SINGAPORE — Two Chinese supertankers carrying 4 million barrels of oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the US-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from President Donald Trump and his deputy.
Chinese-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Yuan Gui Yang loaded 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude on February 27, a day before the US-Israeli war on Iran started, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Kpler.
The vessel, chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec, is expected to reach Shuidong Port near Maoming city in southern Guangdong province, on June 4 to discharge its cargo, according to the data.
Hong Kong-flagged VLCC Ocean Lily loaded 1 million barrels each of Qatari Al-Shaheen and Iraqi Basrah crude between late February and early March, the data showed.
The vessel, owned by Chinese major Sinochem, is expected to reach Quanzhou Port in eastern Fujian province on June 5 to discharge its cargo.
The passage of the vessels comes amid continued disruptions and security concerns affecting shipping routes in the Gulf region.
Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over "very quickly" while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities.
"We're in a pretty good spot here," Vance told a White House press briefing.
Trump made his comments a day after saying he had paused a planned resumption of hostilities following a new proposal by Tehran to end the conflict.
"I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House.
The United States has been struggling to end the war it began with Israel nearly three months ago. Trump has repeatedly said during the conflict that a deal with Tehran was close, and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if it did not reach an accord.
The conflict has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies, blocking hundreds of tankers from leaving the Gulf while damaging energy and shipping facilities across the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) President Xi Jinping failed to reach an agreement on the Power of Siberia-2 pipeline and signed only comparatively minor bilateral agreements during Putin’s official visit to the PRC.
Putin and Xi held a joint press conference on May 20 in which the leaders praised deep relations between Russia and the PRC and how Russia and the PRC actively cooperate in energy, noting that Russia is one of the PRC’s largest oil suppliers.
Kremlin Presidential Aide Yuriy Ushakov stated that Russia and China reached agreements on energy projects and “something else very important,” but did not specify what it was, and the parties notably failed to reach an agreement on the construction of the Power of Siberia-2 (PS-2) pipeline.
Russia and the PRC have been in disagreement about the PS-2 since at least 2024, as Russia faces a more immediate need for the pipeline to substitute income from exports lost since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the PRC is using its upper hand to extract concessions from Russia on the issue.
Putin and Xi signed a joint statement on further strengthening their comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction, and on deepening good-neighborly friendship and cooperation, about 40 intergovernmental, interagency, and corporate documents, mainly aimed at deepening economic cooperation, as well as a joint declaration on the Establishment of a Multipolar World and a New Type of International Relations.
The agreements signed were relatively small in comparison to the Kremlin’s hopes that Putin’s visit would culminate in a signed deal on the PS-2.
Ushakov highlighted on May 18 the PS-2 pipeline as one of the priority items for Putin’s official visit to the PRC, and Putin’s failure to secure a signed agreement demonstrates the current limits of Russo-Sino cooperation.
Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has officially approved a new law granting security forces the legal authority to shoot down hostile drones flying over oil and gas rigs in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea.
The legislative move, reported by the Interfax news agency on Wednesday, comes as Moscow scrambles to shield its vital offshore energy infrastructure from escalating Ukrainian drone operations, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
According to an official note published on the parliament's website, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) currently pose one of the most severe threats to Russia's economic security. Lawmakers emphasized that the new federal statute was necessary to "eliminate the legal vacuum" preventing immediate military responses around the rigs, while assuring the public that the defensive measures would not disrupt local commercial shipping or fishing industries.
The legal shift directly impacts major offshore extraction projects, most notably those owned by Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer.
Lukoil operates two massive, highly strategic projects in the Caspian waters:
The Vladimir Filanovsky Field
The Yuri Korchagin Field
Both extraction hubs have faced repeat targeting by Ukrainian long-range drones. As Kiev intensifies its asymmetric aerial campaign against the Kremlin's energy sector, disabling these multi-billion-dollar maritime platforms has become a primary objective in its strategy to choke off Moscow's military funding and degrade its economic backbone.
https://news.az/news/russia-approves-law-to-shield-caspian-sea-oil-rigs-from-drones
ConocoPhillips' Europe gas head sees delays limited to months for North Field East and South projects, while Red Sea disruptions and damage at Ras Laffan weigh on global LNG flows.
