Focus:
Comment
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31 March 2020
Baltic shipping index shows signs of revival after a major fall
The spread of the Covid-19 accelerated the fall of the Baltic Dry Index (BDIY), which began in December 2019. The BDIY is a composite of the rates for Capesize, Panamax...
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30 March 2020
Lockdown in South Africa another dent to global platinum production
The 21-day lockdown that commenced today across the mining sector in South Africa will particularly impact the global supply of platinum and other PGMs. However, with declining demand from the...
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25 March 2020
Construction indicators show improvement in China after heavy decline
While many countries across the globe are in lockdown and construction activity slowing, the benefit of the measures taken by the central government in China to contain the spread are...
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25 March 2020
Chinese industrial slowdown drives down zinc prices
Within the base metals, zinc prices reacted most sharply to the news of the spread of the coronavirus. Prices fell by 22.9% from US$2,466/t on 22 January to US$1,880/t on...
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25 March 2020
Plunge in Chinese investment weighs on aluminium prices
Aluminium prices followed a similar trend to that of the other base metals with the spread of the coronavirus. Prices fell by 12.7% from US$1,807/t on 22 January to US$1,580/t...
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25 March 2020
Coal prices lose steam amid coronavirus pandemic
With spread of the coronavirus, fears of a lockdown of the industrial hubs led to a fall in the ICE thermal coal futures by 11.2% from $76.26/t on 1 January...
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18 March 2020
COVID-19 threatens 2020 mining capex growth
At the start of the year, 2020 looked to be a promising for capital expenditure with the top 20 miners, for example, collectively expecting capex growth of 11%. However, COVID-19...
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17 March 2020
Australia dominates global autonomous haul truck use with numbers set to triple
With 80% out of a total of almost 500 autonomous haul trucks now in operation at surface mines across the globe, Australia dominates this market, with huge investments expected that...
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16 March 2020
Hard shock to coronavirus outbreak in China benefiting iron ore miners
Major miners of iron ore have, to date, been relatively unscathed by the initial impacts of Covid-19, helped by the extreme measures taken by China, as well as supply disruptions...
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12 February 2020
Over one year later, Vale is still reeling from deadly dam burst
The latest financial reports indicate the Brumadinho disaster has an ongoing negative impact on Vale, which must ramp up operations to reverse its fortunes. On 11 February, Vale announced that...