Thyssenkrupp AG and Jindal Steel International Suspend Share Talks
5 May 2026
Thyssenkrupp AG and Jindal Steel International have mutually agreed to suspend the negotiations regarding the sale of a stake in Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. The parties stated that changing market conditions and underlying assumptions in recent months influenced this decision.
In a statement, the company emphasized that thyssenkrupp has made significant progress in restructuring its steel segment. In particular, the collective restructuring agreement reached with IG Metall and the shareholder agreement regarding the future of the plant in southern Duisburg were highlighted as key elements of this process.
It was also noted that the regulatory framework in Europe has changed considerably, becoming more favorable. The European Union has positioned steel production as a strategic sector and increased protective measures against global overcapacity and dumping effects. Key steps include tightening import quotas, doubling tariffs in case of quota overruns, implementing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and establishing the EU Steel Action Plan. Despite rising energy costs due to the war in Ukraine, the long-term outlook for the sector has become more stable.
Thyssenkrupp AG CEO Miguel López, in his assessment of the future of steel operations, stated that conditions for profitable growth are now stronger than in the past, following a principled agreement within the company, with trade unions, and with policymakers in Europe. López said that Jindal has been a constructive partner throughout the process, but both sides have agreed to pause the talks for now.
Narendra Misra thanked the cooperation carried out during the negotiations, stating that despite the suspension of the agreement, relations between the parties continue and the goal of low-carbon steel production in Europe remains intact.
The company emphasized that its goal of making thyssenkrupp Steel Europe an independent entity remains unchanged. Accordingly, the restructuring process will continue within the company. It was stated that the industrial strategy defined in recent months and the agreements reached with trade unions provide a strong foundation for overcoming structural challenges.
Additionally, the agreement reached with Salzgitter AG in February regarding the future of the HKM plant was noted to offer new perspectives for the facility in southern Duisburg. It was also stated that policymakers are increasing their actions toward the sector, particularly regarding unfair competition and global overcapacity.
Thyssenkrupp AG plans to separate its business segments or open them to third-party investments as part of its ACES 2030 strategy. In this context, the company aims to transform into a financial holding structure. In the medium term, the goal is for thyssenkrupp Steel Europe to become an independent entity, with the company maintaining a minority stake.
https://eurometal.net/thyssenkrupp-ag-and-jindal-steel-international-suspend-share-talks/
By Michael S. Derby
NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Monday the U.S. central bank's monetary policy is "well positioned" to deal with the high level of economic uncertainty facing the economy as a result of the war in the Middle East.
"The future is difficult to see, and the risks to both sides of our mandate have increased," Williams said in the text of remarks to be delivered before a gathering held by the Cynosure Group in New York City.
"The extent and duration of the effects of supply disruptions and higher energy prices that are emanating from the Middle East conflict are key factors that will shape the global economic outlook," he said.
Williams noted that high inflation, mixed job market signals and uncertainty about the war present "an unusual set of circumstances" for Fed policymakers, while refraining from providing guidance on the outlook for the central bank's policy rate, which is currently in the 3.50%-3.75% range.
He said he expected resilient economic growth of between 2% and 2.25% this year amid mostly stable job market conditions, with unemployment holding at a level between 4.25% and 4.50%.
But inflation, challenged by tariffs and energy costs, will likely stay at around 3% this year before moving back to the Fed's 2% target, Williams said. He added that inflation expectations are also mostly steady while warning that energy price rises could be worse than expected.
"Market expectations of the future path of oil prices are fairly benign, but several plausible scenarios entail more severe dislocations in both prices and quantities," Williams said. He added that the Iran war "could result in a larger and broader-based supply shock that has more severe adverse consequences for inflation and economic activity."
Williams' remarks were his first public comments since the U.S. central bank last week decided to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed policymakers continue to be in a wait-and-see mode with monetary policy as they face considerable uncertainty about the economic outlook due to the war.
