The biggest banks in the world increased financing for fossil fuels by 8% in 2025 from a year earlier, committing a total of $906 billion to fossil fuel companies amid climate policy rollbacks, especially at U.S. and Japanese banks.
Since the Paris Agreement of 2015, the world’s 65 largest banks have financed oil, natural gas, and coal operations with a combined $8.7 trillion, showed the annual Banking on Climate Chaos report from campaigners coordinated by Rainforest Action Network.
Last year was the second consecutive year in which the biggest banks in the world raised financing for fossil fuel companies, after declines in 2022 and 2023 amid increased focus on ESG policies and climate commitments in the early part of the decade.
But following a backlash against net-zero policies, especially in the United States, banks raised fossil fuel funding to $869 billion in 2024, up by $162 billion from 2023, the 16th edition of the report showed last year.
Now the 17th edition of the report, which uses open-source datasets, found that banks boosted funding for oil, gas, and coal for the second year in a row, with U.S. giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading the pack, ahead of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).
JPMorgan Chase remains the world’s number-one fossil fuel financier, committing $58.2 billion in 2025 alone, a 12.5% increase from 2024, the latest report found.
Bank of America ranks second at $47 billion, and Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) was third at $47 billion, with a 21% increase in a single year.
The top ten of the banks lending the most to fossil fuel companies includes Japan’s Mizuho Financial and SMBC Group, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley of the U.S., Royal Bank of Canada, and the UK’s Barclays.
US banks’ share of all global bank fossil fuel financing increased to 32% last year from 28% in 2021, and represents the single largest source of fossil capital in the world. By contrast, European banks have reduced their share of financing. But while BNP Paribas reduced fossil deals by 28%, UBS by 36%, and La Caixa by 34%, Standard Chartered increased its fossil fuel financing by 28%, Deutsche Bank by 20%, and HSBC by 16%.
“The scale of finance still flowing to fossil fuels — especially fossil fuel expansion — shows how deeply major banks remain tied to a climate-wrecking business model,” said Lucie Pinson, director and founder at Reclaim Finance and co-author of the report.
The European Union may release €6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility (EPF) for Ukraine after a change of government in Hungary.
This was reported by the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas.
“We now have a new Hungarian minister, which also means that we are moving forward with the release of €6.6 billion from the European Peace Fund,” she said.
This is money that Hungary has blocked for over two years. Due to Budapestʼs position, EU countries have been unable to agree on new tranches of compensation for member states that supplied weapons to Ukraine through this mechanism.
According to Kallas, today the ministers are also discussing how exactly these funds will be used. She recalled that the original idea of the fund was to reimburse the costs of member states that provided assistance to Ukraine. However, discussions are currently ongoing on whether more funds should be directed directly to new assistance to Ukraine or to reimburse contributions that EU countries have already made.
"We have proposed a compromise option that takes into account both sides," Kallas said, adding that the European Union is already holding consultations with member states.
Since 2024, Budapest, under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, has vetoed the allocation of about €6.6 billion to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility. Hungary has used this decision as leverage, in particular by demanding that Kyiv resume the transit of Russian oil company “Lukoil”.
"The Critical Minerals and ZEO Company" ~ Antimony, Cobalt, Gold, Tungsten, and Zeolite ~
DALLAS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / June 9, 2026 / United States Antimony Corporation ("USAC," "US Antimony," or the "Company"), (NYSE:UAMY) (NYSE Texas:UAMY), a leading producer and processor of antimony, zeolite, and other critical minerals, and the only fully integrated antimony company in the world outside of China and Russia, announced today that it has begun commissioning of the newly constructed Thompson Falls antimony smelter back in May by firing up the first of nine new state-of-the-art gas fired furnaces. A total of five furnaces are anticipated to be commissioned by the end of this week. The commissioning process started by rotating the furnaces in an effort to get them all running properly so "bugs" could be quickly worked out. We have been finding a number of minor things to fix or modify, and these changes are being applied daily to each new furnace. As additional internal parts and heat exchangers are delivered by third party contractors to the property over the next few weeks, the entire new addition (nine total furnaces) is anticipated to be up and running by month end.
Management has recently decided to defer the previously planned renovation of the older existing smeltering facility located at Thompson Falls until sometime in 2027, in order to allow higher volumes of output of finished products from the two facilities located in Thompson Falls in fiscal 2026. This decision will enhance our ability to meet the demands from both industrial and military customers of our various products.
