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Iron ore prices shift structurally higher on Vale woes

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Iron ore prices shift structurally higher on Vale woes

Iron ore prices in China reached a record high on Tuesday as market participants wrestled two dilemmas, namely the likely temporary weather-related disruptions from Australia and the rather more serious safety outages in Brazil.

A major tropical cyclone hitting the main producing and shipping areas in the world’s largest iron ore miner was always likely to boost prices, and indeed, markets largely responded as expected.

Iron ore exports from Brazil dropped to 23.3 million tonnes in March, according to Refinitiv, which was the lowest since the data started to be compiled in January 2015

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 4.2 percent on Tuesday to reach 665.5 yuan ($99) a tonne, the most since the contract starting trading in 2013.

Spot 62-percent iron ore for delivery to China, as assessed by Argus Media, was at $88.50 a tonne on Monday, close to the two-year peak of $90.75 reached on Feb. 11, shortly after the fatal tailings dam collapse at a mine operated by Brazil’s Vale SA.

Tropical Cyclone Veronica will knock about 6 million to 8 million tonnes out of BHP Group’s production in Western Australia state, the world’s third-largest iron ore miner said on Tuesday.

This represents about 2.8 percent of the company’s 2018 production, and it was a similar story at Rio Tinto, with Australia’s top iron ore producer saying it expected to lose about 14 million tonnes of output, or about 4 percent of its 2018 total.

The impact of the storm could be seen in Australia’s iron ore shipments in March, which dropped to a three-year low of 57.5 million tonnes, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Refinitiv. February exports were 68 million tonnes.

The loss of these exports came just at a time when the market was having to reassess the longer-term impact of Vale’s safety issues.

The Brazilian producer on Monday said it failed to obtain stability certificates for 13 dams under review following the rupture of another dam in January that killed hundreds.

The latest safety concerns came after the world’s largest iron ore miner said last week it expects to sell 75 million tonnes less than planned this year following the dam burst and heightened security concerns over its tailing ponds.

Iron ore exports from Brazil dropped to 23.3 million tonnes in March, according to Refinitiv, which was the lowest since the data started to be compiled in January 2015.

While it’s possible that Australia’s major producers could ramp up production over the rest of 2019 and recover some of the lost tonnes, the reality facing iron ore consumers is that the market is going to be tighter than they expected, and probably for longer than they expected.

Structural shift?

Weather-related disruptions may cause a short price spike, but the safety issues for Vale have morphed from being a temporary concern into something that appears almost structural.

An iron ore mining executive, speaking under Chatham House rules at the Mines and Money Asia conference on Tuesday, said the entire nature of Vale as a business looks to be changing.

“It will become effectively an entity controlled by the state that uses the cash generated to fund claims against it,” the executive said.

That may perhaps be an overly harsh assessment, but the deeper point is that Vale’s safety issues and its role in the community are likely to become much more of a focus for the Brazilian miner.

The best hope for additional iron ore supply for China lies in the still high inventories at ports, with 147.6 million tonnes reported as of the end of last week

This means the supply gap in iron ore will have to be met by other producers, but it may be the case that this can’t be ramped up quickly.

South Africa, the world’s third-largest supplier to the seaborne iron ore market, boosted exports in March to 5.2 million tonnes from 4.9 million in February and 5 million in January, but this is a relative spit in the bucket.

India’s exports also almost doubled in March, but only to 1.3 million tonnes, while Iran is still a marginal player in the seaborne market.

The best hope for additional iron ore supply for China lies in the still high inventories at ports, with 147.6 million tonnes reported as of the end of last week.

Running down the inventories may help steel mills source supplies, but it will do little to alleviate price pressures.

Iron ore has swung from being a demand-driven market to a supply-driven one, and until Vale gets fully back on its feet, it may remain as such._Reuters

Total launches full-field production on Angola ’ s Kaombo

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Total launches full-field production on Angola ’ s Kaombo

French oil major Total said it started up production on the Kaombo Sul project located off the coast of Angola, in
a deal that should lift Total’s general production capacities.

Kaombo Sul will add 115,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and bring the overall production capacity to 230,000 bopd, equivalent to 15 percent of the country’s production, Total said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Its start-up will contribute to the Group’s cash flow and production growth in 2019 and beyond,” said Arnaud Breuillac, President of Exploration & Production at Total, as he commented on the Kaombo Sul project._African Mining Market

ZASMF LAUNCH postponed again

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The official launch of the Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small Scale Miners Federation (ZASMF) which was supposed to be held on Thursday, postponed to a later date, this is according to a statement released by the acting ZASMF body.

“There has been a new development on Thursday’s program. Due to circumstances beyond our control we have been asked to move the dates for our launch to a later date. This is due to the nature of the busy schedule of our guest of Honor who would want to be with us on the day of the launch, as they have a busy schedule but have expressed interest in being present on this big day.