May 21, 2026—ENERGYNEWS
U.S. energy group ConocoPhillips expects delays to liquefaction capacity additions at its joint ventures with Qatar to be measured in months, not years, according to its Europe Gas head Jonathan Burgess. The outlook is more optimistic than signals from QatarEnergy, which had warned that its liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to China, South Korea, Belgium and Italy could be disrupted for years due to the Iran conflict.
A paralyzed Strait of Hormuz and damaged infrastructure
Since hostilities began in late February, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 93% of Qatari LNG exports transit, has been blocked. Russian LNG, which hit a record in European imports in the first quarter, cannot offset the loss of more than 300 million cubic meters per day. Damage to the onshore Ras Laffan complex on March 19 worsened the situation, causing a total shutdown of nearly two months, as satellite imagery from Kayrros showed. An early restart was detected in late May, but thermal signals remain limited.
Despite this, Jonathan Burgess told the Flame conference in Amsterdam that delays to the North Field East and North Field South projects, held in partnership with QatarEnergy, would be limited to months. These two expansions are set to boost national LNG capacity from 77 to 126 million tons per year (MTPA). “Delays are more likely measured in months rather than years,” he said, adding that work was ongoing.
A supply shock with lasting consequences
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a cumulative LNG deficit of 120 billion cubic meters over the 2026-2030 period, pushing back the next global supply wave by at least two years. The Habshan gas complex in the UAE will not regain full capacity until 2027, while new supply contracts, such as Equinor’s deal to supply 0.2 bcm of gas annually to Germany, struggle to fill the missing volumes. Marco Saalfrank, head of merchant trading at AXPO, mentioned a possible delay of six months to one year to Qatar’s expansion plans, while predicting some demand destruction to rebalance the spot market.
ConocoPhillips is also betting on its U.S. foothold to secure flows to Europe. The group is heavily investing in the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas, whose first liquefaction unit will start production in 2027, targeting a total capacity of 26 MTPA. The first two trains guarantee 5 MTPA of firm offtake, providing an alternative to the Hormuz blockade. This industrial resilience illustrates the accelerated reshaping of LNG routes, between a disrupted Middle East and a new Atlantic axis.
https://energynews.pro/en/conocophillips-predicts-months-long-delays-for-qatar-gas-joint-ventures
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser says the global energy market has lost about 1 billion barrels of oil supply during the crisis
By Eric Revell | FOXBusiness
The CEO of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company is warning that the energy sector will take time to recover from the Iran war's impact on supply as oil output was slashed due to the ongoing disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on an earnings call Monday that the global energy market has lost about 1 billion barrels of oil supply during the crisis, though efforts to reroute shipments to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz and releases from countries' strategic petroleum reserves have eased some of the supply issues.
"The energy supply shock that began in the first quarter is the largest the world has ever experienced," Nasser said.
He said that the world is now losing about 100 million barrels of oil supply per week as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to tanker traffic. If the disruption continues for several more weeks, Aramco thinks that oil markets may not normalize until 2027.
Global oil supplies have contracted due to the Iran war's impact on the supply chain. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
"Reopening routes is not the same as normalizing a market that has been deprived of about 1 billion barrels of oil," Nasser said, adding that years of underinvestment compounded the strain caused by the conflict on global oil inventory.
"Recent events have clearly demonstrated the vital contribution of oil and gas to energy security and the global economy and are a stark reminder that reliable energy supply is critical," he added.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, center, said the global energy market has lost about 1 billion barrels of oil due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The conflict prompted Aramco to ramp up the use of its pipeline that transits the Arabian Peninsula from east to west and negates the need for oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil supply passed through before the war began.