USAC was awarded $27 million from the Department of War on March 5, 2026 (see Press Release of same date) to fund a significant portion of the cost associated with this expansion effort now basically complete. Of that amount awarded, the Company has received $12.9 million to-date in milestone payments.
Commenting on the status of the new antimony smelter at USAC, Mr. Jeff Fink, Vice President of the Company and managing engineer of this expansion effort, stated, "We started the engineering and planning of our additional smelter in May of last year. The primary equipment utilized in the new operation is not off the shelf; it is customized. To accomplish this feat within a year is a significant milestone. Improvements over and above our existing smelter operations here in Thompson Falls include 300% capacity increase per furnace, improved thermal efficiency, reduced labor per ton, and reduced overall emissions. When both facilities are at full capacity, we will be running fifteen furnaces and increasing output by three to four times historical production."
NEWS PROVIDED BY DMCC
10 Jun, 2026, 10:00 GMT
DUBAI, UAE, June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DMCC, the leading international business district that drives the flow of global trade through Dubai, today launched its Future of Trade 2026 report that finds that global trade will remain resilient over the next two years but fundamentally reshaped by artificial intelligence, structural tariff volatility, supply chains designed for resilience, and a contest for industrial advantage in critical minerals and infrastructure powering global clean energy and technologies.
The report, Future of Trade 2026: Rebuilding Through Rupture, comes as businesses confront a sharp deterioration in the predictability of the global trade landscape. Nearly 20% of global merchandise imports are now subject to tariffs or similar restrictions, up from 12.6% a year earlier, while more than four in five business leaders surveyed by DMCC expect slow growth, continued supply chain disruption and prolonged geopolitical volatility in the coming years. Almost 12% expect a worst-case scenario driven by escalating conflict, tariffs, sanctions and financial fragmentation. Only 4% expect a best-case outcome.
At the same time, AI is rapidly emerging as the dominant driver of trade growth. Trade in AI-related goods, including semiconductors, servers and data-centre hardware, expanded by more than 20% in the first half of 2025, compared with less than 4% growth for non-AI goods. Although AI-related goods account for only 15% of global trade by volume, they generated 43% of total trade growth during the period, according to the report.
The report forecasts merchandise exports to slow to 1.9% in 2026, down from 4.6% in 2025, before marginally recovering to 2.6% in 2027. Services exports are forecast to continue outpacing goods.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said: "AI-related goods accounted for 43% of global trade growth in the first half of 2025, despite representing just 15% of global trade by volume. This underscores where global trade is heading. We are entering a new phase in which competitiveness will be defined not only by cost or geography, but by technology, connectivity, energy access, and the ability to adapt quickly to disruption. In a more complex and fragmented environment, the role of globally connected hubs becomes even more important.
"Dubai has positioned itself at the centre of these shifts by remaining open, agile, and deeply connected to global markets. With almost 27,000 companies in our district, DMCC sees these changes unfolding in real time across commodities, technology, finance, and trade. The businesses and economies that will lead over the next decade are those building resilience, investing in technology, and creating stronger connections across global markets."
Feryal Ahmadi, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer, DMCC, said: "The trade environment is becoming more complex, but also more connected. AI is already improving efficiency across customs, logistics, compliance and trade finance, and we are now moving towards practical, operational deployment. Stablecoins, tokenisation and wholesale central bank digital currencies are beginning to support faster and more flexible settlement in certain corridors. Data regulation, cybersecurity and digital governance are becoming increasingly important considerations for businesses operating internationally.
"In this environment, trade hubs like DMCC have an important role to play in anticipating the needs of global businesses and ensuring they can continue to operate, grow and adapt through periods of disruption and change. The companies that will perform best are those investing in technology, building operational resilience and remaining agile as global trade continues to evolve."
The Future of Trade 2026 is the sixth and tenth-anniversary edition of DMCC's biennial flagship report on the changing nature of global trade. It draws on 12 roundtables with over 200 senior leaders, policymakers and trade experts across key global trade centres, alongside a survey of more than 130 leading businesses and trade practitioners.
