Julie Steinberg of The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.K.-listed mining giant Anglo-American AAL and its chairman say the proposal undervalues the company, clearing the way for a potential bidding war. He writes: Anglo American AAL 3.54% on Friday rejected a $39 billion takeover proposal from rival BHP, saying the bid “significantly undervalues” the company and setting the stage for a potential bidding war. London-listed Anglo American said the unsolicited proposal, which was made earlier this month and which became public this week, features an unattractive structure that is too … [Read more...]
China’s Slowing Property Market Fuels Surplus of Steel
Jason Douglas of The Wall Street Journal tells his readers that cheap Chinese steel is flooding the global market as producers try to unload a surplus of metal created by the country's property-market downturn. He writes: China’s epic property bust has saddled its steelmakers with a glut of unsold metal. They are now shipping it overseas at knockdown prices—and the U.S. isn’t the only country pushing back. President Biden on Wednesday asked U.S. trade officials to hit imports of Chinese steel with heftier tariffs, the latest move in a broader campaign against cheap Chinese exports that … [Read more...]
Tight Supply and Higher Demand – Copper and Aluminum Soar
Joseph Hoppe of The Wall Street Journal reports that the green transition and increased use of AI applications are feeding demand for copper, while sanctions on Russian metals push aluminum prices higher. Hoppe writes: Copper and aluminum prices both breached their highest levels since 2022 and 2023, respectively, as global demand picks up and supplies tighten. Copper three-month futures in London rose 1.2% to $9,582 a ton, having peaked earlier in the session at $9,616.5, a price last seen in June 2022. Aluminum futures likewise gained 1.1% to $2,587 a ton, having earlier hit $2,593, … [Read more...]
U.S. Wants to Cripple Russia’s Vast Arctic LNG Project
Anna Hirtenstein and Georgi Kantchev of The Wall Street Journal report that Washington wants to ensure Putin’s flagship liquefied-natural-gas project is ‘dead in the water.’ They Write: Supercooled gas has quickly become one of the world’s most important energy sources—and a flashpoint between Russia and the U.S. Nowhere is that contest more apparent than in Russia’s Arctic north. An enormous new coastal facility is being built there to produce liquefied natural gas, a key project for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. is using a barrage of sanctions to cripple the initiative, … [Read more...]
Metals Swing Sharply on Russian Sanctions
Bloomberg reports that metals whipsawed as sanctions on new Russian supplies rattled the LME. They write: Metals swung sharply, with aluminum surging by a record before later erasing most of its gains, as traders digest US and UK sanctions that banned delivery of new Russian supplies onto the London Metal Exchange. The curbs on aluminum, nickel and copper announced late Friday don’t prevent Russia from selling its metals to buyers outside the US or UK, and don’t restrict the vast majority of the global trade in metals — which takes place directly between miners, traders and manufacturers … [Read more...]
The Fight for Guyana’s Stabroek Block Could Reshape Big Oil
Javier Blas of Bloomberg reports that the rights to an offshore field containing 11 billion barrels of oil are at stake in an arbitration dispute. Blas writes: The prize is called Stabroek — a series of oil fields off the coast of Guyana, the Latin American nation bordering Venezuela and Brazil. The potential riches are incredible — about 11 billion barrels of oil, worth nearly $1 trillion at current prices. And Stabroek is now at the center of a legal battle that hinges on the meaning of a few words contained in a secret document, probably about 100 pages long. The outcome will reshape Big … [Read more...]
Lithium Prices have Flipped the Market Into Contango
Yvonne Yue Li of Bloomberg reports that the drop in lithium prices has flipped the market into contango — when futures prices are higher than spot. This change has created opportunities for funds. She writes: Trading of CME Group Inc.’s nearly three-year-old lithium hydroxide futures contract is soaring, with more funds crowding into the budding market as prices of the battery metal falter. The number of outstanding contracts hit a record high of 24,328 in the first quarter, and open interest extends to September 2025 — an indication of more liquidity for the nascent contract, according … [Read more...]
Crude Oil Could Hit $100 a Barrel
Alex Longley and Josyana Joshua of Bloomberg report oil prices pared their declines as U.S. crude inventories rose less than expected. They write: Oil pared declines as US crude inventories increased less than an industry report had projected. West Texas Intermediate traded down about 0.2%, rebounding from an earlier decline of as much as 1.3%, after a US government report showed oil stockpiles rose 3.17 million barrels last week. That’s about a third of the 9.3 million-barrel increase projected by the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. [...] Still, the generally … [Read more...]
A Race for Critical Minerals on the Ocean Floor
Yusuf Khan of The Wall Street Journal reports that the possibility of harvesting the seabed is growing in popularity among lawmakers amid a push to extract rare minerals for defense applications. Khan writes: Mining the ocean floor for minerals often seemed like a fantasy, but U.S. national security concerns could be bringing it closer to reality. Thousands of feet down at the bottom of the ocean, small rocks holding vast quantities of nickel, manganese and cobalt—the perfect combination of minerals to make an electric-vehicle battery—sit untouched, as high costs to reach them, a lack of … [Read more...]
Cocoa Futures Doubled in Less than Three Months
Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal reports prices for cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, have surged to records. He writes: Cocoa prices have climbed past a record set nearly a half-century ago, costing chocolate makers, bakers and aficionados alike. The sharp climb in price for chocolate’s main ingredient started with bad weather in West Africa, where much of the world’s cocoa is grown. Speculators piling into one of the hottest trades outside of artificial intelligence have added fuel to the rally. Cocoa futures rose another $1,105 a metric ton over Thursday and Friday to … [Read more...]
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