"Our East-West pipeline, which reached its maximum capacity of 7 million barrels of oil per day, has proven itself to be a critical supply artery, helping to mitigate the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers affected by shipping constraints in the Strait of Hormuz," Nasser said on the call.
Oil tankers have come under attack from Iran while in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a sharp drop in shipments through the choke point. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)
Of the 7 million barrels per day the pipeline handles, about 2 million go to oil refinerieslocated on Saudi Arabia's western coast, while the remaining 5 million barrels per day are available for exports.
Nasser said that Aramco is considering ways to expand its export capacity at Yanbu, the terminal on the Red Sea that serves as the pipeline's destination.
Saudi Arabia cut oil output by 2 million barrels per day after Iran threatened shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which effectively closed the vital choke point.
The U.S.-based engineering and construction major — builder of BHP's Escondida expansion, Teck's Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 and Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG terminal — confirmed the return after Chairman and CEO Brendan Bechtel met Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno in Buenos Aires.
By Marina Cappiello
2026-05-20
Brechtel is building Rio Grande LNG, an LNG export terminal project in the port of Brownsville, Texas.
Bechtel is reopening its Argentina offices to position for the wave of copper and liquefied natural gas (LNG) megaprojects advancing under the country's Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI).
The announcement followed a Monday meeting at Buenos Aires' Palacio San Martín between Brendan Bechtel, the company's chairman and CEO and the fifth-generation Bechtel to lead the firm, and Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno. Three Bechtel executives accompanied him.
Quirno disclosed the meeting on X hours later, framing it in a single line: the company "will reopen offices in our country as a result of the momentum gathering around large mining and infrastructure projects thanks to the RIGI."
Bechtel, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and privately held by its founding family since 1898, is one of the world's largest engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors and the leading global builder of LNG export plants. It operates across four business units: Infrastructure; Energy; Mining and Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental.
Past projects include the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport, and most of the U.S. Gulf Coast's LNG export capacity. Whether that positioning translates into awarded contracts will depend on factors that remain unresolved: the timing of final investment decisions, the pace of RIGI committee approvals, and competing EPC bids from peers including Technip Energies, Saipem and McDermott. The reopening signals intent, not contracts won.
The Escondida Phase IV (copper) project was a mega-engineering and construction project executed by Bechtel and completed in 2002 in Chile.
Bechtel's Copper Track Record — and Why Argentina Now
In copper, Bechtel's record is among the deepest in the industry. The firm delivered BHP's Minera Escondida expansion, the world's largest copper mine, completed in 2002. Antofagasta Minerals' Los Pelambres followed. Then came MMG's Las Bambas in Peru. And in October 2023, Bechtel commissioned Teck's Quebrada Blanca Phase 2: a 143,000-tonnes-per-day concentrator, a desalination plant, and a 165-kilometer concentrate-and-water pipeline system that climbs to 4,400 meters elevation.
The firm reported expected production of 316,000 tonnes per year of copper-equivalent output for the first five years of mine life. Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 absorbed more than 100 million man-hours of labor. That portfolio runs out of Santiago, where Bechtel has operated its Copper Centre of Excellence for more than 35 years.
The Argentine projects awaiting construction sit a cordillera away from that base. Argentina's copper pipeline totals roughly $28.5 billion across nine projects, according to data circulated by the Argentine Foreign Ministry. Los Azules, the McEwen Copper project in San Juan province, leads the list with $2.67 billion in approved capex.
Two Glencore projects await the RIGI evaluation committee: El Pachón in San Juan and MARA in Catamarca province, with a combined investment of $14 billion. Vicuña Corp's Josemaría and Filo del Sol round out the pipeline, with $18 billion in declared investment.
The Sabine Pass terminal , owned by Cheniere Energy , is the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the United States. Located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, it processes over 30 million metric tons annually using six operational liquefaction trains.