We will advise of the new dates in due course. Any inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted” reads the statement.

Gold hits 3-week low as easing growth woes lift equities

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Gold hits 3-week low as easing growth woes lift equities

Gold prices slipped to a more than three-week low on Tuesday as waning global economic slowdown concerns dented the precious metal’s safe-haven appeal and lifted equities to multi-month highs.

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,286.82 per ounce by 0524 GMT, having touched its lowest since March 7 at $1,284.76 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures fell about 0.3 percent to $1,291.

“Concerns we saw emerge in the past few weeks around economic growth has certainly eased and that shift (in sentiment) in the past day or two resulted in little bit of selling in gold market,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.

“Most of the global growth is coming from China and the (Chinese) data over the weekend eased those concerns.”

Strong manufacturing data from the United States and China triggered a massive sell-off in the U.S. bond market on Monday, which in-turn lifted Asian equities to seven-month highs.

Following upbeat factory activity data from China released on Sunday, a private business survey on Monday showed that the manufacturing sector unexpectedly returned to growth for the first time in four months in March.

This was followed by a better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing report which showed that activity rebounded a bit more than expected in March.

Market participants are now looking ahead to the U.S. non-farm payroll data, due this Friday, for more details on the economy’s performance.

Investors are also keeping a close watch on the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, set to resume later this week in Washington with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He.

Strong payroll data tends to boost the dollar, while any positive developments from the trade talks would further increase investors’ appetite for riskier assets, both negative for gold.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against key rivals, was trading close to a three-week high posted on Monday. A stronger dollar makes gold expensive for holders of other currencies.

Indicating investor sentiment for bullion, holdings in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 1.5 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day percentage decline in a month.

On the technical front, $1,275 to $1,280 an ounce level remains the key longer-term support for gold, according to an OANDA note.

Among other precious metals, spot palladium was down 0.4 percent at $1,414.11 an ounce, after rising the most since late February in the previous session.

Silver slipped 0.3 percent to $15.06 an ounce, while platinum gained 0.2 percent to $849.47 an ounce._Reuters

Gvt to coup unexploited mining claims

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Gvt to coup unexploited mining claims

GOVERNMENT has indicated plans to reclaim all mining concessions that have been lying idle amid reports that there are four platinum concessions which have not been exploited since 1970s.

Speaking during the handover ceremony of a refurbished theatre and laundry unit by Mimosa Mine at Masvingo General Hospital yesterday, Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando, said there were four platinum concessions which were lying idle across the country with some of them found in Masvingo province.

He said the owners of these concessions have up to end of this month to develop them or lose them to Government.

The Minister said the State was empowered to revoke the licences of such concessions at law.

“What Mimosa has done for this hospital is commendable. I challenge its managing director, Mr Fungai Makoni, to consider developing another concession in Masvingo. We have four concessions for platinum lying idle with some undeveloped since 1970,” said Minister Chitando.

However, the former Mimosa Mine managing director was reluctant to name the mining companies with undeveloped concessions. He said the Mines and Minerals Act demands that all concessions be paid for every year and that operations were expected to commence within a stipulated period after licensing.

“Mimosa Mine holds six percent of platinum reserves only but is doing a great job. Other mines have reserves lying idle but they are not operational. We have given these companies up to 30 April to bring comprehensive plans over these concessions.

“We use the ‘use it or lose it’ concept and we are going to revoke their licences through making use of the Mines and Mining Minerals Act,” he said.

Minister Chitando said by 2023 all the four unused mining concessions should be operational as the Government needs employment and economic development.

He said his ministry will be busy working on the matter for economic benefit in line with President Mnangagwa’s drive towards a vision of attaining middle income status by 2030.

Government has said the mining industry should be able to contribute up to US$12 billion by 2030.

Meanwhile, Minister Chitando presided over the handover of food stuffs and blankets towards Cyclone Idai victims in Bikita, Zaka, Gutu, Chiredzi and Masvingo where five people have died and more than 6 000 had their homes damaged.

Speaking at the same occasion, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Ezra Chadzamira, hailed Mimosa Mine for the gesture. 

“We want to thank Mimosa Mine for adding value to our vision to have corporates supporting Government entities. I, therefore, challenge other companies in Masvingo to emulate Mimosa who despite being in Zvishavane, have refurbished a laundry unit and theatre,” he said._The Chronicle

Courts declares the elections which brought Rushwaya to helm invalid

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Courts declares the elections which brought Rushwaya to helm invalid

Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya has lost the presidency of the association after the High Court declared the results and proceedings of the elections which brought her to the helm of the small-scale miners’ body invalid.

The court ruling handed down on March 26, 2019 came just as the ZMF announced a decision to change its name to the Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners’ Federation (ZASMF).

