Copper and most other metals rose as optimism around Washington’s diplomatic push to end the war in the Middle East boosted risk appetite. The industrial metal climbed as much as 2% on the London Metal Exchange after President Donald Trump said Iran had offered a “present” as a show of good faith in negotiations to end the conflict. However, Washington is moving more troops to the region, while Ax...
Copper and most other metals rose as optimism around Washington’s diplomatic push to end the war in the Middle East boosted risk appetite. The industrial metal climbed as much as 2% on the London Metal Exchange after President Donald Trump said Iran had offered a “present” as a show of good faith in negotiations to end the conflict. However, Washington is moving more troops to the region, while Axios reported that the US and a group of regional mediators were still waiting for a response from Iran. Trump’s comments were enough to push metals higher though, arresting a slide that’s been driven by worries the war will boost inflation and slow global economic growth. Copper is up around 3% so far this week after falling about 11% over the previous three weeks. “The progress of the war is very hard to gauge, and the news is mixed,” said Li Xuezhi, head of research at Chaos Ternary Futures . “As long as the war does not stop, the risk of a pullback in base metal prices remains. We are relatively cautious and choose to stay on the sidelines for now.” Aluminum was the only metal that fell on the LME on Wednesday. The Middle East accounts for about 9% of production capacity for the lightweight metal, and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has constrained shipments. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its second-quarter price forecast to $3,200 a ton from $3,100, saying in a note that supply disruptions would be partially offset by weaker global demand. Copper rose 1.2% to $12,246 a ton on the LME as of 11:03 a.m. in Shanghai. Zinc climbed 0.7%, while aluminum fell 0.6% to $3,242.50. Iron ore dropped 2.4% to $105.05 a ton in Singapore.
Grammy winner seeks more than $20m in damages over mistranslation of The Lion King chant A Grammy-winning South African composer who wrote and performed the opening chant in Circle of Life for Disney’s The Lion King is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his standup routine. Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses...
Grammy winner seeks more than $20m in damages over mistranslation of The Lion King chant A Grammy-winning South African composer who wrote and performed the opening chant in Circle of Life for Disney’s The Lion King is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his standup routine. Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses the Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mistranslating the chant, which launches the 1994 movie and is central to staged versions as well as Disney’s 2019 remake. Continue reading...
Fortescue Ltd .’s Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest said China’s state-backed iron buyer should stop using tactics aimed at negotiating lower prices for the key steel ingredient. Speaking Wednesday on Bloomberg Television from the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan, the miner’s billionaire founder said China Mineral Resources Group Co. was trying to “create a cartel” and cautioned it shouldn’t “poke a ...
Fortescue Ltd .’s Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest said China’s state-backed iron buyer should stop using tactics aimed at negotiating lower prices for the key steel ingredient. Speaking Wednesday on Bloomberg Television from the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan, the miner’s billionaire founder said China Mineral Resources Group Co. was trying to “create a cartel” and cautioned it shouldn’t “poke a bear,” referring to Australia’s economy. CMRG has disrupted the global iron ore market by acting on behalf of steel mills to negotiate prices with the world’s top miners, including Fortescue and larger Australian peers Rio Tinto Group and BHP Group . Its negotiations with BHP, in particular, have soured, leading to a ban on some iron ore products from the group. “I’d say to the CMRG, step away from that gun fight, it isn’t one worth having,” Forrest said. “Forming a cartel to force down the iron ore price will impact an economy completely. When you threaten someone who has nothing to lose, you can get any kind of response, and all I’m saying is the iron ore price is critical to Australia’s economy.” Forrest said Beijing should instead focus on working with miners to buy more equipment from China and secure finance from mainland banks, an effort underscored earlier in the week by Fortescue’s chief executive officer at another major Chinese policy forum. “Go for the big dividends, which is getting the renminbi accepted as a global currency, getting trade, and getting demand for your huge manufacturing and industrial base,” Forrest said. Fortescue has already secured a $14.2 billion yuan ($2 billion) loan from major Chinese lenders, and ordered a fleet of electric machinery from China to deploy across its mines. The company shipped over 100 million tons of iron ore, mainly to China, in its first half that ended in December.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank aims to help the region accelerate adoption of cleaner power as nations respond to energy shocks from the Iran war by seeking greater self-sufficiency. “We will do whatever we can to speed up the transition towards climate resilient infrastructure,” said Murtaza Syed , head of ecosystem at the economics department at AIIB. “It is one of our priorities, but ...
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank aims to help the region accelerate adoption of cleaner power as nations respond to energy shocks from the Iran war by seeking greater self-sufficiency. “We will do whatever we can to speed up the transition towards climate resilient infrastructure,” said Murtaza Syed , head of ecosystem at the economics department at AIIB. “It is one of our priorities, but I foresee that once the conflict is over, there will probably be an even bigger push in that direction.” Advocates of climate action see potential for a medium-and long-term boosts to renewable energy as nations aim to bolster supply security by lowering reliance on imports of fossil fuels. That’s even as many economies, particularly across Asia, switch back to coal in the short-term to shore up power grids. The China-based lender, with almost $67 billion in assets , has held talks in recent weeks with officials from nations including Indonesia, India and Singapore to discuss cooperation on issues including financing of energy transition and climate resilience projects. Asia remains far more reliant on fossil fuels for electricity generation than Europe or North America, according to data compiled by Ember, an energy think tank. “The good news is that we have now found ways to generate energy that do not compromise on the environment,” Syed said at a briefing at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan on Tuesday. “More than 50% of our lending goes to green infrastructure projects.” The AIIB approved $8.4 billion in financing in 2024 on more than 50 projects spanning energy to water and digital infrastructure, according to its most recent annual data .