That conflict, particularly the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, has driven up energy prices sharply. Fed officials are facing an outlook of rising inflation pressures coupled with the prospect that the energy price surge will also depress demand and create risks for the job market.
Three regional Fed bank presidents supported the central bank's rate decision last week while objecting to the continued inclusion of language in the monetary policy statement that suggests the next move will be a cut in borrowing costs.
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/williams-says-fed-policy-well-165154635.html
By Paulin Kola and Bernd Debusmann Jr, at the White House
Updated 35 minutes ago
President Donald Trump has announced the US will help "guide" ships that have been stranded by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait has remained largely blocked since the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran - and Tehran responded by blocking the crucial waterway through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas is meant to pass freely.
The day after the announcement, limited fighting appeared to have resumed, with the US saying it had struck several Iranian small boats and Iran reportedly launching a series of attacks of its own.
What does Trump's "Project Freedom" entail and could it lead to a wider resumption of hostilities?
What did Trump say?
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, the president said the US had been asked by countries "from all over the World" to help free up their ships which were "locked up in the Strait of Hormuz" and were "merely neutral and innocent bystanders!".
And so, in response, the US would "guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways".
"The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance," Trump said.
He added this was "a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran" - as many of these vessels were "running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner".
What is Iran's response?
Trump's announcement made it sound like Iran was a party to the operation - the president went as far as to say "Project Freedom" was being undertaken on behalf of Iran, too.
But Iran maintains it has full control of the Strait and threatened to attack "any foreign armed force" that tried to approach or enter, "especially, the aggressive US army".
Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi said safe passage through it must be co-ordinated with Iran "under all circumstances".
A day later, on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "events in Hormuz make clear that there's no military solution to a political crisis".
"Project Freedom is Project Deadlock," he wrote on X.
How is the US military implementing Trump's plan?
An estimated 20,000 sailors and 2,000 ships have been trapped in the Gulf since the start of the war with Iran, according to the International Maritime Organisation - a UN agency that regulates shipping.
There has been growing concern over dwindling supplies and the effects on sailors' physical and mental health.
US Central Command (Centcom) says that "guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members" are being used to support the operation.
In a briefing on the first day of the operation, Centcom commander Adm Brad Cooper said vessels from 87 countries were stranded in the Gulf - and the US had contacted "dozens of ships and shipping companies to encourage traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz, consistent with the President's intent to help guide ships safely through the narrow trade corridor".
If the US guidance was meant to offer information and advice to vessels and crew, that may be of little help given Iran's ominous threats to attack them.
If, on the other hand, the US will attempt to provide stricken ships with a military escort, that could bring them back into direct military confrontation with Iran.
Cooper said a two-way path in the waterway would ultimately be established - without specifying how - with efforts including a "much broader defensive package" than would be required solely to escort ships.
Mick Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East and a veteran of both the Marine Corps and the CIA's paramilitary wing, told the BBC he believed that Project Freedom would be focused on providing air cover and defence from missile and drone attacks - rather than a physical escort of those vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Mulroy said there was no guarantee it would be successful in helping restore freedom of movement and commerce in the strait.
"The question is whether ships will trust their ability to get through without being attacked, and more importantly, the insurance company," he said.
"If not, the effort will not have the impact we hoped."
Are vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz?
On Monday afternoon, Centcom said US Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Gulf "after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom".
It added American forces were "actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping" but gave no details.
"As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey," Centcom also said. Again, no details were released about the identity of the commercial vessels.
Shipping company Maersk did confirm that one of its vessels had been able to exit the Gulf, accompanied by the US military.
But Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied any vessels had passed through the Strait.
Is Iran firing at US warships and other vessels?
Hours after the US operation was meant to have begun on Monday, the Iranian military said it had fired against "American and Zionist enemy destroyers", which it said the Americans had "disregarded".