Four Forces Shaping the Future of Trade
The report identifies four structural forces reshaping global commerce: AI moving from experimentation to operational deployment; the breakdown of a stable tariff framework; the shift from efficiency-led to resilience-led supply chains; and the energy transition becoming a contest for industrial and geopolitical advantage.
The Growing AI Divide
One of the report's most consequential findings is the widening gap between businesses treating AI as a strategic priority and those still running pilots. Fewer than 15% of firms surveyed describe their AI deployment as fully integrated; more than a quarter report no meaningful adoption at all. With agentic AI systems beginning to take on complex logistics, compliance and trade finance decisions, the report warns that this gap will harden into a structural competitive divide. Meanwhile, AI-related goods such as semiconductors, servers and data centre hardware, expanded 20% in the first half of 2025, five times the rate of non-AI merchandise. The WTO estimates that sustained AI-related trade growth could add 0.5 percentage points to global export volumes.
The end of the tariff rulebook
The dismantling of rules-based trade has accelerated faster than most forecasters anticipated. The Trump administration's tariff regime, though legally contested and partially struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026, has been rapidly replaced by Section 122 and Section 301 instruments covering 90-95% of US imports. More than half of respondents now expect trade to become more regional and bloc-based. Only 17% anticipate a more multilateral outcome.
Supply chains built for resilience
The "China + 1" diversification model has been overtaken in many sectors by broader "China + many" strategies. U.S. imports from Vietnam rose 345% between 2014 and 2024; imports from India rose 94% and from Mexico 72% over the same period, while imports from China contracted 5%. The 2026 conflict with Iran which precipitated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 25% of global seaborne oil and 19% of LNG transits, has added urgency and sent Brent crude above $120 per barrel, reducing tanker transits by approximately 90% from pre-conflict levels. The report notes that 45% of businesses have already engaged in onshoring, nearshoring or friendshoring. Among DMCC's own survey respondents, those describing their supply chains as more regionalised and resilience-driven nearly double those describing them as more globalised and efficiency-driven.
The energy transition as new industrial contest
Clean energy investment reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2025, outpacing fossil fuel investment by $102 billion. But the transition has become as much a competition for industrial advantage as an environmental imperative. China controls 94% of global sintered permanent magnet production, an input critical to EVs, wind turbines, AI data centres and defence systems, and leads refining for 19 of 20 strategic minerals tracked by the IEA. With average lead times of 16 years from mineral discovery to production, the report argues that supply diversification is a long-term solution to a near-term problem.
The next generation of finance
The global trade finance gap has held at $2.5 trillion, with SMEs and developing-economy exporters bearing a disproportionate share. The report identifies next-generation financial infrastructure as a potential partial remedy, with global stablecoin supply exceeding $300 billion in early 2026, B2B stablecoin payments growing 733% year-on-year in 2025, and the first cross-border CBDC transaction on the mBridge platform successfully processed in November 2025.
Rise of South-South trade
One of the report's quieter but structurally significant findings is the continued rise of South-South trade and growing influence of middle powers. Flows between developing economies now account for approximately 35% of global trade, outpacing North-North flows, and accelerating. The IMF forecasts that by 2030, emerging and developing economies will account for around two-thirds of global growth. The report points to the UAE, India and Singapore as global "connectors" and examples of middle power economies capturing redirected trade and investment flows through infrastructure and diversified trade relationships.
DMCC's Future of Trade 2026 report puts forward a series of key recommendations to businesses and governments to support trade resilience and growth:
Policy Recommendations for Businesses:
Policy Recommendations for Governments:
Use long-term offtake agreements, recycling capacity, standards alignment and transparent supply chains to reduce chokepoints without fragmenting markets further.
Report launch
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DMCC's Executive Chairman and CEO, unveiled the report to a packed crowd at One Marylebone in London, UK. Following the London launch, DMCC will present the report to key business stakeholders in Dubai and Singapore.
The Future of Trade is DMCC's biennial flagship research on the changing nature of global trade. The report examines the impact of global economic trends, geopolitics, technology, sustainability, trade finance and infrastructure on the future of the trade landscape, with recommendations for businesses and governments navigating a more fragmented and fast-moving global economy.
To read the full report by DMCC, please visit: www.futureoftrade.com
About DMCC
DMCC is a leading international business district that drives the flow of global trade through Dubai. We make it easier for our members to do business, helping them access the world's fastest growing markets from a dynamic district that offers everything they need to thrive. This approach is why we are the preferred location for over 26,000 top multinationals and high-impact startups, contributing significantly to Dubai's position as a global hub for trade and innovation. DMCC is where the world does business.
