Generic Hero BannerGeneric Hero Banner
Latest market news

Coronavirus threatens cobalt supply in the DRC

  • Market: Metals
  • 23/03/20

A coronavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could threaten global cobalt supply as the government identifies cases in the southern mining region.

Authorities in the DRC today put the province of Haut-Katanga in the south of the country under a temporary lockdown because of a potential coronavirus outbreak. Lubumbashi, the DRC's second largest city and a cobalt transport hub, is now on lockdown. Cobalt mining firm Chemaf, which is located in the province, is complying with the order, according to multiple sources.

Two people tested positive following a flight from Kinchasa that contained over 70 people.

The neighbouring province of Lualaba is home to mines belonging to trading firm Glencore, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) and diversified metals producer China Molybdenum, and provides the bulk of the DRC's cobalt. Most concessions are located around the city of Kolwezi.

The lockdown of Haut-Katanga and in particular Lubumbashi will make it difficult to move material through regular trade routes during the next 48 hours. It is unclear whether the lockdown will continue for longer.

The prospect of a wider outbreak in the DRC was described as "terrifying" by one cobalt buyer in Europe familiar with the region. It added that given the level of development in the country, "some seriously bad things could happen" if an outbreak were to occur in a similar way to Italy. Traders in Europe became increasingly reluctant to sell cobalt metal today as news of the lockdown spread, aware that prices could rise sharply if supply from the DRC is cut off.

Glencore confirmed that none of its operations have been closed, and so far China Molybdenum and ERG have not announced any shutdowns. One producer in the Kolwezi area said "all the evidence from other outbreaks points to the situation getting worse before it gets better."

Elsewhere in the cobalt supply chain, ports in South Africa are being subjected to tighter restrictions

Argus last assessed cobalt hydroxide prices at $9.80-10.60/lb cif China on 17 March, down from $10-11.20/lb cif China at the beginning of March.


Sharelinkedin-sharetwitter-sharefacebook-shareemail-share

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

News
30/01/25

US growth slowed to 2.3pc in 4Q

US growth slowed to 2.3pc in 4Q

Houston, 30 January (Argus) — US economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as falling private investment and exports offset gains in consumer spending. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to a 2.3pc annual pace in the fourth quarter, down from 3.1pc in the third quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Consumer spending in the fourth quarter rose to a 4.2pc annual pace, up from 3.7pc in the prior quarter and the highest rate since the first quarter of 2023. Spending on goods rose by 6.6pc from a year earlier and spending on services rose by 3.1pc. Private investment fell by 5.6pc following an annual gain of 0.8pc in the third quarter. Residential investment rose at a 5.3pc annual pace after a 4.3pc drop in the prior quarter. Spending on equipment fell by 7.8pc after gaining 11pc in the prior quarter. Government spending and investment slowed to a 2.5pc annual gain from 5.1pc in the prior quarter. Defense spending rose by 3.3pc after climbing at a 13pc pace in the third quarter. Net exports in the fourth quarter fell by 0.8pc from a year earlier after a gain of 9.6pc in the prior quarter. Net imports fell on the year by 0.8pc. US economic growth for full-year 2024 slowed to 2.8pc from 2.9pc in 2023. GDP in 2022 rose by 2.5pc. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Find out more
News

Open interest hits record high on CME EU HRC contract


30/01/25
News
30/01/25

Open interest hits record high on CME EU HRC contract

London, 30 January (Argus) — Open interest reached a record on the CME Group's north European hot-rolled coil contract yesterday. The equivalent of just over 250,000t, 12,503 lots, was outstanding yesterday, according to exchange data. The forward curve has been quite flat of late, after a sustained period in contango, but is starting to firm on the expectation of reduced import penetration. The European Commission is currently conducting a review of its safeguard measures and Eurofer has requested a 50pc cut to flat steel quotas , as well as a melt-and-pour clause on Chinese product. Two February-March strips traded in the brokered market at €615-635/t today, while a 2,000t April trade concluded at €640/t, up €7/t from the last trade yesterday. February traded at €615/t on screen today, March at €635/t, April at 640/t and June at €650/t on screen. Traded volume on the CME contract has increased by over 76pc this month compared with December, with over 125,000t trading as of today, also up from 105,380t in January 2024. The latest US CFTC Commitment of Traders report showed short positions from producers, merchants, processors and users increasing by 519 lots in the week to 21 January, while the long positions of managed money — funds on the other side of the trade — rose by 560 lots. Short positions are bets the settlement price, determined by the monthly average of Argus ' daily north EU HRC index, will fall, while long positions are taken in expectation of increases. A lot of the short interest is driven by traders and others hedging their inventories, while a good chunk of volume is also driven by participants in the wind turbine supply chain hedging plate exposure. By Colin Richardson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Australia’s MinRes on iron ore plan post-storm