Centcom quickly denied the Iranian claims that one of its warships had been hit by two missiles.
According to Centcom, Iran did fire cruise missiles at both US warships and US-flagged commercial ships, while drones and small boats were used against commercial ships.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said Iran had "taken some shots" at "unrelated nations".
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) - a Gulf ally of the US, which has often been attacked by Iran during the war - said a tanker affiliated with Adnoc, its state-owned oil company, had been targeted by two drones as it transited the Strait of Hormuz.
No-one was injured, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. At least three missile interceptions were also reported.
A suspected strike also hit a South Korean cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, in waters near the UAE.
Centcom commander Cooper said that some of the US attack helicopters supporting the mission had been used to sink six small Iranian boats that were targeting civilian vessels. Iran has denied this.
Is the Iran war resuming?
Grant Rumley, a Middle East expert who served as an adviser to both the Biden and Trump White Houses between 2018 and 2021, said that securing passage for all the ships in the Gulf would be "very, very hard".
Doing so, he says, may require a stronger, more "kinetic" military option - a possibility he views as likely.
"I think that the general consensus is that a resumption of hostilities is a question of when," he said. "Not if."
Nitya Labh, a fellow on the International Security Programme at London's Chatham House, said the US operation was "extremely risky".
"I think what's happening is quite escalatory, it suggests the US isn't willing to negotiate over the terms of reopening the Strait," she told the BBC.
"The US has accepted that the only way to continue to move shipping is under the threat of force or strikes from Iran," Labh said.
She added that, even if President Trump's "Project Freedom" succeeded in getting some vessels out of the Hormuz Strait, "it will be a temporary relief at best" - a more sustained effort would be required to open up the critical waterway.
Goldman Sachs has once again revised its oil price forecast upward, as reported by the bank in a note over the weekend. The investment firm now projects Brent crude will average $90 per barrel in the fourth quarter of this year, while West Texas Intermediate is expected to average $83 per barrel.
At the time of the analysis, Brent crude was trading at $106.68 per barrel and WTI at $95.35 per barrel. The price levels reflect stalled negotiations between Iran and the United States, with no clear timeline for restarting talks.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs described the economic risks as exceeding what their baseline crude outlook suggests, pointing to net upward pressures on oil prices, unusually high prices for refined products, the risk of product shortages, and an unprecedented scale of supply disruption. They stated that this shock will begin to erode oil demand, and in fact, is already doing so. The bank expects global oil demand to fall by 1.7 million barrels per day during the current quarter and by approximately 100,000 barrels per day over the full year 2026 compared to 2025 levels.
The Goldman team also warned that extreme inventory draws are unsustainable and that if the supply shock continues, even sharper reductions in demand may become necessary. The bank estimated that lost production in the Middle East has reached 14.5 million barrels per day as of this month.
Separately, commodity analysts from ING noted earlier today that a lack of progress in peace talks means the market tightens daily, forcing oil prices to reprice higher. They remarked that there is little alternative to fill a roughly 13 million barrels per day shortfall. ING analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey added that given tightening supply, prices will inevitably rise, which will weaken demand prospects. They noted that in the short term, both commercial and strategic inventories help bridge the gap, but the longer the situation persists, the more demand destruction will be required, and prices will need to move higher to achieve that.
https://www.indexbox.io/blog/goldman-sachs-raises-oil-price-forecast-amid-supply-disruptions/
John Swinney hit out at the windfall tax on Saturday (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)
Scotland’s First Minister is “very concerned” by reports that oil giant BP is considering leaving the North Sea.
Bloomberg reported the firm had begun an internal review of its North Sea operations, though no final decision had been made.
Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday during a campaign stop in Glasgow, John Swinney put the blame squarely on the UK Government and its windfall tax on oil and gas.
“I’ve seen the reports and I’d obviously be very concerned about that,” the First Minister said.
