‘Provisional' iron-ore prices poised to become settlement prices – analysts

There may not be an iron-ore price settlement at all this year, and the "provisional" prices that are being charged by iron-ore producers may become the effective benchmark settlement prices, analysts tell Mining Weekly Online. Drama clouded this...

Daily podcast – February 6, 2009

In today's podcast: Macquarie indicates that the outlook for the global coal industry in the short term is significantly bleak; and India's Sterlite Industries is close to a deal to buy US copper miner Asarco LLC from bankruptcy.

Short-term outlook for coal grim, says Macquarie

Australia-based financial institution Macquarie indicated on Thursday that the outlook for the global coal industry, at least in the short term, was significantly bleak. Senior commodities strategist Jim Lennon said that there was no question...

Macquarie lifts 2006 price forecasts for copper, zinc

Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's largest securities firm, raised its price forecasts for copper, nickel and zinc this year and cut estimates for aluminum, lead and alumina.

Nickel to surge over next decade of Chinese growth.

Australian miner Jubilee Mines has indicated that it believes that a bearish trend in the nickel market was a result of skeptics, who did not believe that China could continue to grow, a trend it says will turn in the next decade.

China Olympics will boost metals demand

The largest mining company, BHP Billiton, said China’s staging of the Olympic Games in 2008 may boost Asian demand for metals used in construction, such as copper and zinc.