The price signal is intact. Eoin Dinsmore, copper analyst on Goldman Sachs Research's commodities team, has projected that structural demand from power infrastructure, driven by spending on artificial intelligence and defense, will sustain prices above $10,000 per tonne through 2026, with a first-half floor near $10,710. The London Metal Exchange copper benchmark set a nominal record of $11,771 per tonne on December 8, 2025. For Argentina's high-altitude megaprojects, the lifting-cost math works.
The market signal was reinforced earlier in May. Lucy Martin, president of Bechtel's Mining & Metals business, announced a partnership with Echeverría Izquierdo Montajes Industriales S.A. (EIMISA), a Chilean industrial construction and assembly firm, to support delivery of "select large-scale mining and infrastructure projects in Chile and across South America." The arrangement, characterised in Martin's own LinkedIn post as a memorandum of understanding (MOU), pairs Bechtel's integrated EPC capabilities with EIMISA's local construction footprint. The Buenos Aires reopening points in the same direction.
The Jamnagar refinery, the world's largest industrial complex, built by Bechtel
The Second Front: LNG
Bechtel's footprint in LNG is the most extensive of any contractor in the industry. The firm built Trains 1 through 6 of Cheniere's Sabine Pass, the first U.S. LNG export plant, and Stages 1, 2 and 3 of Corpus Christi.
That positioning aligns with the binding joint development agreement (JDA) that YPF, Argentina's state-controlled oil and gas company; ENI, the Italian energy company; and XRG, ADNOC's international investment arm, signed on February 12 for Argentina LNG, a 12 million-tonnes-per-annum (MTPA) project anchored by two floating LNG (FLNG) units in the Golfo San Matías off Río Negro province.
Horacio Marín, YPF's chairman and CEO, has laid out the roadmap: "We will now continue working very intensively to reach FID during the second half of 2026."
Front-end engineering design (FEED) has been underway since February, with competitive processes for post-FID EPC contracts running in parallel. Bechtel competes naturally for those mandates against Technip Energies, Saipem and McDermott.
A Bilateral Reading
There is a third reading, more structural.
Bechtel is not a neutral contractor. Its chairman chairs the Infrastructure Committee of the Business Roundtable, and the firm operates in close alignment with U.S. corporate architecture on strategic sectors.
The Argentine return fits within the bilateral critical-minerals agenda being shaped by AmCham Argentina and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with backing from up to $100 billion in facilities from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank), as well as the bilateral reciprocal investment treaty that Quirno signed with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on February 5.
The historical footprint matters too. Bechtel supervised turn-key delivery of the Pascua-Lama gold-silver project under Barrick before construction was halted in 2013 and Chile's environmental regulator ordered the project closed in 2018; it also participated in the Córdoba–Mendoza pipeline with Argentine contractor Contreras Hnos. in the 1970s. The "return" Quirno spoke of acknowledges that prior exit. What has shifted is not only the regulatory regime but the copper-price trajectory and the velocity of RIGI committee approvals.
by Collinson FX 20 May 23:14 BST 21 May 2026
Ladybird - Auckland Wooden Boat Festival - March 2026 © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com/nz
May 21: Oil prices tumble
Tensions eased in the Middle East, as US allies in the region look to negotiate a peace deal with Iran.
Oil prices tumbled down to below USD$100/b, while soaring bond yields, eased. The pressure was off markets and equities rallied, while the US Dollar eased. The EUR bounced back to above 1.1650, while the GBP pushed back to 1.3439. UK inflation numbers came in much cooler than expected, easing to an annualised 2.8%, following a seemingly successful energy cap scheme being introduced.
Inflationary pressures remain, as outlined in the Fed minutes, so a compromise in needed urgently, in peace negotiations.
Commodity currencies benefited from an easing in the reserve, with the AUD rebounding to 0.7150, while the NZD pushed back above 0.5850. Markets attained some form of calm, but geopolitical turmoil could erupt at any time, reigniting crises.