“What will be driving this is the hostile taxation approach of the United Kingdom Government through the energy profits levy, and I’ve told the Prime Minister to his face that the energy profits levy is causing significant economic damage to Scotland and the North Sea oil and gas sector.
“It’s accelerating the decline of the sector and I made it clear to the Prime Minister he should remove that energy profits levy, and the speculation about BP I think should prompt early action from the UK Government.”
But Sir Keir Starmer, the First Minister claimed, was distracted by pressure on his position as a result of the scandal surrounding the hiring and firing of former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson.
“But, as with so many questions of the challenges that we face, the Prime Minister is distracted by his own failures and can’t take the proper actions to protect jobs and employment within Scotland, and that’s an example of the weakness and the failure of a Labour Government,” Mr Swinney said.
The reports come after UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described BP’s profits – which tripled in the first quarter of this year – in a now deleted post on social media as “morally and economically wrong”.
The UK Government has been contacted for comment.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/swinney-very-concerned-reports-bp-123312646.html
Beijing is reversing its curbs on refined fuel exports after halting shipments in the opening days of the U.S.-Iran conflict. This move suggests that Chinese domestic inventories are now at comfortable levels, allowing state refiners to reopen the export spigot, even as much of Asia remains gripped by a fuel shock caused by disrupted Gulf energy flows through the Hormuz chokepoint.
There was chatter earlier this week that China's state-owned refiners were applying for government permits to resume fuel exports in May. These include China Petrochemical (Sinopec Group) and China National Petroleum Corporation.
By late in the week, Bloomberg reported that state-owned refiners had received government approval to export 500,000 tons of fuel next month.
People familiar with the upcoming shipments said the one-off quota would allow gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel to be sent to neighboring Asian countries, providing relief amid a worsening fuel crunch.
They said these shipments will be loaded onto tankers and are likely destined for Vietnam, Laos, and other nearby nations.
China's U-turn on export curbs comes weeks after the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Energy Agency urged countries to avoid panic hoarding of energy supplies, as JPMorgan analysts warned that Asia would face the most immediate impact from the Gulf energy shock.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/China-Flips-the-Switch-on-Fuel-Exports-as-Asia-Runs-Short.html
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an oil and gas exploration and production company. Its shares are up by 34.8% over the past year and by 27% year-to-date. Jefferies discussed the firm on April 12th as it raised the share price target to $160 from $129 and kept a Buy rating. The financial firm remarked that ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) could post higher than expected oil volumes in its upcoming earnings and was well placed to benefit from high oil prices in the wake of the conflict in Iran. However, the oil company’s earnings saw it lower its production guidance due to uncertainty generated from the impact of the conflict in Iran on Qatar. As a result, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) guided between 2.19 million and 2.22 million barrels of oil production for the second quarter, which was lower than the first quarter’s figures. Cramer briefly commented on the earnings:
“Yeah that’s mystifying. you really have to work really hard to be an oil company and not really cut. I mean think about what you have to do, you have to just, maybe they were short oil.”
Jim Cramer Left Stumped by ConocoPhillips (COP)
Oakmark Fund stated the following regarding ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was the top contributor during the quarter. The U.S.-headquartered oil and gas company’s stock price rose as it benefitted from a favorable macroeconomic backdrop and results consistent with our expectations. Rising energy prices due to geopolitical conflict were the most significant driver of the stock performance. We continue to believe Conoco has some of the industry’s highest quality assets managed by a team of strong operators and capital allocators.”
ARA and Europe
Rotterdam’s B30-VLSFO (POMEME) grade has surged around $152/mt through the past week, since Friday 17 April.
This rise was mainly supported by the surge in conventional VLSFO price. VLSFO price in Rotterdam has gained by around $119/mt in the same duration.
Meanwhile, Prima Markets assessed POMEME feedstock price gained by just $9/mt in the past week.
A $163/mt gain in Rotterdam’s conventional LSMGO price has also pushed up the port’s B30-LSMGO blend price by around $185/mt in the past week.