30/01/25
News
30/01/25

Australia’s MinRes on iron ore plan post-storm

Sydney, 30 January (Argus) — Australian metal producer Mineral Resources (MinRes) increased its iron ore shipments in October-December and is maintaining its guidance for the 2025 financial year to June 30, despite Cyclone Sean disrupting operations in December. MinRes shipped 5.2mn wet metric tonnes (wmt) of iron out of its three Western Australian (WA) iron mines in October-December, up 8pc from a year ago, making it on course to meet its 2025 target of 21.5mn-24.7mn wmt . The company has moved just 9.7mn wmt since the start of the financial year, but plans to meet its target by rapidly ramping up production at its 35mn t/yr Onslow iron mine over the next few months. MinRes expects Onslow to hit a production rate of 19.2mn wmt/yr in January, up from a rate of 17.6mn wmt in the October-December quarter. The mine will also receive a new transhipper in February, improving MinRes' ability to move iron ore from the site to major export hubs. Costs at two of MinRes' iron ore mine complexes — Onslow and the 8mn t/yr Yilgarn Hub — were above guidance in October-December. Yilgarn Hub's operating cost over June-December hovered $18/wmt over MinRes' upper guidance of $110/wmt, while Onslow's cost stood $9/wmt over the company's upper guidance of $68/wmt over the same period. MinRes expects these to fall over coming months, with Yilgarn Hub moving into care and maintenance , and commissioning works being completed at Onslow. But recent weather issues could get in the way. Cyclone Sean 11U started swerving around off the coast of WA on 18 January , flooding ports and coastal roads over the following two days. The cyclone disrupted operations around Onslow for eight days, which is longer than the four days the company generally plans for, raising the prospect of unexpected costs and delays. MinRes also needs to fix parts of its private, 150km Onslow haulage road. Water spilled out of floodways and crossed the sealed road as Cyclone Sean passed by the region, damaging the route that links Onslow mine to the Port of Ashburton. Cyclone Sean disrupted other WA shipping operations in January. The cyclone flooded one of Rio Tinto's railcar dumpers at Port Dampier on 20 January, taking it off line for three to four weeks. Early shipping records indicate Rio Tinto's iron ore shipments out of WA plummeted to 3.05mn dwt over the week to 25 January, less than half its 12-month weekly average. The Argus iron ore fines 58pc Fe cfr Qingdao price was relatively stable in the October-December quarter, moving between $98/t and $87/t over those three months. By Avinash Govind Mineral Resources iron production mn t Oct-Dec '24 Jul-Sep '24 Oct-Dec '23 Jul-Dec '24 Jul-Dec '23 Yilgarn Hub 1.1 1.3 2.1 2.3 3.8 Onslow 4.4 1.9 0.0 4.6 0.0 Pilbara Hub 2.4 2.4 2.7 4.9 5.0 Total (100% basis) 7.9 5.6 4.8 11.8 8.8 Total (MinRes Share) 5.2 4.5 4.8 9.7 8.7 Mineral Resources (MinRes) Argus Iron Prices $/t Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