US Pushes for Easing of Belarus Potash Fertilizer Sanctions
US Advocacy for Relaxing Restrictions
May 20 (Reuters) - The United States is urging Ukraine to relax restrictions on imports of potash fertilizers from Belarus and to press European allies to follow suit, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Potential Diplomatic Implications
According to the report, Washington has argued that dropping restrictions on the imports of the key soil nutrient could help put some distance between Belarus and Russia and might open the door to improved ties with Minsk.
Verification and Official Response
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Background on Potash and Belarus
Importance of Potash
Potash is a key ingredient in fertilizers. Belarus, a former Soviet state, is among the world’s leading producers.
Sanctions History
Initial Sanctions after 2020 Election
The U.S. and EU had imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Belarus after Minsk launched a violent crackdown on protesters following a disputed election in 2020.
Further Restrictions Following Ukraine Invasion
Restrictions were tightened after President Alexander Lukashenko allowed Belarus to serve as a staging ground for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Recent Easing and Current Status
The U.S. in December eased sanctions on three Belarusian potash companies after Minsk released 250 prisoners in a deal brokered by the United States. The European sanctions are valid until February 2027 and can be extended.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Mihika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/us-wants-ukraine-help-ease-restrictions-belarus-potash/
Published On: May 17, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Australia is testing a surprisingly simple answer to a very expensive farming problem. Instead of treating low-value sheep wool as a dead-end byproduct, farmers and researchers are using it as a natural cover for degraded soil, helping crops hold onto water when heat and dry winds would normally steal it away.
That matters far beyond one field. Soil degradation shows up in weaker harvests, higher irrigation needs, and eventually higher food costs, the same way wasted electricity shows up on the electric bill.
Reported Australian field trials found that wool cover reduced surface evaporation by up to 35%, increased soil microorganisms by 30% to 50%, and improved yields by as much as 18%.
A soil problem at scale
Australia’s farming challenge is enormous. ABARES says agriculture, fisheries, and forestry accounted for 57.1% of Australia’s land use, or 1,085 million acres, in December 2023, while the sector’s gross production value reached $100.3 billion in 2024-25.
But the land is under pressure. In New South Wales, soil organic carbon stocks declined by 3.1% between 2006 and 2020, and the state’s environment report notes that high soil carbon is tied to better water-holding capacity, nutrient availability, biological activity, and soil structure.
Why wool works
Wool is not a magic blanket. Still, its fibrous structure can behave a lot like a slow-release sponge, giving water more time to stay near the roots instead of vanishing from the topsoil when the sun bears down on the landscape.
A 2025 study on wool pellets in lettuce soils found that the pellets improved moisture retention across sandy, clay, and peat soils. The same research reported a 13.1% increase in soil moisture compared with the control, with the strongest effect during low-rainfall periods.
The biology comes back
Healthy soil is alive, even if it looks like plain dirt from the road. When soil dries out, compacts, or loses organic matter, the tiny organisms that help cycle nutrients struggle to do their job.
That is why the microbial response matters. The wool pellet study found that gradual mineralization raised nitrate and ammonium levels, suggesting greater microbial activity and improved biological conditions in the soil. In sandy soils, plant fresh weight rose by more than 40%, showing how useful the approach could be in low-fertility ground.
A business twist
There is also a business angle hiding in the wool shed. Australia remains a major wool producer, but the Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee estimated shorn wool production at 280.1 million kg. greasy for 2024-25, down 11.8% from the previous season.
Its later forecast put 2025-26 production at 244.7 million kg. greasy, another 12.6% lower than the 2024-25 estimate. That does not mean every fleece becomes a soil product, of course, but it does show why new uses for lower-value wool could matter for rural economies.
Not a silver bullet
The idea still needs careful use. Raw wool can be difficult to spread evenly, and the best results may depend on soil type, processing, dose, rainfall, and whether the wool is used as pellets, mats, or a thinner mulch layer.