Asia will bear the brunt of the energy crisis unfolding as a result of the war in the Middle East, former IEA chief Nobuo Tanaka warned this week.
Speaking at a hydrogen industry event in Malaysia, Tanaka said, as quoted by the Borneo Times, that “The first oil shock created the IEA in 1973. The second transformed industries and economies. Now we are facing a third oil shock, and Asia is at the centre of it.” The official went on to note that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a nightmare scenario come true, adding that the closure has cost the region 15 million barrels daily in lost output that is simply impossible to replace.
Asia stands to suffer the most due to its heavy dependence on oil and gas produced in the Middle East. As much as 60% of overall Asian crude oil imports come from the region. Last year, this translated into an average daily import rate of 14.74 million barrels, according to figures from Kpler, cited by Reuters in March.
Asia’s top suppliers of crude include Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates. Iraq has been the most severely affected by the closure of Hormuz, with production of crude plunging from over 4 million barrels daily to just 1.4 million barrels daily. In May, the Iraqi oil minister reported that exports in April had fallen to 10 million barrels, down from 93 million barrels before the war between the United States and Israel against Iran began.
According to the IEA’s Tanaka, the way to overcome the crisis is electrification. “Thanks to electric vehicles, solar power, artificial intelligence and data centres, the age of electricity is here,” the official said. “The demand for EVs is rising everywhere. The current crisis may further accelerate electrification because countries want to reduce dependence on imported oil,” Tanaka also noted, pointing to the EU and China as examples of the successful pursuit of energy diversification.
China, however, remains the world’s largest oil importer and a major gas consumer as well as the top coal consumer in the world, while the EU is struggling economically under the weight of exorbitant electricity prices.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Asia-Is-in-the-Eye-of-the-Energy-Crisis.html
Russian Urals crude oil prices have flipped to a discount against dated Brent at Indian and Chinese ports due to a sharp drop in demand from Asian refiners, Reuters reported on June 9.
This downturn is a notable change for Russia’s primary oil grade. Since March, Urals had consistently traded at a premium to Brent in both India and China—its two most critical export markets. This previous price surge was largely driven by conflicts in the Middle East, which disrupted global oil supplies and forced buyers to seek out cheaper alternative crudes.
However, that momentum has cooled. Trade sources told Reuters that Asian refiners are now drawing down their existing inventories, sourcing other alternatives, and in some cases, cutting back their refinery operations entirely.
While India and China generally follow similar market trends, a reduction in buying from Beijing has a wider ripple effect across multiple energy products. Reuters notes that China imports less Urals than India, but it is a major buyer of lighter Russian grades, including ESPO Blend, Arctic, and Sakhalin crude.
According to trade sources, some Chinese buyers have outright refused to take Russian oil cargoes for June delivery. This has left Russian sellers highly vulnerable in price negotiations, as rejected volumes run the risk of being stuck in expensive floating storage, Reuters wrote.
Additionally, small independent Chinese refiners—commonly known as “teapots"—have cut their processing runs due to weakening profit margins, further depressing crude prices across the region.
India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had recently confirmed that its oil procurement from Moscow is driven strictly by “commercial sense” and economic viability, rather than US sanctions or waivers. While New Delhi remains open to buying Russian crude, this strict focus on profitability explains why local refiners are scaling back purchases and demanding deeper discounts the moment Urals loses its financial edge.
By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jun 09, 2026, 6:00 PM CDT
For more than three months, oil market participants have hoped that the Middle East conflict would be resolved any day now, while about 13 million barrels per day (bpd) have been wiped off global supply due to the closed Strait of Hormuz.
The oil futures market has been mostly guided by sentiment and traders’ hopes of an imminent peace deal – as U.S. President Donald Trump has been touting for weeks – with oil prices increasingly disconnected from the reality on the ground, or more precisely, in storage tanks.
Disconnected
The reality is that global oil stocks, including those in the United States, are plummeting as governments draw on strategic reserves to offset part of the massive losses of supply from the Middle East.
Each day that passes without normalized traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is further draining stocks, which top industry officials warn are on track for critically low level within weeks.