US Fed pauses, awaits Trump policy fallout: Update


29/01/25
News
29/01/25

US Fed pauses, awaits Trump policy fallout: Update

Adds Powell comments. Houston, 29 January (Argus) — The US Federal Reserve today paused in its course of rate cuts begun last year while signaling it would wait to see the impacts of President Donald Trump's new policies — ranging from tariffs to expulsions of foreign farm workers — on the labor market and inflation before considering any changes to its "policy stance." In its first meeting of 2025, the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held its federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.50pc after cutting it by a quarter point each in December and November last year following a half-point cut in mid-September, the first cut since 2020. "In the current situation, there is probably some elevated uncertainty because of, you know, significant policy shifts in those four areas that I mentioned: tariffs, immigration, fiscal policy and regulatory policy," Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters. "The committee is very much in the mode of waiting to see what policies are enacted," Powell said. "We need to let those policies be articulated before we can even begin to make a plausible assessment of what their implications for the economy will be." "The economy is strong, the labor market is solid and the downside risks to the labor market we think has abated and continues on a sometimes slow and bumpy path," Powell said. "The broad sense of the Committee is we don't need to be in a hurry to adjust the policy stance." In December, the Fed penciled in 50 basis points worth of cuts for 2025, down from 100 basis points projected in the September median economic projections of Fed board members and Fed bank presidents. Fed fund futures have also indicated a likelihood of only 50 basis points of rate cuts this year on strong job growth and an uptick in inflation at the end of last year, along with concerns over Trump's plans to hike tariffs, expel illegal immigrants — many of whom work in agriculture, construction and services industries — and cut taxes. Those are all measures economists say are likely to unleash inflation and boost interest rates. Powell said Fed policymakers had heard that "businesses that are dependent on immigrant labor are saying that it is suddenly getting harder to get people," but that it had not showed up yet in aggregate labor data. Trump during his first term was openly critical of the Fed, which is independent of the executive branch, saying he wants a "say" in making monetary policy. "With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately, and likewise they should be dropping all over the world," Trump told the World Economic Forum last week in Davos, Switzerland. Asked if the Fed would continue to act independently of the executive branch, Powell replied: "This is who we are, this is what we do. We study the data, we analyze how it will affect the outlook, and the balance of risks, and we use our tools." The consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to an annual 2.9pc in December, a third month of gains from 2.4pc in September, which was the lowest since early 2021 before the economic reopening after Covid-19 lockdowns caused a supply-chain shock that sent CPI as high as 9.1pc in June 2022. The Fed, slow to react, began a series of rate hikes in March 2022 that took the target rate from near zero to more than five percentage points higher by July 2023, keeping it at 5.25-5.5pc through August 2024. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

US Fed holds rate flat, signals vigilance on inflation


29/01/25
News
29/01/25

US Fed holds rate flat, signals vigilance on inflation

Houston, 29 January (Argus) — The US Federal Reserve held its target interest rate unchanged today, pausing its cycle of rate cuts begun last year while signaling it would be on guard against any outbreak of renewed inflationary pressures as policies enacted by President Donald Trump — ranging from tariffs to expulsions of foreign farm workers — are widely expected to spur inflation. In its first meeting of 2025, the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held its federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.50pc after cutting it by a quarter point each in December and November last year following a half-point cut in mid-September, the first cut since 2020. "The unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months, and labor market conditions remain solid," The FOMC said in its statement. "Inflation remains somewhat elevated." "In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook," it said, repeating stock language from prior statements. "The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge" that could impede attainment of achieving the goal of 2pc annual inflation and low unemployment. In December, the Fed penciled in 50 basis points worth of cuts for 2025, down from 100 basis points projected in the September median economic projections of Fed board members and Fed bank presidents. But Fed fund futures have since indicated the likelihood of only 50 basis points of rate cuts this year on strong job growth and an uptick in inflation at the end of last year, along with Trump's plans to hike tariffs, expel illegal immigrants — many of whom work in agriculture, construction and services industries — and cut taxes. Those are all measures economists say are likely to unleash inflation and boost interest rates. Trump during his first term was openly critical of the Fed chief Jerome Powell and has made remarks signaling he wants a "say" in making monetary policy. "With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately, and likewise they should be dropping all over the world," Trump told the World Economic Forum last week in Davos, Switzerland. The consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to an annual 2.9pc in December, a third month of gains from 2.4pc in September, which was the lowest since early 2021 before the economic reopening after Covid-19 lockdowns caused a supply-chain shock that sent CPI as high as 9.1pc in June 2022. The Fed, slow to react, began a series of rate hikes in March 2022 that took the target rate from near zero to more than five percentage points higher by July 2023, keeping it at 5.25-5.5pc through August 2024. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Generic Hero Banner

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more