Separately, sales of bio-bunkers at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in first quarter 2026 have rebounded strongly by around 89% to 21,000 mt, from a low of 11,000 mt reached in Q4 2025.
Despite the rise, Antwerp’s biofuel sales significantly trail Rotterdam’s bio-bunker sales which were at 112,000 mt in the first quarter, despite a 33% drop.
Meanwhile, Gibraltar’s B30-VLSFO (UCOME) price gained by around $152/mt during the past week. Its price premium over the port’s conventional VLSFO grade has gained by $50/mt in the same period.
Securing biofuel deliveries in the ARA and in the Gibraltar strait requires around 7-10 days of lead time, a trader said.
Asia
Singapore’s B30-VLSFO (UCOME) price has gained by around $154/mt through the last week since 17 April.
The port’s conventional VLSFO price has also increased around $121/mt during the same period.
The blend’s price premium over the conventional price has increased by around $33/mt in the past week to $267/mt. The premium has widened around $100/mt in the last month.
Most suppliers have now restarted biofuel supplies after pausing them early in the Middle East conflict to take advantage of the high VLSFO premiums.
Hong Kong’s B30-VLSFO price has increased by just $53/mt in the past week.
Consequently, Hong Kong’s blend is now offered at a $69/mt discount to Singapore, compared to a $32/mt premium seen on 17 April.
In other biofuel news this week:
Seagate Corporation, a subsidiary of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), said it has launched a tugboat fitted with an onboard biofuel blending system at the Kanagawa Dockyard in Japan.
Nippon biofuel has been selected for a Japanese government-backed project to build and demonstrate a production and supply model for jatropha-based marine biofuel from Africa to Asia. Under the project, Nippon Biofuels targets to 400,000 mt/year of biofuel by 2032 from jatropha cultivated in Mozambique and Ghana.
Source: ENGINE
The war in Iran has triggered a global scramble for oil as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz choke one of the world's most critical energy shipping routes — but the global economy isn't about to run out of oil.
Instead, it may be running short of key fuels made from oil that keep planes flying and industrial supply chains running, analysts at Goldman Sachs warned in a recent note.
"The speed of depletion and supply losses in some regions and products are concerning, with easily accessible refined products buffers approaching very low levels fast," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in the Monday note.
That's because while overall oil inventories remain above critical levels, shortages are emerging in specific refined products, especially jet fuel, petrochemical feedstocks like naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas used to make plastics and chemicals.
Global commercial refined product stocks have fallen to about 45 days of demand, down from around 50 before the recent disruption, according to Goldman's estimates.
That compares with roughly 101 days of demand for total global oil stocks.
Inventories of naphtha — a critical input for plastics and industrial chemicals — have fallen significantly, including a 72% drop in UAE Fujairah storage and a 37% fall in northwest Europe's Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub since late February.
Asia outside China and parts of Europe appear particularly exposed to the shortages in refined fuels. South Africa, India, Thailand, and Taiwan are among the more vulnerable markets, Goldman's analysts wrote.
Even where crude oil is available, it cannot always be converted into usable fuel quickly enough. Refining constraints, trade disruptions, and export restrictions are creating bottlenecks, meaning surpluses in one location do not easily offset shortages elsewhere.
Nowhere is this more evident than in aviation, where the world's biggest carriers have canceled flights due to tightening jet fuel supplies.
Goldman estimates that European commercial jet fuel inventories — excluding government emergency reserves — could fall below the International Energy Agency's critical 23-day threshold as soon as June.
The global energy markets have been thrown into disarray following the US and Israel's attacks on Iran in late February, as supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz push crude oil futures over 50% higher.
"Even if Hormuz flows started recovering soon, any full normalization of deliveries would take at least several weeks," the analysts wrote.
International Brent crude futures were trading around $113 per barrel early on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate was around $104 per barrel.
