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China aluminum makers to target auto, aerospace in global push – by Melanie Burton (Reuters U.S. – October 17, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

China’s giant aluminum makers are pushing into the global automotive and aerospace markets, with industry sources expecting their presence to heat up competition and possibly spark a buying spree for Western metals companies.

China’s top aluminum companies are venturing into the more lucrative parts of the global value chain, on course to seize market share from the likes of Alcoa and Constellium, as they look to buy into foreign firms to boost their technical know-how and expand their reach.

The chief executive of Novelis Inc [NVLX.UL], the world’s largest maker of rolled aluminum products, said last week he expected competition with Chinese producers to be “very fierce” over the next five to 10 years in the high-value-added sectors of aerospace and engineering – which so far have been dominated by European and U.S. manufacturers.

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Japan’s Top Producer Says Zinc Could Surge to 5-Year High – by Masumi Suga and Ichiro Suzuki (Bloomberg News – October 17, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Zinc, this year’s best performing metal, has the potential to extend gains to the highest level since 2011 because of a shortfall in ore production, assuming that Glencore Plc doesn’t restart idled mines, according to Japan’s biggest producer.

Prices could advance to $2,500 a metric ton by March because of “super tight” ore supply after companies cut output, Osamu Saito, general manager of Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co.’s metals sales group, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Even if Glencore ends production cuts, supply will continue to trail demand, though the feeling of shortage will ease somewhat.”

The company joins Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. in highlighting the bullish outlook. Goldman Sachs predicts that zinc will reach $2,500 in three months, while Citigroup says it will average $2,445 in 2017.

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Philippines minister wants to ban new mines as clampdown deepens – by Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – October 14, 2016)

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MANILA – The Philippines’ mining minister wants to prolong a ban on new mines and will review all environmental permits previously granted to the minerals industry, ramping up a campaign to clamp down on damage from the sector in the Southeast Asian nation.

Miners criticized the proposals made on Friday by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, saying she seemed determined to put the “industry to sleep”.

The Philippines is the world’s top nickel ore supplier and an environmental audit that has halted a quarter of its 41 mines, and the risk that 20 more maybe shuttered has spurred a rally in global nickel prices. “I want to put a moratorium on any new mining,” Lopez told a media briefing.

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Indonesia unlikely to relax ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports – by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – October 12, 2016)

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JAKARTA – Indonesia will “almost definitely” keep in place a ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports, the country’s mining minister said on Wednesday, just days after it had considered lifting the restriction to raise extra cash in an overhaul of mining rules.

Indonesia banned metal ore exports in early 2014 to encourage miners to build smelters to create jobs and shift exports from raw materials to higher-value finished metals.

But the government has been comprehensively reevaluating the domestic mineral processing requirements, amid concerns that the current deadline for full processing of all minerals by 2017 may not work for certain metals.

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Chinese Smelter Assails Indonesia Over U-Turn on Ore Exports – by Yoga Rusmana (Bloomberg News – October 11, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A plan by Indonesia to allow shipments of raw mineral ores would inflate local smelting costs and threaten the existence of small producers, according to the head of a Chinese-Indonesian venture, who called the move unwise and said it contradicted promises by the nation’s president.

Easing the export ban would mean local processors would have to compete with foreign buyers for supplies, raising the price of nickel ore, according to Alexander Barus, chief executive officer of Tsingshan Bintangdelapan Group. The company, partly owned by China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, may surpass PT Vale Indonesia this year as the largest nickel producer in the country.

The government could allow 15 million metric tons a year of low-grade ore exports because the material is hard to process locally and the money will help fund the building of local smelters, according to Teguh Pamudji, secretary general at the Energy & Mineral Resources Ministry.

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Philippines to cancel environmental permit of nickel miner as crackdown continues – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – October 10, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines will cancel the environmental permit of a nickel miner that began operations this year, a minister said, as the government intensifies a campaign to punish mineral producers harming natural resources.

The Southeast Asian country is the world’s top nickel ore supplier and an environmental crackdown that has halted a quarter of its 41 mines, and the risk that 20 more maybe shuttered has spurred a rally in global nickel prices.

But the nickel mine now threatened with a shutdown, in southern Davao Oriental province and run by private-owned Austral-Asia Link Mining Corp, was not among those suspended or recommended for suspension.

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Australia boosts iron ore, coal price forecasts on China demand – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – October 6, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

Australia on Friday raised its 2016 average price forecasts for its two highest-grossing exports, iron ore and coal, citing a surprise upturn in demand from steelmakers in China.

In its latest quarterly outlook, Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science boosted its forecast for iron ore by 10 percent to an average $48.50 a tonne this year, while metallurgical coal was increased 16 percent to $99.40 a tonne.

The rise reflects a recent surge in the prices of both commodities, with iron ore currently trading around $55 a tonne and metallurgical coal at $200 a tonne, underscoring an unforeseen resurgence in China’s industrial sector, the main buyer of Australian commodities.

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UPDATE 1-Indonesia eyes 15 mln T nickel ore exports in 2017 – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S. – October 7, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

Oct 7 Indonesia could export up to 15 million tonnes of nickel ore in 2017 if it amends a ban on unprocessed ore exports, a mining ministry official said on Friday.

Indonesia banned metal ore exports in early 2014 to encourage miners to build smelters to create jobs and shift exports from raw materials to higher-value finished metals. Indonesia’s nickel ore exports had increased sharply before the ban was implemented, hitting about 60 million tonnes in 2013.

