27 November
Steel demand in the Asia-Pacific region slumped by roughly 9% in 2020 owing to the effects of the pandemic, widening the supply surplus to more than two decades of growth. Steel consumption in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore in 2020 is expected to reach between 73.3Mt and 75.3Mt, dropping by between 6.2% to 8.7% from last year.
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Mining exploration company Minera Alamos will start producing gold from early next year, as construction at its Santana mine in Sonaro, Mexico is expected to be completed soon. The company is planning to transport the screening, crushing and agglomeration system to its staging yard in Sonaro. The shipping of the system to Mexico was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic related travel restrictions.
BHP is planning to expedite the expansion of its $2.5bn Spence copper mine in Chile, which was delayed due to lockdown restrictions earlier in the year. The mine is expected to commence operations in the first half of 2021 and will harness renewable energy for its operations. The site is expected to be entirely dependent on renewables by 2022.