Western Australia’s agriculture department says 16 million acres of agricultural land in the state are at risk of wind erosion. It also says maintaining more than 50% ground cover can reduce wind speed at soil level, which is exactly the kind of practical problem wool mulch is trying to address.
What farmers should watch
In practical terms, wool cover is not replacing good soil management. Farmers still need crop rotation, living ground cover, reduced disturbance, careful grazing, and smart water use, especially as dry seasons become harder to predict.
But this approach has one clear advantage. It takes a familiar farm material and turns it into an ag-tech tool that can hold moisture, protect topsoil, feed soil biology, and create a new use for wool that might otherwise have little value.
A 2019 photo of drilling work on the Poplar property, before its acquisition by Vizsla Copper. Credit: Tasca Resources
Vizsla Copper has released new details on two of its key B.C. assets, outlining recent work and next steps at the Woodjam and Poplar projects.
Drilling is now underway at Woodjam. According to a company news release, up to 8,000 metres will be drilled across three target areas. “At Woodjam, we’ll focus on new discoveries at the Three Firs Breccia and Great Plains targets and also evaluate the potential to expand the higher gold portion of the Deerhorn deposit, which remains open along strike to the southwest,” said Steve Blower, the company’s senior vice-president of exploration.
According to the company, recent modelling suggests the Three Firs breccia system dips deeper than previously thought, into an area that has not been drilled yet. Upcoming drilling will test this zone and see if it contains a porphyry-related mineral deposit — and if it’s the source of the rock fragments found in the breccias. Similarly, drilling at Great Plains will investigate the porphyry-related copper-gold mineralization potential. Meanwhile, operations at Deerhorn will follow up on the 2024 program and evaluate how far the mineralized zone continues to the south on the western side of the deposit.
The company also announced that phase-1 of its drill program at the Poplar project is complete. According to Vizsla, more than 11,200 metres were drilled across 21 holes at the Thira, Camp Lake and Copper Pond targets.
“With copper recently reaching an all-time high of US$6.60/lb, we believe the market is continuing to recognize the growing importance of new copper discoveries and development projects. Against this backdrop, the company is well-positioned with assays pending from our Thira copper discovery at the Poplar project,” said Craig Parry, Vizsla’s chair and CEO. “We believe the next few months will be a highly active and catalyst-rich period with a steady stream of meaningful news flow expected across our portfolio,” he concluded.
Reuters | May 19, 2026 | 8:42 am
Chilean copper commission Cochilco raised its average copper price forecast for 2026 to $5.55 per pound and said it expects prices to remain elevated in 2027 at $5.10 per pound, citing firm global demand and tight supply.
The updated outlook, published in Cochilco’s first-quarter copper market trends report on Tuesday, points to continued support from the global energy transition, electric vehicles, new technologies and artificial intelligence, even as supply risks persist.
Economy and Mining Minister Daniel Mas said the higher forecast reflected “solid global demand and a market with tight supply.”
He added that strong copper prices would bolster Chile’s fiscal revenues and reinforce its position as the world’s top copper producer.
Cochilco said global refined copper demand is expected to rise 1.5% in 2026 and 2.3% in 2027, reaching 28.2 million metric tons and 28.8 million tons, respectively.
On the supply side, global mined copper output is forecast to reach 23.3 million metric tons in 2026, up 0.5%, before rising 4.7% to 24.39 million tons in 2027, led mainly by Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Mongolia, Canada and the United States.
Despite that growth, the refined copper market is expected to remain tight. After an estimated deficit of 124,000 tons in 2025, Cochilco forecast a small surplus of 12,000 tons in 2026 and a moderate surplus of 153,000 tons in 2027.
Chile is expected to retain about 22% of global copper mine output, though its own production is forecast to fall 2.0% in 2026 to 5.3 million tons before recovering 4.0% in 2027 to 5.5 million tons.