26/03/2026
New York / Rome — The Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Máximo Torero, warned that the ongoing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz trade corridor is triggering one of the most severe shocks to global commodity flows in recent years, with significant implications for food security, agricultural production, and global markets.
Speaking at a United Nations daily press briefing, Torero highlighted that tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed by more than 90 percent within days of the escalation. The vital artery for global trade typically carries around 20 million barrels of oil per day—approximately 35 percent of global crude oil flows—alongside one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) and up to 30 percent of internationally traded fertilizers.
“This is not only an energy shock. It is a systematic shock affecting agrifood systems globally,” Torero said. He emphasized that the Gulf region accounts for nearly half of global sulfur trade, a critical input used to produce sulfuric acid for processing phosphate rock into fertilizers. Disruptions to sulfur supply risk fracturing global phosphate fertilizer production, including in major producing countries.
Shipping constraints have been compounded by surging insurance costs. Following the expansion of high-risk zones in early March, war-risk insurance premiums rose from 0.25 percent to as high as 10 percent of vessel value, with coverage now resetting every seven days. Even in the event of de-escalation, normal shipping conditions may take months to resume, Torero warned.
Rising input costs and risks to agricultural production
The Chief Economist pointed out that the disruptions are already translating into higher costs for farmers worldwide. Fertilizer prices have risen sharply, with Middle East granular urea increasing by 19 percent in the first week of March, while Egyptian urea prices surged by 28 percent. Given that natural gas is the primary feedstock for nitrogen fertilizers, elevated energy prices are expected to sustain upward pressure on fertilizer costs. FAO projections indicate that global fertilizer prices could average 15 to 20 percent higher in the first half of 2026 if the crisis persists.
“Farmers are facing a dual cost shock: they have more expensive fertilizers alongside rising fuel costs affecting the entire agricultural value chain, including irrigation and transport,” Torero said. In response, many producers are likely to reduce fertilizer application or shift toward less input-intensive crops, he added.
Since fertilizer use follows a nonlinear yield response, even modest reductions can result in disproportionately large declines in crop yields, particularly in regions where baseline usage is already low.
Duration of disruption will be decisive
During the briefing, Torero stressed that the duration of the crisis will determine the scale of its global impact. In the case of a short-term disruption of up to one month, impacts are expected to remain contained. Global food stocks are currently sufficient, and markets could stabilize within approximately three months. The FAO Food Price Index remains about 21 percent below its March 2022 peak.
If the disruption persists for three months or longer, risks escalate significantly, affecting global planting decisions for 2026 and beyond. Under a medium-term disruption scenario, FAO anticipates reduced yields for fertilizer-intensive crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, crop substitution toward nitrogen-fixing crops such as soybeans, and increased competition from biofuel production as higher oil prices stimulate demand for agricultural feedstocks.
Impacts across countries
Torero underscored that the effects of the crisis will vary depending on crop cycles and import dependencies. Countries currently most vulnerable include:
Torero also highlighted two critical secondary risks: potential declines in income flows from Gulf economies could affect millions of households in developing countries relying on remittances, and export restrictions could further tighten global supply and exacerbate price volatility.
Policy recommendations
Torero called for urgent, coordinated international action.
In the short term, it is critical to establish alternative trade corridors, provide emergency financial support to import-dependent countries, and ensure farmers have access to credit.
In the medium term, countries need to diversify fertilizer import sources, strengthen regional reserves, and avoid export restrictions.
In the long term, FAO recommends investing in sustainable, input-efficient agriculture, scaling alternative fertilizer technologies such as green ammonia, and treating food systems as strategic infrastructure.
Copper futures in the US were below $5.9 per pound on Monday, near their lowest in three weeks, as fresh demand headwinds from the Iran-US conflict momentarily offset the impact of tight supply.
Claims that Iran struck US military vessels dimmed the likelihood of energy exports from the region, pressuring base metals as lower purchasing powers and support for the dollar dim the demand for industrial inputs.