Cargoes would still need weeks to reach buyers even if the Strait of Hormuz reopened unconditionally today to free traffic, which isn’t the case with Iran’s demands in the negotiations with the U.S. to have operational control over the Strait. Related: Kuwait Offers First Crude Cargoes to Asia since Iran War Started
Of course, most oil flows could return if tanker owners and operators are willing to risk venturing into and out of the chokepoint, knowing that any peace deal could quickly unravel with one Israeli strike in Lebanon or one “I’ll blow them up” post about Iran by President Trump.
Depleted
Many traders appear unfazed in the face of the 13 million bpd supply loss, as they still hope for a quick resolution to the conflict – for over three months now – and bet on a gusher of oil supply when the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
In reality, even if the Strait reopened today, supply would take weeks and even months to reach customers, leaving a large gap in supply at the start of the peak summer demand season.
So far, the oil market has relied on oil on water, de-sanctioned Russian crude (and for a month even unsanctioned Iranian crude, too), and drawing on stocks to fill the gap. The market has also been lucky that China had amassed an estimated more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil in commercial and strategic reserves before the war, and its imports have collapsed with oil prices at $100 a barrel or more.
These buffers are being exhausted every day that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is nearly halted, and we are approaching the tipping point soon, analysts and industry officials warn.
In the May monthly report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that global oil supply declined by a further 1.8 million bpd in April, taking total losses since February to 12.8 million bpd.
“Mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil inventories at a record pace,” the IEA said, adding that observed global inventories, including oil on water, were drawn down by 250 million barrels over March and April, or by 4 million bpd.
Demand destruction is certainly also keeping prices from spiking to record levels, but this could soon remain the only buffer that could cap price gains.
Inventories are set to reach “rock bottom” within weeks, and the paper market could catch up with the worst supply disruption in history.
In the United States, stocks of crude and petroleum products had plunged to 1.53 billion barrels as of May 29, per EIA data, the lowest level in weekly ending stocks since 2004.
U.S. gasoline inventories are plummeting, and so are inventories at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures.
Many traders choose to ignore warnings from analysts and from the chief executives of both Chevron and Exxon that inventories are so low that oil prices are weeks away from spiking if traffic through Hormuz remains mostly choked.
“We're approaching unheard of inventory levels. I mean, really, really low levels,” Neil Chapman, Exxon’s Senior Vice President, said at the Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference at the end of May.
“I think dated Brent, most people with a model would say dated Brent will shoot up once you get to that really low inventory level, up to $150, $160 — the models would tell you that.”
Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth said on the same conference, “The buffers and the shock absorbers are being steadily drawn down and the ability for the market to absorb this imbalance is drastically diminished today versus where we started and over the next few weeks, we're likely to see those pressures flow through more directly to physical prices, and there's more upward pressure that I would expect as we get into June and certainly into July.”
Unknown
With inventories depleting at a record pace, demand destruction could soon remain the only shock absorber, insufficient to stop an oil price spike within weeks without at least a partially normal resumption of traffic at Hormuz.
The biggest unknowns are whether the U.S. and Iran could achieve a breakthrough in negotiations after months of impasse, and when China will return to the market. Beijing in May started tapping its huge reserves, keeping price gains limited.
The global, including Chinese, stock draws are finite and the futures market could soon start to reflect the true magnitude of the supply loss, against traders’ stubborn hopes of an imminent peace deal.
June 9 (Reuters) – U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil on Tuesday reported $4.67 billion in profit from its Guyana operations in 2025, slightly lower than the previous year when oil prices were weaker.
Exxon leads the consortium that produces all of Guyana’s oil output and currently produces more than 900,000 barrels per day from the country.
Hess, a minority partner in the consortium and now owned by Chevron, earned $2.89 billion in 2025 according to its financial statement, down from $3.15 billion in 2024.
Benchmark Brent oil prices averaged $68.19 per barrel last year, about 15% lower than in 2024.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began in February has since caused Brent futures to rise to the $90 range.
https://brazilenergyinsight.com/2026/06/09/exxon-2025-profit-in-guyana-totaled-4-67-billion/
South Africa’s planned mineral rights database is set to be instituted within the next 10 months, as disclosed by one of the country’s senior officials.
By delaying the adoption of the so-called cadastre, an online registration that shows mining and prospecting rights, the country’s government is taking the risk of pushing away potential investors.
