Commodity Outlook |

Palladium Rally Offers Lifeline to Buoy South African Miners

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Record palladium prices and a weaker rand are lifting the gloom enveloping South Africa’s platinum industry. For South African producers, the rally in palladium is partially offsetting the slump in platinum prices to near a decade low. Combined with a decline in the rand, which lowers costs for miners selling metal for dollars, that’s extending a lifeline to companies such as Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Sibanye Gold Ltd. and Lonmin Plc. “While the…

What to Watch in Commodities: Big Oil, Venezuela, Gold, Glencore

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa~) – Investors face a week packed with market-moving events: earnings season brings results from Big Oil; the U.S. and China resume trade talks; and the Federal Reserve embarks on a new era of openness. On top of that, iron ore investors are absorbing the impact of a second deadly mine disaster for Vale SA, and the U.S. just lifted sanctions on United Co. Rusal. Among companies reporting, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil…

AngloGold Is Said to Weigh London Listing, South Africa Exit

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. is considering listing its shares in either London or Toronto in a move that could see the company hive off its remaining South African operations, according to people familiar with the situation. While no final decision has been made, the world’s third-largest gold producer has been discussing the plan internally and with advisers, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private….

Barrick’s Thornton Puts Shine Back in Gold With Randgold Bid

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – As more than 1,100 gold mining executives, metals analysts and investors made their annual retreat to the mountains of Colorado, all anyone seemed to want to talk about was the deal that was announced just hours earlier. Mark Bristow, the outspoken chief executive officer of Randgold Resources Ltd. who helped arrange the merger with Barrick Gold Corp., didn’t seem surprised. “I have been agitating for this industry to rearrange itself,” Bristow said in…

Nigerian Cocoa Shows High Mold Levels in Early Crop Arrivals

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Initial harvests of Nigeria’s main-crop cocoa arriving at ports and warehouses show high levels of mold in the major producing southwest region due to a prolonged wet season, according to commodities inspection agents and buyers. Cocoa beans inspected in a sample of warehouses in the region are showing mold in the range of 18 percent to 24 percent, compared with a maximum of 4 percent required by the International…

Iron Ore Breaks Above $70 as China’s Pivot Helps to Stoke Demand

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iron ore has finally broken above $70 a metric ton. After a crawl higher in recent weeks, bulls drove the price back over that threshold, encouraged by surging steel prices in China, where there’s growing demand for high-quality material aided by state-driven investment and pollution curbs. SGX AsiaClear futures rallied as much as 1.5 percent to $70.60 a ton, the highest since March, and were last at $70.49. On the spot…

World’s Biggest Miners Want More Copper But Nobody’s Selling

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – It’s the mining world’s biggest dilemma: everyone’s hunting for copper deals, but even the richest producers just can’t pull the trigger. The largest miners all say they’re bullish on copper and looking for growth in the metal that’s forecast to be in ever-greater demand as cities expand and electric vehicles gain traction. The industry has deep pockets for deals right now — Rio Tinto Group may end the year…

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