Still, copper remained around 10% away from its record high as the conflict also dented supply for copper in the near term.
Top producer Chile had its supply under threat as the war in the Middle East halted supplies of sulphur to China, driving China to halt the exports of sulphuric acid that are essential half of Chile's copper refining.
On top of that, major tech companies continued to sign agreements that exponentially increase datacenter construction across major manufacturing centers, supporting the outlook for copper due to its utility in electrification and grid technology.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/te_news:547481:0-copper-drops-toward-3-week-low/
Workers at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in Southland, New Zealand, have announced plans for industrial action, with approximately 185 E tu union members set to strike on May 4, 6, 8, and 10. This significant development follows over two and a half years of unsuccessful negotiations with the smelter's owner, Rio Tinto, a global mining giant.
The primary cause of the dispute stems from a failure to reach a new collective employment agreement, with the E tu union alleging that Rio Tinto is employing "deliberate anti-union tactics" to avoid such an agreement and instead favour individual contracts. Workers are seeking "decent work" and an agreement that adequately recognises their contributions, job roles, and working conditions.
Specific demands include adjusting shift allowances to align with inflation, increasing recent pay rises by 1.5 percent, and shifting weekend public holidays to Mondays. The union highlights Rio Tinto's substantial profitability, reporting an underlying EBITDA of US$25.4 billion and a profit after tax of US$10 billion for 2025, arguing that workers deserve a fair share of this success. Conversely, Rio Tinto maintains that the terms and conditions it offers are competitive within both the Southland and wider New Zealand markets.
The strike carries considerable economic and industry-specific consequences. The Tiwai Point smelter is a crucial part of New Zealand's economy, generating approximately $1 billion in annual export revenue and directly and indirectly employing around 3,200 people. It is also a major consumer of electricity, utilising about 13 percent of the country's total supply (572MW).
The smelter's operations are vital for the Southland region, contributing an estimated $406 million to its economy, representing 6.5 percent of Southland's GDP.
Furthermore, it accounts for a third of South Port's cargo. While aluminium smelting cannot be easily halted and restarted, meaning the planned short strikes are more about exerting pressure than causing immediate production shutdowns, the industrial action comes at a sensitive time.
The smelter's long-term future, secured until at least 2044 through 20-year electricity arrangements in 2024, included demand response provisions that allow it to function as a critical part of the national electricity infrastructure. Unplanned disruptions from strikes could therefore impact the national grid, particularly heading into the winter months.
The dispute is also politically uncomfortable, as the New Zealand government has previously championed Tiwai's continued operation as a regional success story. Mediation between the union and Rio Tinto is scheduled for May 20, in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute.
Mining company Rio Tinto has reached a strategic agreement with the Queensland Government and the Australian federal government to ensure the long-term viability of the Boyne aluminium smelter, located in Gladstone. The aim is to maintain its international competitiveness once its current energy contract ends.
The agreement includes a joint investment of $1.4 billion through 2040 by the public administrations, under the Future Made in Australia initiative. This funding will support progress in the transition to a more competitive and sustainable electricity supply, which is key to the continuity of industrial activity and employment in the Central Queensland region.
The agreement is underpinned by the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by Rio Tinto in recent years, which support more than $5.25 billion in new renewable energy and storage projects in the state. Thanks to this strategy, the plant, operated by Boyne Smelters Limited, in which Rio Tinto holds a majority stake, will be able to continue producing aluminium beyond 2029, when its current contract expires, extending its operations at least through 2040.
As part of the associated energy development, Rio Tinto has also agreed to purchase 40% of the output from the Lower Wonga hybrid solar and storage project, backed by Lightsource bp. This share is equivalent to 112 MW of solar capacity, together with approximately three hours of battery storage. With this, the multinational increases the total volume of renewable energy contracted in Queensland to more than 2.8 GW.
