2 Mar, 2022
Glencore reviews stakes in Russian companies; Alrosa's Q4'21 profit slumps YOY
By Karl Decena
TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING
* Glencore PLC is reviewing its business in Russia, including stakes in En+ Group IPJSC and PJSC Rosneft Oil Co., as it "condemns the actions taken by the Russian government against the people of Ukraine," Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* PJSC Alrosa's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2021 slumped 43% year over year to 12.1 billion Russian rubles due to a 28% fall in revenue to 70.7 billion rubles as well as higher operating expenses and higher foreign exchange losses.
➤ Few women at the top in global metals, mining sector
Companies in the metals and mining sector are making efforts to improve gender diversity in their upper ranks but still have a long way to go, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis shows.
➤ Russian invasion of Ukraine adds additional strain to stretched supply chains
The conflict will likely affect supply chains and markets worldwide as a result of disruptions in Ukraine and mounting economic sanctions on Russia.
➤ Fed rate hike expectations shrink as Ukraine crisis pushes up energy prices
Rising energy prices stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine will make already soaring inflation climb higher. Nevertheless, the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to pursue an aggressive rate hike push to clamp down on rising prices that was a near-certainty to market observers less than three weeks ago.
BASE METALS
* Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. was served with a notice of a compensation claim from funds sponsored by Appian Capital Advisory LLP regarding Sibanye's termination of the US$1.2 billion deal for the Santa Rita nickel mine and the Serrote copper mine in Brazil.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Polymetal International PLC's full-year 2021 earnings dropped 15% year over year to US$904 million due to lower operating profit from higher costs, while revenue ticked up 1% to US$2.89 billion.
* Polymetal CEO Vitaly Nesis said the conflict in Ukraine, and its related economic and political developments, will likely require a lot of management efforts to maintain company performance, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* South Africa-based Solidarity union accepted Sibanye's final wage offer and pulled out of any planned strike by a coalition of unions, Reuters reported.
* Asante Gold Corp. closed a private placement of 58,431,914 shares at C$1.75 apiece for C$102.3 million in proceeds, which will be used for initial mine development costs at the Bibiani gold project in Ghana and for working capital.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Ukraine-based steelmaker Metinvest BV declared force majeure due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
* The global potash supply may experience prolonged disruptions amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported, citing interim Nutrien Ltd. CEO Ken Seitz, who spoke at a BMO Capital Markets investor conference.
* South Korean steelmaker POSCO Holdings Inc. aims to spend 12 trillion won, or about US$9.95 billion, to boost its overseas crude steel production capacity to 23.1 million tonnes per year by 2030, a nearly fivefold spike from 5.1 Mt/y in 2021, S&P Global Platts reported.
* Emirates Steel Industries PJSC signed a memorandum of understanding with Mauritania-based Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière SA to evaluate a potential joint venture focused on producing iron oxide pellets.
* Newly launched R3 Renewables LLC, a joint venture among Peabody Energy Corp., Riverstone Credit Partners and Summit Partners Credit Advisors L.P., will seek to build over 3.3 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity and 1.6 GW of battery storage over the next five years.
SPECIALTY
* The National Energy Institute, a trade group of U.S. nuclear power generation companies, is lobbying the White House not to sanction uranium imports from Russia, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources.
* Core Lithium Ltd. executed a binding term sheet to supply Tesla Inc. with up to 110,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate from Core Lithium's Finniss project in Australia's Northern Territory over a four-year period.
* Summit Nanotech Corp. closed a US$14 million series A funding round co-led by BHP Group Ltd.'s BHP Ventures to advance its sustainable lithium extraction technology.
* Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. will supply Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. with a select range of diamonds over a renewable one-year term. The company sold 322,547 carats in its most recent diamond sale for C$52.7 million in proceeds.
* A landslide at a jade mining site in Myanmar left at least 15 miners dead and at least 35 others missing, The Associated Press reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Aluminum and nickel continued to lead the metals price rally — after monthly average gains of around 7% in February — as market players sought clarity on how some Russian banks' exclusion from the SWIFT international payments system might impact supplies, according to Platts.
* China and Russia will continue to conduct normal trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, Beijing's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a press conference, Platts reported.
* The London Metal Exchange said EU sanctions against AO Holding Co. Metalloinvest founder Alisher Usmanov do not impact any of its listed brands.
* Climate-minded attorneys saw signs for hope during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a high-stakes dispute over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate power plants for greenhouse gas emissions.
* The latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows that short sellers seem to believe that the recent rally in energy stocks may be petering out, even with oil prices surging to their highest levels since 2014.
S&P Global Platts is an offering of S&P Global Commodity Insights, which produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.
Panjiva is the supply chain research unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global Inc.
