1 .Powell turns more Hawkish

22 April 2022

A half-point interest rate hike "will be on the table" when the Federal Reserve meets on May 3-4 to approve the next in what is expected to be a series of rate increases this year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, pointing to an aggressive set of Fed actions ahead. Powell also said he felt investors currently anticipating a series of half-point hikes were "reacting appropriately, generally," to the Fed's emerging fight against rising prices.

Source: Reuters

2 .State of emergency in Peru as protests hit copper output

21 April 2022

Peru has declared a state of emergency near Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone copper mine as protests have caused Peru to halt 20% of its copper output. Operations at Cuajone were suspended on March 15 after residents of a nearby community shut down water supply to the mine, demanding financial compensation and a share of future profits.

Source: : Mining.com

3 .Las Bambas mine suspends operations following protest

18 April 2022

MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru has suspended operations after residents of a nearby community entered company property as part of a protest. Las Bambas accounts for 2% of global copper supply and is the subject of recurring disruptions from impoverished nearby communities that are demanding higher financial contributions from the mine.

Source: Reuters

4 .China’s GDP surprise adds fuel to easing debate

18 April 2022

China's economic output surprised on the upside in the first three months of 2022, growing at a rate of 4.8 percent year on year, far exceeding analyst expectations. On the one hand, March activity slowed sharply due to draconian Covid-19 lockdowns, with the malaise in services showing signs of spreading to manufacturing. Total social financing, the country's broadest measure of credit, however, reached 4.7 trillion yuan ($730 billion) in March, exceeding economists' expectations of 3.7 trillion.

Source: Reuters

5 .Political instability has reduced oil production in Libya

21 April 2022

Libya is losing around $50 million to $70 million daily as its oil fields come to a halt, Asharq reported, citing the country’s Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun. Recent political instability has reduced oil production in the North African country by an estimated 400,000 barrels per day, around a 50 percent decline in daily production. Due to ongoing protests calling for the ouster of the country’s prime minister, El Shahara field has closed. The field’s daily output was 300,000 barrels. Additionally, El Feel field — with a capacity of 65,000 barrels per day — has also shut down for the same reason.

Source: Arab News

6 .US Oil Exports Soar as World Works to Replace Russian Supplies

21 April 2022

The U.S. exported the most oil and petroleum products in history last week as countries across the world work to replace Russian supplies in the wake of the war in Ukraine.    Exports of U.S. crude and petroleum products surged to a weekly record of 10.6 million barrels a day during the week ending April 15, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The country’s exports The country’s exports also outweighed its imports by the most ever in government data going back to 1990.   The U.S. is becoming the energy supplier of last resort after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove buyers to turn to it for everything from crude to motor fuel and liquefied natural gas. Western companies pulled investments from Russia and cut ties with its energy and trading firms and multiple governments including the U.S., U.K., and Canada imposed sanctions on oil imports. 

Source: Bloomberg

7 .China vows to cut steel output in 2022

19 April 2022

China’s steel production hub Tangshan implemented another round of covid-19 lockdowns in four districts for at least three days from Tuesday. China will reduce crude steel output this year, after slashing production in 2021 in line with its goal to control carbon emissions, said a spokeswoman for China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission.

Source: Mining.com

8 .Global nickel market sees surplus in February – INSG

18 April 2022

The global nickel market saw a surplus of 10,500 tonnes in February compared with a deficit of 5,700 tonnes in the same month last year, data from the International Nickel Study Group (INSG) showed on Monday. Overall there was a deficit in the nickel market of 165,200 tonnes last year compared with a surplus of 103,700 tonnes in 2020, Lisbon-based INSG added.

Source: Reuters