shipments to Asia and South America.Mosaic said potash and phosphate producing operations have returned to normal following the disruptions in the previous quarter and it expected an uptick in sales for both in the fourth quarter.The company reported adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 54 cents per share.Mosaic said its Carlsbad potash operation in New Mexico is under strategic review.(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Mosaic misses quarterly profit estimates, finance chief Freeland to retire

Shares in Australia’s iron ore miners slumped on Monday after another round of stimulus measures by their top customer China disappointed investors who had hoped for measures that would boost commodities demand.Iron ore prices slid to their lowest in more than two weeks on Monday after China’s latest $1.4 trillion package unveiled on Friday offered no direct economic stimulus.BHP Group, the world’s largest listed miner, lost around 4% in its worst day in more than six months, while the world’s biggest iron ore producer Rio Tinto shed 3.1% to clock its worst day since mid-August.Fortescue, Australia’s third-biggest and the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer, ended the day more than 7% in the red at its near seven-week low.“Not only has China’s recent stimulus package fallen short of investor expectations, but the weekend’s fresh disappointments from the inflation report and FDI data have also reinforced the view that China is still far from stabilizing its beleaguered economy,” Hebe Chen, a market analyst at IG, said.“This gloomy outlook, unfortunately, casts an even darker cloud over Australian miners.”Mining stocks were the biggest drag on the Australian benchmark index, which ended the session 0.4% lower.A potential hit to the Chinese economy, already plagued by debt, deflation, and weak demand, from threatened US tariffs, could also hurt demand for Australia’s biggest exports to China – iron ore and coal.Analysts at Citi last week forecast a grim near-term outlook for iron ore prices, expecting iron ore to average $85 per tonne in 2026 down from roughly $105 per tonne on Nov. 11.Additional supply from Simandou in Guinea, incremental supply from Australia and Brazil, and overall weak demand from Chinese customers at a time when steel producers are trying to reduce their carbon emissions will pressure iron ore prices, Citi analysts said.(By Sameer Manekar and Sneha Kumar; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Australian iron ore giants’ shares sink on disappointing China stimulus

Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco has offered its refined copper output to Chinese clients at a premium of $89 per metric ton for 2025, largely unchanged from a year ago, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.The copper premium, a fee on top of the London Metal Exchange prices charged to buyers, is a demand indicator for the metal widely used in power networks.Codelco, the world’s top copper miner has been struggling to lift output after hitting historic lows in the last two years.It is expected to produce 1.325 million to 1.352 million tons of copper this year.(By Julian Luk; Editing by Jan Harvey and Louise Heavens)

Codelco offers copper to Chinese clients at a premium of $89/t

India’s Hindalco Industries, one of the country’s largest aluminum and copper producers, posted a better-than-expected second-quarter profit on Monday, helped by higher aluminum prices.The company, owned by the Aditya Birla Group, said its consolidated net profit jumped 78% to 39.09 billion rupees ($463.3 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, beating estimates.Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 34.46 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.The demand for metals in the transportation, construction, and packaging industries remained strong this year, with prices of base metals like aluminum and copper rising for the second straight quarter in the July-September period.The benchmark aluminum and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange rose 20% and 24%, respectively, from the second quarter of last year.Hindalco’s revenue from operations rose 7.4% to 582.03 billion rupees, while total expenses increased 3.3% to 531.21 billion rupees.The company recorded a one-time cost of 5.14 billion rupees during the quarter due to expenses tied to production disruption at the Switzerland-based plant of its unit Novelis.The US IPO-bound aluminum recycler Novelis, which accounts for more than 60% of Hindalco’s overall revenue, incurred a net cash impact of $80 million due to the shutdown of its Switzerland plant from flooding in late June.Revenue from Novelis rose 5.9%, while the copper segment, the second-largest contributor to Hindalco’s revenue, grew nearly 5.4% during the quarter.Hindalco sees Chinese imports as an increasing concern, especially if US were to raise tariffs further, said managing director Satish Pai.“My worry still remains imports from China because the US market is going to get closed for them with the new administration. The only big market left for them, if they have surplus, is going to be India,” Pai said.Shares of the company closed 0.75% higher ahead of the results. The stock gained 9% in the quarter ended September, against the benchmark Nifty 50’s 7.5% rise.($1 = 84.3700 Indian rupees)(By Anuran Sadhu and Neha Arora; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Hindalco beats Q2 profit view on higher aluminum prices