Ms Rushwaya was elected ZMF president in June last year but a group of small-scale miners under the Zvishavane-Mberengwa Miners’ Association (ZMMA) challenged her election at the High Court.

The miners accused Ms Rushwaya of using unorthodox means to takeover the leadership of ZMF.

They filed an application at the High Court seeking an order to block the holding of the elections and to have them indefinitely rescheduled arguing that Ms Rushwaya wanted to usurp ZMF leadership through unconstitutional means.

High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi granted a provisional order suspending the holding of elections on June 14, 2018 but the federation went ahead with the elections which were won by Ms Rushwaya.

 The old ZMF executive led by Mr Ishmael Kaguru boycotted the elections.

In her ruling last week, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice  Nokuthula Moyo said:“The court, being a court of law, cannot embrace a willy-nilly departure from one’s constitutional dictates. Not only is adherence to one’s constitution good for law and order, but it is also a good corporate governance principle. The reason why there is a constitution in the first place is so that the association or organisation operates within the confines of good order to avoid chaos.”

She said the court could not encourage organisations to breach their own constitutions and do as they please.

“That is unlawful and this court cannot lend a hand to allow an unlawfulness to prevail. Respondent is bound by the provisions of the constitution and if intended to defend this application, it should have done so within the confines of its own constitution.It is for these reasons that I hold that the notice of opposition and the opposing affidavit are not properly before the court, as they have been brought through the back door and not in accordance with respondent’s own constitutional provisions. As a result, I will proceed to confirm the provisional order, which in my view stands unopposed . . . The provisional order granted by this court on June 14 2018, be and is hereby confirmed,” said Justice Moyo.

In an interview, ZMF general council member Mr Helem Mhlanga said following the final court order, they held their general council meeting in Gweru last Thursday .

 “The High Court has directed that the old executive led by Mr Kaguru should take over the leadership of ZMF and lead the organisation to election. 

“The second recommendation was to constitute a board as directed by the court, the board that would investigate the allegations levelled against (Ms) Rushwaya, the board will also assist vetting of candidates to participate in the ZMF next election,” he said._The Chronicle

Licences for 12 independent power producers

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Licences for 12 independent power producers

THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) expects to licence about 12 more independent power producers (IPPs) this year, a development which, if implemented, could see the country’s power deficit gap slashed significantly.

Zera acting chief executive officer Eddington Mazambani told NewsDay that the authority was working on reducing the country’s power deficit.

“Eleven independent power producers were licensed in 2018 and about 12 IPPs are expected to be licenced in 2019,” he said.

Over the last five years, Zimbabwe’s energy regulator has licensed more than 30 IPPs, but only eight of those have taken off and were currently operational.

Authorities in the southern African nation liberalised the country’s energy sector in a bid to promote participation of private capital, but with little foreign capital flowing into Harare because of its status as a high-risk investment destination, most of the projects have suffered a stillbirth.

Some of the IPPs which have managed to take off include Duru mini hydro (2,20MW), Green Fuel (18,30MW), Nyamhingura Mini Hydro (1,10MW), Hippo Valley Estates (33MW), Triangle Estates (45MW), Pungwe Power Station (19MW).

Most of the IPPs are situated in the eastern border province whose mountainous terrain has proved to be conducive for mini-hydro power plants.

According to Zera, IPPs contribute 137,08 gigawatt hours to the national grid.

Mazambani said the country’s generation capacity was constrained due to low water levels at Kariba Dam, but it is hoped the levels would rise by June and July.

“Improved generation capacity is expected at Hwange Power Station as on-going maintenance works will be completed,” he said.

As of yesterday, Zimbabwe was producing an average of 1 120 megawatts (MW) of electricity against the national demand of 2 400MW.

Kariba was producing 711MW, Hwange (375MW), Harare (15MW), Munyati (10MW) and Bulawayo 9MW.

In a bid to reduce the country’s power import bill, government has been working on new power generation projects that ultimately intend to make the country a net power exporter.

In a statement recently, the Zimbabwe Power Company indicated it had been issued a generation license for Munyati Solar Power plant by Zera.

“While we concentrate on new projects, we also look for innovative avenues to continuously improve and prolong the life (span) of our existing plants,” the company said._NewsDay

Measures to prevent predatory chrome pricing

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Measures to prevent predatory chrome pricing

Local chrome miners have castigated the dominance by predatory buyers who have formed domestic cartels which purchase chrome at an average price valued at 15% of export sales prices, thus they proposed measures necessary to prevent predatory buying of chrome by these unscrupulous individuals and organizations.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

According to chrome producers draft policy, the government need to enforce world market trading based pricing both for export and domestic pricing and publish the prices daily as this will disrupt the predatory buying which is taking place inhibited on the domestic market.