But the ban cost Indonesia – once the world’s top nickel ore exporter and a major supplier of bauxite for aluminium – billions of dollars in lost revenue. To get smelters built, though, these rules now need to be changed again, said Teguh Pamudji, secretary general at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, amid ongoing discussions of a mining policy shift.

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China’s deep-sea mission to mine the wealth beneath the ocean floor (South China Morning Post – October 6, 2016)

http://www.scmp.com/

Resource-hungry China is stepping up activity in one of the final frontiers of mineral wealth – the remote seabeds lying kilometres beneath the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The world’s largest consumer and importer of minerals and metals is now studying the core technologies of seabed mining in the Indian Ocean, according to Tao Chunhui, one of the country’s leading oceanographers and a researcher at the State Oceanic Administration.

Vast sulphide deposits on the 3,000 metre deep seabed might contribute to China’s metal supplies in the long term as it tried to narrow the technological gap with other maritime powers, said Tao, who was chief scientist of a number of China’s Indian Ocean expeditions. The volcanically formed hydrothermal sulphides on the seabed contain copper, zinc and precious metals including gold and silver. They are formed in hot underground springs seeping through cracks in the seabed.

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Miners May Avoid Shutdowns in Philippine Audit as Nickel Drops – by Cecilia Yap (Bloomberg News – October 4, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A mining audit in the world’s top nickel supplier that’s threatened mass closures may see producers prevail, with companies signaling their confidence shutdowns can be avoided as they race to remedy problems flagged in the nationwide Philippine checkup. Futures dropped.

Nickel Asia Corp. said its Hinatuan Mining Corp. unit, among those slated for closure unless it fixes shortcomings, remains in operation a week after the audit’s findings and it’s expected to stay that way, according to a statement on Tuesday. Separately, OceanaGold Corp. said its Didipio copper-gold mine is also still in business and talks with officials have been constructive.

“I am highly confident that our Didipio operations will continue to operate without interruption,” OceanaGold President and Chief Executive Officer Mick Wilkes said in an exchange release on Tuesday. Talks include discussions with Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, who’s led the checkup, and the company said it was sticking with full-year production guidance for the site.

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Rush for resources drives China’s ‘three-deep’ science quest (South China Morning Post – October 5, 2016)

http://www.scmp.com/

Beijing has made it its mission to go deeper on land and sea or farther into space than was thought possible

China’s growing demand for scarce land and resources are just two reasons why it is pushing ahead with its space programme.

The Ministry of Land and ­Resources’ new five-year ­programme released last month identified deep space exploration as one of its “three-deep” strategies to help secure the country’s resources needs – the other two being deep-sea and deep-underground exploration.

China will have 27 satellites for terrestrial surveying and scientific research by 2020. The spacecraft will play major roles in land management, ­mineral deposit exploration and disaster relief. More than 90 per cent of the remote sensing satellites should be domestically produced, the ministry said in the plan.

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Small Tasmanian nickel mine symbol of hope in uncertain market – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 4, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – It’s not often that jobs get exported from the developing world back to a developed country, but this is likely to be the case with nickel, the Philippines and Australia.

The new Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte has roiled global nickel markets by suspending 10 nickel mines and threatening the closure of at least 12 more, citing environmental violations.

The suspended mines and those at risk represent nearly 60 percent of output in the Philippines, the world’s largest producer of nickel ore and top supplier to top buyer China.

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Japan’s Top Mine Builders Pursue Deals for Commodities Recovery – by Masumi Suga (Bloomberg News – October 4, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A second Japanese mining equipment maker is positioning itself for a recovery in commodities, after Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. followed its larger competitor Komatsu Ltd. in announcing what would be its biggest-ever acquisition.

Hitachi Construction, the world’s top maker of giant excavators, has offered A$689 million ($529 million) to buy Australian component maker Bradken Ltd. In July, Komatsu agreed to purchase U.S.-based rival Joy Global Inc. for a record $2.89 billion, signaling its optimism that demand for diggers and loaders will rebound after years of declining commodity prices.

“Miners have put the brakes on too hard,” Shinji Kuroda, an analyst at Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Ltd., said by phone from Tokyo. “So the rebound will come at some point even if commodity prices continue to slump. The current size of demand for machines and parts has fallen below sustainable levels. The time for a recovery is coming.”

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Indonesia expects mining rule overhaul within weeks – by Fergus Jensen and Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S.- October 4, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Indonesia is finalizing an overhaul of its mining rules that could give companies up to five more years to build smelters, and reopen exports of nickel ore banned since 2014, the country’s mining minister said on Tuesday.

The proposed changes provide a way around a 2017 deadline for full domestic processing of mineral ores, potentially pushing completion of that aim to 2022, but also possibly undermining investor confidence.

“We will provide an opportunity to companies building smelters, in the form of a relaxation … in accordance with their smelter development progress,” Mining Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said.

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Vedanta sees lot of strength in India, to invest more, says CEO (The Hindu Business Line – October 3, 2016)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

CHENNAI, OCTOBER 3: Vedanta Ltd is keen on the next stage of investments in India as it “sees a potential for faster growth trajectory than in its international businesses,” says Tom Albanese, CEO.

Albanese, who is in Chennai to participate in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, says apart from the strong promise in mineral discovery and development of mining assets, “there is a lot of strength in India to make us want to invest”.

Vedanta’s next stage of investment plan is on the anvil, but there are immediate plans to step up output across the board, including mining, aluminium production and copper smelting. These will help to better exploit capacities and utilise the investments done over the recent years.

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