Cochilco said the projected production decline in 2026 reflected lower ore grades, scheduled maintenance, operational constraints and weak performance at the start of the year.
(By Natalia Ramos and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)
https://www.mining.com/web/cochilco-raises-2026-copper-price-forecast/
Under the new regulation, the volume of duty-free steel imports will be capped at 18.3 million tons per year, representing a 47% reduction compared to the 2024 quota levels. The customs duty rate to be applied in the event of quota overruns will be increased from the current 25% to 50%. In addition, a 50% tariff will also be imposed on steel products outside the quota scope.
The regulation takes into account Ukraine’s candidate country status and security conditions in the allocation of country-specific quotas, while aiming to limit the pressure of global overproduction on the European steel market.
The new rules also strengthen traceability requirements. Accordingly, the origin of steel will be determined based on the “melted and poured” rule, identifying the location where the steel was first produced. This measure is intended to prevent circumvention through limited processing operations in third countries.
The regulation was adopted in line with the agreement reached between Parliament and Council negotiators, with 606 votes in favor, 16 against, and 39 abstentions.
Rapporteur Karin Karlsbro stated that Europe needs fair trade conditions for a competitive steel industry and emphasized the importance of addressing the negative effects caused by global overcapacity. Karlsbro also noted that Ukraine should be granted special consideration under the new regulation in light of the current circumstances.
The EU steel sector has faced significant challenges in recent years due to price pressure and rising imports driven by global overcapacity, with approximately 100,000 jobs reportedly lost since 2008. The new regulation is expected to be an important step toward preserving the sector’s competitiveness.
https://www.steelradar.com/en/haber/the-eu-lowered-steel-import-quotas/
Posted on 20 May 2026
Rio Tinto has celebrated the shipment of 8 billion tonnes of iron ore to global markets from the Pilbara region, 60 years after the company’s first shipment set sail from Western Australia for Japan.
The milestone shipment departed from Cape Lambert port aboard the Juno Horizon on May 19, 2026, bound for Nippon Steel Corporation, one of Rio Tinto’s long-standing partners.
The achievement reflects six decades of continuous operations in the Pilbara, underpinned by strong partnerships with customers across the world, particularly in Asia, it says. Rio Tinto’s first Pilbara iron ore shipment departed in August 1966 for Japan, marking the beginning of a partnership that continues today.
Eight billion tonnes of iron ore is enough to produce the steel needed for more than 161,000 Perth Optus Stadiums, 134,000 Tokyo Skytrees or more than 46,000 Beijing National Stadiums (Bird’s Nest), Rio estimates.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive, Matthew Holcz, said: “Shipping 8 billion tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara is a significant milestone and a testament to the generations of people who have built and sustained our operations, infrastructure and communities over the past 60 years.
“We thank successive governments for their sustained support. We are also grateful to the Traditional Owners groups across the Pilbara for their ongoing partnership, and for the knowledge, guidance and stewardship they continue to share with us.
“Japan was Rio Tinto’s first customer for iron ore exports, and that partnership remains a cornerstone of our business today. As global steel demand increases, we’ll continue to invest in our Pilbara operations and local communities for decades to come.”
Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations have supported the development of six towns across the region, including Karratha, Wickham, Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Pannawonica and Dampier, as well as a further five communities from the Kimberley to the Great Southern through its regional fly-in fly-out program.
The company is also advancing studies at Rhodes Ridge (Rio Tinto 50%), one of the world’s best undeveloped iron ore deposits, which in the long term could support a world-class mining hub with potential capacity of about 100 Mt of high-quality iron ore a year, it says. Rhodes Ridge will maintain Rio Tinto’s pathway to achieve and sustain mid-term capacity of 345-360 Mt/y from its Pilbara iron ore business.
