2025-08-11 19:43
SANTIAGO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Copper production from Chilean state-run miner Codelco ticked up 17% year-over-year in June, data from copper commission Cochilco showed on Monday, climbing to 120,200 metric tons. Codelco is the world's largest miner of the red metal. Sign up here. Meanwhile production at BHP's (BHP.AX) , opens new tab Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, slid 33% to 76,400 tons. At Collahuasi, another major copper mine jointly run by Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab and Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab, output fell 29% to 34,300 tons. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/copper-output-chiles-codelco-climbs-17-june-2025-08-11/
2025-08-11 19:07
SANTIAGO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Chilean state copper miner Codelco said on Monday that the general manager of its El Teniente mine, where a recent collapse killed six workers, will leave his position as part of a "mutual agreement." The mine's current operations manager, Claudio Sougarret, will take over from Andres Music beginning on Tuesday on an interim basis as the mine restarts production, Codelco said. Sign up here. Codelco over the weekend began a partial restart of underground mining activity, after such operations were halted following the Aug. 31 collapse. The company on Monday said its smelter was awaiting copper concentrate to be able to restart. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-codelco-replaces-el-teniente-manager-after-deadly-accident-2025-08-11/
2025-08-11 18:59
Trump and Putin to meet on Friday in Alaska UBS lowers Brent crude forecast on higher supply OPEC July oil output hike limited by Iraqi cuts HOUSTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil settled flat on Monday after falling more than 4% last week, as investors looked towards talks this week between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures settled up 4 cents, or 0.06%, at $66.63 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 8 cents, or 0.13%, at $63.96. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The talks follow increased U.S. pressure on Russia, raising the prospect of tighter penalties on Moscow if a peace deal is not reached. Trump said on Monday both Ukraine and Russia would have to cede land to each other to end the war and that his talks with Putin would be aimed at taking the temperature on a possible deal. "The recent sell-off in crude has paused as markets await Friday’s high-stakes meeting," StoneX analyst Alex Hodes said in a note on Monday. Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to agree to peace or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions. At the same time, Washington is pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil. Oil prices have fallen in recent days as market participants lowered supply disruption estimates, probably because the U.S. imposed an extra tariff only on India rather than all buyers of Russian oil, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. UBS has lowered its year-end Brent crude forecast to $62 a barrel from $68, citing higher supply from South America and resilient output from sanctioned countries. Indian demand had fallen short of expectations of late, the bank said, adding it expected OPEC+ to pause its production increases unless larger unexpected supply disruptions emerge. OPEC's oil output rose further in July after an OPEC+ agreement to raise production, a Reuters survey found on Friday, although the hike was limited by Iraq making additional cuts and by drone attacks on Kurdish oilfields. "The balance right now is between OPEC not raising production as much as anticipated versus the possibility that there will be a Ukraine ceasefire deal, and Russian oil might start to flow freely. That balance has oil bouncing around like a yo-yo right now," said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst with Price Futures Group. Elsewhere, an Exxon Mobil-led consortium began crude production four months earlier than expected at a fourth floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Guyana, Exxon said on Friday. Separately, data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed China’s producer prices fell more than expected in July. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-settles-flat-ahead-us-russia-talks-2025-08-11/
2025-08-11 18:48
Aug 11 (Reuters) - An explosion at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh on Monday has killed one person and injured multiple others, with at least two people missing, police said, as fire crews could be seen battling flames while heavy smoke rose from the facility. The explosion occurred at about 11 a.m. at the U.S. Clairton Coke Works plant, which is owned by U.S. Steel, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel (5401.T) , opens new tab. Sign up here. Allegheny County Police spokesman Jim Madalinsky said at least two people were missing, as well as reporting the one fatality and multiple injuries. The extent of the injuries was not known, but news accounts said that several people were taken to hospital burn units. There was no word yet on a possible cause of the explosion. Clairton Mayor Rich Lattanzi in a phone interview with Reuters from the site described the scene. "I don't know if people are trapped," Lattanzi said. "There are ambulances and police and news media everywhere. It's a horrible day for Clairton. We're praying for everyone involved. We're just praying this isn't as bad as it looks." Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on X that his administration was in touch with local officials in Clairton as they responded to the explosion. "The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities," he wrote, asking readers to join him in prayer for the Clairton community. An official told CNN that some people were trapped under the rubble, and emergency crews were working to reach them. The Clairton Coke Works, located on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States. Coke is produced by heating coal at high temperatures. It is used in blast furnaces as part of the process of making steel. Clairton Plant operates 10 coke oven batteries and produces approximately 4.3 million tons of coke annually. The facility serves customers in the commercial coke market as well as U. S. Steel's steelmaking facilities. In June, Nippon Steel, Japan's biggest steelmaker, closed its $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel after an 18-month struggle to obtain U.S. government approval for the deal, which faced scrutiny due to national security concerns. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/explosion-us-steel-plant-leaves-one-dead-two-missing-multiple-injured-2025-08-11/
2025-08-11 18:42
WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Both Federal Reserve vice chairs, Michelle Bowman and Philip Jefferson, as well as Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan are under consideration to serve as the next chair of the U.S. central bank, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing two administration officials. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading a search for a successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom President Donald Trump has pushed all year, in vain, to cut rates. Sign up here. Candidates previously known to be on his list include National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and current Fed Governor Christopher Waller, with the list expanded recently to also encompass St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Marc Sumerlin, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush. Hassett, Warsh, Waller and Bowman have all signaled support for lower rates, with Waller and Bowman both dissenting in July against the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged. Logan, by contrast, has consistently been more hawkish, most recently signaling her skepticism about lowering interest rates while inflation remains elevated. Jefferson has never given any indication of differences between his and Powell's policy views. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fed-vice-chairs-dallas-fed-president-being-considered-next-chair-bloomberg-2025-08-11/
2025-08-11 18:34
Aug 11 (Reuters) - Shares of lithium producers surged on Monday after Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) (300750.SZ) , opens new tab halting output at a major mine raised hopes it would erode the oversupply in a market grappling with soft demand. During morning trade, Albemarle Corp (ALB.N) , opens new tab jumped 10.2%, while Chile's Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQMA.SN) , opens new tab, rose 9.2% and Lithium Americas (LAC.TO) , opens new tab, gained 2.4%. Sign up here. Smaller companies, Standard Lithium (SLI.V) , opens new tab, , Piedmont Lithium (PLL.O) , opens new tab and Sigma Lithium (SGML.V) , opens new tab, advanced between 6.2% and 19.6%. Chinese and Australian miners also rallied. The lithium sector has been struggling with a glut following weaker-than-anticipated growth in demand for electric vehicles. The most active lithium carbonate futures in Guangzhou rose the 8% daily limit after CATL said its mining license for the Yichun project in Jiangxi province expired on Aug. 9 and renewal was underway. The site can produce more than 46,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent a year, roughly 3% of the global supply forecast for 2025, according to data from the Australian government. Morgan Stanley analysts said the outage could erode the small 60,000-tonne surplus it expects for 2025, bringing "upside risk to lithium prices in the short term" and potentially moving the market closer to balance if other disruptions follow. Longer-term, they expect a surplus to re-emerge without further supply discipline. Morningstar analyst Vincent Sun said the suspension was "an indication that the industry is taking proactive steps to contain further lithium price falls observed year-to-date." With lithium prices now below the marginal cost of production, the move could be perceived as a positive driver to limit supply growth and rebalance the market, he said, but added it was "still too early to confirm a price recovery trend for the rest of the year." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/lithium-stocks-rally-catl-mine-halt-raises-prospects-tighter-supply-2025-08-11/