Mubadala Capital said on Monday it has an ongoing internal process to ready the sale of Brazil’s Porto Sudeste, an iron-ore port it owns with commodities trader Trafigura.The Rio de Janeiro-based port could also be sold alongside the firms’ iron-ore mining project Mineracao Morro do Ipe in the state of Minas Gerais, said Leonardo Yamamoto, executive director of Mubadala Capital Brazil.“We will offer the market the option of selling the mine as well, because for investors it makes a lot of sense to have an integrated player,” Yamamoto said on the sidelines of an event in Sao Paulo.Yamamoto did not give a date for putting the assets up for sale, but said it would happen in the “near future”.Formed in 2016, the project includes two mines and their processing units. Ipe, produces about 3.5 million metric tons of iron ore a year while Tico-Tico was licensed less than a year ago. The owners are investing 1.3 billion reais ($230 million) to expand total production to about 9 million tons a year.Porto Sudeste says it can handle up to 50 million tons of iron ore per year. In 2023, it shipped about 26.1 million tons, compared with 17.4 million tons a year earlier. The port also handled nine oil transshipments last year, up from five in 2022.The Abu Dhabi state investor and the trading company completed their acquisition of Porto Sudeste in early 2014.Yamamoto said Porto Sudeste is now a “mature” asset, adding: “our role in this specific asset, in this specific story, is no longer very relevant”.(By Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Alexander Smith)

Mubadala prepares for sale of Brazil’s Porto Sudeste, Mina Gerais iron ore mines

Australia’s Liontown Resources trimmed its production plans for the flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project on Monday and flagged cost cuts to adapt to low metal prices, months after producing its first spodumene concentrate.Shares of the Perth-based lithium producer fell as much as 4.2% to A$0.800, before recovering some losses to trade 0.6% lower at 2340 GMT.Liontown now plans a production rate of 2.8 million metric tons per annum from the end of fiscal year 2027, down from its earlier target of 3 million tons by the end of the first quarter of 2025.The lithium producer also flagged up to A$100 million ($65.83 million) in cost reduction and deferrals expected to be captured during its business optimization program, with a possibility of further expansion of the project when market conditions improve.“We are adjusting our volumes to meet the current market. We will revisit what we need to do should the market conditions improve,” chief executive officer Tony Ottaviano said in an investor call.Global lithium markets are reeling from rapid supply growth, which has surpassed demand for the battery metal at a time when the sales growth of electric vehicles has slowed.Earlier this year, Liontown posted an annual net loss after tax of A$64.9 million.The company said it expected unit operating costs of A$775-A$855 per dry metric ton for the second half of the fiscal year.($1 = 1.5191 Australian dollars)(By Archishma Iyer and Melanie Burton; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, David Gregorio and Subhranshu Sahu)

Liontown Resources trims output plans for Kathleen Valley, flags cost cuts

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election win has not sparked a repeat of the explosive copper rally which followed his unexpected victory in 2016.That coincided with a market that was heavily short of both futures and options and triggered a mass realignment of fund positioning. This time, copper was in risk-off mode ahead of what seemed a close-call result. Fund managers were net long of copper ahead of last week's election, but only modestly so. Moreover, the market focus was as much on China as it was on the U.S. as the other big event last week was the meeting of China's National Peoples Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.The resulting $1.4 trillion package to ease local government's "hidden debt" burden disappointed metal bulls looking for something much stronger from China's cabinet.As far as Doctor Copper is concerned, the main question around a second Trump presidency is whether the threat of tariffs will spur China to do more to fire up its sputtering growth engine. ELECTION WEEK WOBBLESCopper's price reaction to the U.S. elections was revealing in what it said about the market's real focus, namely China.London Metal Exchange three-month copper slid by 4.1% on Wednesday in what looked like a knee-jerk reaction to U.S. dollar strength in the wake of the election results.By the close of Thursday, copper had clawed back almost all its losses as traders bet the Trump tariff threat to Chinese exports would encourage the NPC Standing Committee to open up the stimulus taps.U.S. stocks closed higher Friday to end a stellar week as Donald Trump's election victory and a possible Republican Party sweep in Congress fueled expectations for favorable business policies.Friday's announcement of what is in essence a debt swap between central and local governments dashed bullish expectations and triggered a renewed sell-off.Copper closed Friday at $9,443.50 per metric ton, representing a weekly loss of 1.3%. Although trading was volatile, the net weekly change was small and a far cry from the turbulence of 2016.Fund positioning was much lighter this time ahead of an election that looked too close to call. Money mangers held a modest net long position of 20,714 contracts on the CME copper contract as of the close of Nov. 5. That had been sharply reduced from 41,127 contracts at the start of October.TARIFF TURBULENCECopper is clearly unsure how to price in the bearish prospect of Trump's promised 60% tariffs on Chinese goods and the potential bullish offset of more urgent stimulus from Beijing.Tariffs, which are still several months away, are unlikely to make much difference to direct flows of metal from China to the United States.The Biden administration has already tripled import duties to 25% on imports of Chinese aluminium and steel products in response to China's growing exports.Canada has done the same and imports from Mexico, which has been accused of being a transshipment point for Chinese metal, must now come with a certificate of analysis proving non-Chinese origin.The bigger question is the potential impact on the broader Chinese economy, which looks a lot more vulnerable to a U.S. trade war than was the case eight years ago.Which is why copper's immediate response to the U.S. election result was to look for a reaction from Beijing.What it got was a debt tidy-up, which although positive is unlikely to move the growth dial in the short term.The U.S. election may have provided some brief distraction but copper's gaze has fully returned to the world's largest metals user.Metal bulls are hoping that a change of administration in Washington will provoke a change of stimulus policy in Beijing.The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Editing by Alexander Smith