https://im-mining.com/2026/05/20/rio-tinto-marks-8-billion-tonne-iron-ore-shipment-milestone/
By Alex Kimani - May 20, 2026, 2:00 PM CDT
Five years ago, over 40 countries pledged to scale back and phase down unabated coal power at the COP26 UN Climate Summit by 2030-2040, with hundreds of institutions promising to end international coal financing. Three years later, the Group of Seven (G7) nations, namely the United States, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, officially agreed to exit from unabated coal power generation between 2030 and 2035, marking the first major commitment by the world’s largest economies. But the rules are now being rewritten, and in times of crisis, it always comes back around to dirty coal. Global demand for coal as a primary power source is surging again, thanks to the ongoing energy crisis triggered by the war in Iran, with countries that previously prioritized cleaner energy reversing course and utilizing coal as a reliable, cost-effective baseline alternative.
Governments worldwide are desperately tweaking their energy strategies to counter the supply crunch and soaring natural gas costs. India imports about 60% of its LNG through the vulnerable Strait of Hormuz, and now, high gas prices have forced the country to prioritize cheaper, domestic coal.
India is now burning record amounts of coal amid a nationwide heatwave that’s pushed power demand to new highs, with temperatures soaring past 45°C in some regions. India's peak power demand has surged to an all-time high of 257 GW, with coal-fired plants providing upwards of 75% during peak load periods. Authorities have ordered coal plants utilizing imported fuel to run at full capacity and instructed idle gas-fired plants to restart to shore up the grid.
Similarly, South Korea is drastically boosting its coal-generated electricity by more than a third and pivoting away from LNG. That’s seen coal imports surge significantly, with imports from Russia alone jumping 95% during the first quarter of the year. The Korean government has abolished the spring-time regulatory cap that had historically limited coal-fired power plants to 80% capacity. The utilization rate of nuclear reactors has also been ramped up to as much as 80% to pre-empt supply risks.
Coal is making a comeback in clean-energy-obsessed Europe, too. Back in March, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that Germany may have to slow down coal plant phase-outs to protect the core of the country's industry against unrealistic decommissioning targets. The push for a slower phase out comes amid delayed auctioning and building new hydrogen-ready gas-fired power stations, which were intended to serve as reliable backups for wind and solar. Industry representatives have been urging lawmakers to temporarily allow coal-fired power plants currently held in "reserve mode" to return to the regular market to help cushion energy price spikes. Berlin’s climate neutrality goals don’t always align with the short-term realities of energy security. While the federal government recently published new draft laws for gas-fired power plant subsidies to support the green energy build-out, grid operators continue to rely on coal to stabilize fluctuating renewable supplies.
Germany’s landmark Coal Exit Law, passed in 2020, mandates a step-by-step shutdown of coal and lignite power stations, with a final termination deadline set for 2038. However, the country’s strategy to replace coal with up to 15 gigawatts of hydrogen-ready gas power plants has fallen significantly behind schedule, creating a potential gap in baseload electricity capacity.
Meanwhile, Italy's lower house of parliament voted earlier this year to postpone the nation's permanent coal phaseout deadline by 13 years, from 2025 to 2038. Lawmakers justified the reversal of the 2017 phaseout pledge by citing intensifying geopolitical tensions and oil supply crunches in the Middle East. Italy's last four coal stations--primarily owned by the utility company Enel S.p.A.(OTCPK:ENLAY)--have now seen their lifetimes officially extended. The government now considers these plants as emergency assets that could be reactivated if natural gas and oil prices remain high.
Coal is considered the single largest driver of global temperature rise, responsible for roughly 40% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 70% of energy-related combustion increases. Its heavy carbon footprint makes it the most polluting of all major power generation sources, emitting twice as much CO2 as natural gas per unit of energy produced. However, the ongoing comeback by coal is unlikely to reverse the clean energy transition in large part due to falling renewable energy costs. Indeed, the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for solar and onshore wind is now significantly cheaper than coal, falling in the range of $24- $96 per MWh compared to $68-$166 per MWh for new coal plants.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Global-Energy-Crisis-Is-Driving-Countries-Back-To-Coal.html