As presently constituted, businesses have been provided with the new method to apply for mining licenses.
“We recognise that we have to move with speed,” Jacob Mbele, Director-General of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, said at a conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The government has “set ourselves a target” to migrate all nine South African provinces into the cadastre by the end of March 2027, he said.
As reported by Bloomberg, the South African officials revealed that, to date, only the Western Cape, the region with the lowest level of mining activity in South Africa, has been integrated into the system.
South Africa remains a primary global producer of gold, iron ore, coal, and platinum-group metals.
While the nation maintains its status as the continent's leading mineral exporter, the mining sectors in Zimbabwe, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are currently experiencing more rapid expansion and a higher volume of transactions.
“Many other countries don’t have the complexity that we have,” Mbele said, highlighting the extent to which the lengthy commercial mining has been taking place in South Africa.
“There’s a lot of data to move from the current system to the cadastre.”
In January 2024, the government picked a group of companies to construct the new system. Exxaro Resources, Gold Fields, and Valterra Platinum are some of the major businesses operating in South Africa.
Adolf Kaure
Luxembourg-domiciled copper development company Koryx Copper has announced in a recent press statement that progress has been made towards the publication of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its wholly owned Haib Copper Project in southern Namibia.
The Haib deposit is a massive, disseminated porphyry copper deposit with associated molybdenum and gold.
Haib is expected to produce a copper and molybdenum concentrate via large scale open-pit mining, with conventional crushing, milling and sulphide flotation as the primary processing methods, and with the potential for additional copper cathode production via oxide heap leaching. Ongoing optimisation of the process flow sheet aims to improve project economics whilst reducing technical risk.
“We are very excited with the progress our in-house study team and specialist engineering, procurement, and construction management consultants are making with the pre-feasibility study for our flagship Haib copper, molybdenum and gold project, which is planned to be published in late 2026,” said Koryx Copper’s president and CEO, Heye Daun. He added that with the expected higher processing grade, increased tonnage and a simplified flow sheet, the company anticipates the potential for a significant improvement in project economics, with the upcoming pre-feasibility study.
“We have also made a lot of progress with further defining the Haib infrastructure plans, especially relating to power, water and tailings storage.
Grid power will come from the nearby Namibian grid, supplemented with hybrid solar and battery storage for reliable, low-carbon energy. Our water strategy involves sourcing from the Orange River and on-site storage to handle seasonal changes. Our Environmental and Social Impact Assessment process is progressing, with all baseline studies finished and an environmental clearance application due mid-year.
Given typical Namibian regulatory practice, environmental approval is targeted for approximately mid-2027,” he added. Material sorting of crusher product (30mm-90mm and 6mm-10mm) was successfully tested on Haib samples from all main pit areas. It should allow rejection of 12 to 20% of the run-of-mine feed, containing six to 12% copper, mainly comprising liberated gangue minerals under 30mm. Additional waste can be rejected by crushing, milling, and flotation of the less than 30 mm mineral-sorting product and fines. Koryx Copper S.A., a Luxembourg-based company, focuses on developing its 100%-owned Haib Copper Project in Namibia and exploring in Zambia.
Haib is a large copper, molybdenum, and gold porphyry deposit in southern Namibia, with a long history of exploration and project development by multiple operators.
https://neweralive.na/progress-in-haib-copper-project-pre-feasibility-study/
Singapore, 10 June 2026 – Trafigura Pte Ltd. (“Trafigura” or the “Company”), a global leader in the commodities industry, has signed a USD350 million loan facility agreement with Develop Global Ltd ("Develop") to support the development of two new mines producing critical industrial and battery metals.
This transaction is another example of a significant financing deal concluded by Trafigura’s market-leading Metals, Minerals and Bulk Commodities division to support the supply of metals and minerals needed to meet growing global demand.
The two projects – Sulphur Springs, a copper-silver-zinc project in Western Australia, and the Pioneer Dome Lithium Project also in Western Australia – will bring essential resources to market upon completion.
Alongside the loan facility, Trafigura and Develop have agreed binding offtake agreements covering 100% of available production from both projects for an agreed period, as well as a warrant package that, if exercised, could provide Develop with an additional USD50 million of funding.