Copper views Trump win through Chinese lens

US rare earths miner and processor MP Materials Corp on Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected loss in the third quarter, helped by higher production and sales volumes of the strategic materials.MP processes rock it extracts from its Mountain Pass mine in California into rare earths concentrate that is shipped to China for refining.The company sold 9,729 metric tons of that concentrate during the quarter, 6% higher than the year-ago period.The growth in sales was driven by higher production volumes, reflecting higher mineral recoveries and operational efficiencies, the company said.However, realized prices of rare earth concentrates declined 23% in the quarter due to ongoing soft pricing environment for rare earth products.MP Materials produced 478 tons of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) — the two most in-demand rare earths — during the quarter, with 404 tons sold. Sales nearly tripled sequentially.“Despite continued weak market pricing, increased NdPr sales volumes drove a return to year-over-year revenue growth,” said CEO Jim Litinsky, who is also the largest shareholder of the company with an 11.2% stake.Cost of sales rose over 150% in the quarter, but were partially offset by a reduction of an inventory reserve of $2.7 million recorded in the quarter.Excluding one-time items, MP posted a loss of 12 cents per share, compared with analysts’ expectations of a loss of 13 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.(By Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Alan Barona)

MP Materials posts smaller-than-expected loss on higher output, sales

Indian miner Vedanta Ltd posted a bigger-than-expected second-quarter profit on Friday buoyed by higher metals prices even as demand was sluggish.The conglomerate, led by billionaire Anil Agarwal, reported consolidated net profit of 43.52 billion rupees (about $516 million) for the September quarter, which surpassed analysts’ average estimate of 23.67 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.Vedanta had posted a loss of 17.83 billion rupees in the year-ago period, as it paid a total of 84.56 billion rupees in tax, including a one-time charge for minimum alternate tax.In the reporting quarter, Vedanta benefitted from higher prices of aluminum, zinc and copper, its biggest businesses.Domestic aluminum prices surged 10.7% in the July-September quarter, while copper prices and zinc prices rose 11.7% and 14.4%, as per Systematix Institutional Research.The benchmark aluminum, copper and zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange strengthened on a weaker US dollar and expectations of economic recovery in major consumer China following a barrage of stimulus measures.Higher commodity prices tend to raise selling prices and margins for mining companies.Vedanta Aluminium, which is the country’s largest producer of the metal, reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profit to 137.34 billion rupees. The company’s copper and zinc businesses reported 38% and 21% pre-tax profit growth, respectively.Revenue from operations dipped 3.6% to 371.71 billion rupees amid subdued domestic demand as above-average rainfall slowed activity in the construction and automobile sectors.Expenses increased 1.6% to 331.69 billion rupees.Vedanta’s unit, Hindustan Zinc reported a profit beat on higher zinc prices, last month.Separately, Vedanta said it will invest 118.16 billion rupees ($1.40 billion) to ramp up smelter and wire rod capacity and will fund the investments via internal accruals and debt.It also approved capex worth 52.09 billion rupees for the acquisition and expansion of Athena Chhattisgarh Power Plant Project.($1 = 84.3510 Indian rupees)(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

Vedanta tops Q2 profit view on higher metals prices

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