Chrome miners believe that, monitoring prices, if established will counter predatory pricing for exports and a basing calculation if it’s created will prevent contracts with pricing being below market trading rates, thus the lowest acceptable contract export price would be viable for the miner.

The chrome producers draft policy also pointed out that, in order to promote both chrome mining production as well as beneficiation via smelters, the Domestic base price should be calculated also as per international standards as follows:

(CIF China – Discounted 25%) subtract (Cost per Km per tonne @ 0.25) subtract (Logistic & Loading $6)

For example CIF China $220; distance 100km to smelter: ($220 * 0.75) = $165; $165 – (0.25 * 100) – ($6) = $134 ,USD price paid to chrome producers domestically. This will enable chrome producers to become fully mechanized and boost production. This will become imperative in the next three years as surface chrome will be depleted and operations will require underground exploitation below 20 meters in depth.

According to the draft, the current low predatory domestic market prices offered, leaves Zimbabwean chrome producer’s growth vulnerable with the limited opportunity to grow primarily dependent on foreign direct investment at the expense of the indigenous investor/producer.

The newly revised pricing model when implemented will further increase employment via associated chrome services in transportation, weighbridge management and charges, services, parts among others.

In order to increase export and domestic transaction efficiency, the graft sets that, allowing banks to process export and transaction sales documents on behalf of the chrome miners, will allow for sales contract based financing driven by off take agreements.

Banks will then be able to finance mineral resource studies which will enable life of mine valuations, further empowering miners to reinvest and vastly grow production output while maintaining their operational ownership and control.

This will enable the Regulatory Authority MMCZ to follow up on transactions processed. Environmental, Safety, Research and Technical Support: There is need for programs specifically designed to support chrome miners as they prepare to mine below 20 meters in depth.

This will ensure greater efficiencies are realized, sustainable mining, and high production volumes. Majority of mines have significant chrome resource within the mines which due to high expenses and limited technical expertise are not being fully accessed. A strong government led initiative will ensure these experts are available to miners at a reasonable cost.

ZASMF official launch  rescheduled to Thursday

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ZASMF official launch  rescheduled to Thursday

Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small Scale Miners Federation (ZASMF) wishes to inform all invited members that the official launch of the organization is rescheduled to Thursday the 4th of April 2019.

The event which was supposed to take place on Wednesday the 3rd of April will be held at King Solomon’s Mines Hotel in Kwekwe the day after on 1000hrs.

The Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners’ Federation is a body that was formed after the disbandment of Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) which represented small scale miners that where registered and reconciled by the ministry of mines.

This new body however will represent both registered and unregistered miners after they discover that both were significant in the high delivery of gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.

The official launch is therefore held in order to create a road map on how small scale and artisanal miners will be accommodated by the new body.

 

For information contact 0778 992 384,  0772 722 031,  0772 986 436

 

Predatory buyers dominate chrome market

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Predatory buyers dominate chrome market

ZIMBABWE’S chrome market is dominated by predatory buyers who have formed domestic cartels which purchase chrome at an average price valued at 15% of export sales prices.

According to a chrome producers draft policy, there are great inefficiencies within both the export and domestic chrome ore supply processes.

“Chrome ore producers face major growth challenges became there is a limited access to international export market which reduces the opportunities for chrome producers to earn much-needed foreign currency to help resuscitate operations,” reads the draft policy in part.

“In addition, the domestic chrome market is dominated by predatory buyers who have formed domestic cartels which purchase chrome at an average price which is valued at 15% of export sales prices.”

The document notes that the cartels supply both the domestic smelters as well as the export communities, thereby reducing the incentive for international buyers to purchase chrome at the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ)’s market-based prices since they use their local operations which remain largely unregulated to buy at heavily discounted prices, consolidate the material and then export via MMCZ or export licenses.

The draft policy also notes that the domestic chrome market was still unregulated, a situation which prevents a large number of local chrome ore producers from sustainable growth.

“In fact, chrome ore production is now declining due to the low prices being paid by our local smelters and local internationally-based buyers to chrome producers,” it reads.

“As a result, Zimbabwe, as a nation, is losing significant foreign currency and tax revenues while at the same time opportunities to re-invest into production growth and efficiencies are being lost,” reads the policy.

In regards to logistics, the draft policy notes that there was need for mobile weighbridges as well as further road and bridge development within the key chrome-mining areas.

“This will help to reduce transport costs as well as ensure the correct tonnages are being transported, which in turn will prevent chrome producers from being underpaid.”

Currently, there is no chrome policy in Zimbabwe which targets both the growth of chrome producers as well as chrome processors who beneficiate chrome ore into concentrates or ferrochrome.

The policy, currently under draft, is being designed to facilitate growth while ensuring the nation benefits from the revenue generated during the production and beneficiation processes._NewsDay

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