As part of the broader package, Trafigura has also agreed to refinance an existing loan facility on Develop's operational Woodlawn copper-zinc-lead mine. The two companies have additionally agreed to assess future opportunities together to further accelerate Develop's growth strategy.
With financing and offtake agreements now in place, Develop has taken final investment decisions on both projects, accelerating its transition from a single-asset company to a diversified miner. For Trafigura, the deal secures access to critical minerals from a tier-one jurisdiction for supply to customers worldwide.
Trafigura Global Head of Metals and Minerals Gonzalo De Olazaval said: "Two years after backing Develop’s first project Woodlawn, we are delighted to see this relationship reach a new milestone with this USD350 million facility which enables Develop to take Final Investment Decisions on two further critical minerals projects in Australia — a defining moment as they grow from a single producing asset into a miner that will soon have three producing assets across a diversified basket of metals.
This transaction exemplifies what Trafigura does best: working alongside strong management teams and leveraging our financial strength and market expertise to help bring the critical industrial and battery metals the world needs to market."
Develop MD Bill Beament said: "These are pivotal developments which set our company up for rapid growth. They unlock huge value of these two projects, putting us on track to generate significant cashflows from three operations covering copper, zinc, silver and lithium and all in Australia."
The US steel producer Nucor has once again raised its spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled coil by $10 per short tonne compared to the previous week. This is stated in the company’s letter to customers dated 8 June.
The new offer price is therefore $1,115/tonne.
The CSP for the joint venture California Steel Industries (CSI) has also risen by $10 per short tonne to $1,165/tonne.
Delivery times remain unchanged at 3–5 weeks.
Nucor has been raising its spot price for hot-rolled coil on a weekly basis since 27 January.
According to SMU estimates, prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States as of 2 June rose from $1,080 per short tonne to $1,130/t, with the average price standing at $1,105/t.
Meanwhile, Gerdau Long Steel North America is raising prices for beams and other products, reports Kallanish.
The price increase ranges from $40 to $80 per short tonne, with the new offer taking effect for new orders from 8 June. The largest increase – $80/tonne – applies to channels and angles with a diameter of 6 inches and above, as well as to strips with a diameter of 9 inches and above.
Orders confirmed by Friday are protected by the previous price if shipped by 22 June, with the exception of beams, which are subject to a $50/tonne increase. The price for these beams remains unchanged if they are shipped by 27 June.
It should be noted that the global hot-rolled coil market showed mixed trends in April 2026. In the US and China, prices continued to rise due to limited supply and expensive raw materials, whilst in the EU the domestic segment remained under pressure from weak demand against a backdrop of rising import costs.
In the US market in April, the availability of spot volumes from mills was limited, and delivery times for certain grades continued to lengthen.
https://gmk.center/en/news/nucor-has-raised-the-price-of-hot-rolled-coils-to-1-115-per-tonne/amp/
Over the same period, the country increased its iron ore imports by 6.3% y/y
Exports of rolled steel from China in January–May 2026 fell by 8.1% year-on-year – to 44.6 million tonnes. The decline was expected following the introduction of export licences in January 2026, which had a negative impact on steel shipments abroad. This was reported by SteelOrbis, citing data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
At the same time, Chinese rolled steel exports in May increased by 8.9% compared to April, to 10.3 million tonnes. The absence of Iranian steel on export markets has supported Chinese rolled steel shipments abroad over the past three months.
Imports of rolled steel into China in January–May fell by 12.2% year-on-year – to 2.3 million tonnes; in May, this figure decreased by 3% compared to April, to 451,000 tonnes
Over the five-month period, iron ore imports to China rose by 6.3% year-on-year – to 516.3 million tonnes. However, in May this figure fell by 5.9% compared with April, to 97.7 million tonnes.
Demand for steel from the property market remained weak, but demand from the infrastructure and processing sectors was stable, which supported steel production and had a positive impact on iron ore imports.
As reported by GMK Center, China increased its steel exports by 7.5% year-on-year in 2025, reaching a record 119 million tonnes. Steel imports into the country in January–December 2025 amounted to 6.06 million tonnes, down 11.1% year-on-year. Last year, China also increased its iron ore imports by 1.8% year-on-year, to 1.26 billion tonnes.
https://gmk.center/en/news/china-s-rolled-steel-exports-fell-by-8-1-y-y-a-five-month-period/