A $233 billion Russian court judgment against Euroclear and the EU’s €90 billion Ukraine loan stand behind a reported US effort to put some frozen Russian sovereign assets under Washington’s supervision. The proposal would require Europe to reconsider how funds held under its sanctions regime could be controlled and used.
US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the idea at talks in Miami last week, according to a Financial Times report citing people briefed on the discussions. European delegates rejected it, the newspaper reported.
The proposed arrangement would release some of approximately €260 billion in Russian sovereign assets immobilized by Western governments and place them in a US-supervised financial vehicle, according to the FT. No agreed amount, ownership structure, or financial terms have been disclosed.
In December 2025, EU leaders agreed to lend Ukraine €90 billion for 2026 and 2027 through borrowing backed by the EU budget. That loan is not directly funded by frozen Russian principal. Under the agreement, Ukraine is expected to repay only after receiving Russian reparations, while the EU reserves the right to use immobilized assets for repayment under applicable law.
A separate December regulation prohibits direct or indirect transfers of Russian central-bank assets. Whether a US-managed structure could comply with those restrictions depends on its actual terms.
Euroclear, the Belgian securities depository holding much of the immobilized money, reported €202 billion of sanctioned Russian assets on its €241 billion balance sheet as of June 30.
The sanctions generated €2.3 billion in interest earnings for Euroclear in the first half of 2026, down 13% year over year. The company provisioned €1.5 billion for an EU windfall contribution and reported €146 million in direct costs related to Russian sanctions and countermeasures.
A Moscow court ruled in May that Euroclear should pay Russia’s central bank 18.2 trillion rubles in damages. An appeal was rejected July 16, when Reuters valued the judgment at $233 billion. Euroclear rejects the claim and Russian court jurisdiction. It said the judgment is not recognized under EU law.
Washington has explored an investment-led solution before. A November 2025 US-backed draft peace plan reviewed by Reuters would have put $100 billion in frozen Russian assets into US-led reconstruction projects, with the US receiving 50% of profits. Its remaining funds would have gone into a separate US-Russia investment vehicle.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
Approval for more oil and gas drilling at the North Sea sites Jackdaw and Rosebank have been delayed by “government process” and lengthy bureaucratic wrangling, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said.
Burnham told MPs that he would take a “pragmatic approach” on oil and gas drilling amid calls from energy bosses for drilling to go ahead at the two sites, which were blocked by Scottish courts on environmental grounds in 2024.
The energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, is expected to make a decision on whether to give drilling the green light at the Jackdaw and Rosebank, which would be operated mainly by Shell and Equinor, within weeks.
Consultations on drilling at either site ended in August, with Fahnbulleh having to balance the growth effects against environmental commitments in her decision.
Both the Rosebank oil field and Jackdaw gas field near Aberdeen had been approved by the former Conservative government. Labour campaigned on a manifesto in 2024 that said it would not issue new licences for oil and gas drilling.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch urged Burnham to “stop faffing about” and allow energy bosses to proceed with drilling.
Burnham said: “I’ve had to wait for the government process, which was struck down by the courts under the Conservative government, to be fixed because they messed it up and we inherited that situation.
“I will take a pragmatic approach on oil and gas. We will set out our decisions shortly.”
Jackdaw and Rosebank could ‘add £35bn to UK economy’
Equinor chief executive Anders Opedal said rejections would put the UK’s attractiveness to investors at risk, claiming it would be a “major setback” for the country.
“The Keir Starmer government said the UK was open for business. We’ve applied for consent twice” he said.
“Adura has done everything it has been asked to do. The UK has one of the most rigorous approval processes in the world.”
Jackdaw could begin production this winter if approved, as much of its infrastructure is already in place, industry figures have said,
A report by Public First, commissioned by Adura, the joint venture between Shell and Equinor, said the two projects could generate £35bn in extra value added to the UK economy between 2026 and 2035. Extra tax revenues amounting to £12.1bn could also be built up in the next decade, more than £4bn provided under the current projection.
By Mauricio Alencar via CityAM
By Tsvetana Paraskova - Oct 16, 2026, 4:30 AM CDT
India has nearly halved its export duty on diesel for the next two weeks while it hiked the levy on gasoline exports fivefold, effective October 16.
The lower diesel export levy could encourage additional supply to the international market, which is reeling from a diesel crunch and price shocks, while the hike in the gasoline export duty appears to be intended to discourage gasoline exports.
India reviews its export duty policy every fortnight to account for the prevailing domestic and international market conditions, including supply and prices. These duties were introduced in March at the height of the Middle East crisis when no supplies are moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
Back then, India moved to protect its fuel supply and consumers by reducing domestic taxes on gasoline and diesel and imposing a levy on fuel exports. The export levies have been reviewed and revised every two weeks since then.
For the next two weeks starting October 16, excise duties on gasoline and diesel sold in the domestic market have not been changed, but the duties on exports have been revised.
The gasoline export duty was hiked to 2.5 rupees ($0.026) per liter, up from 0.5 rupees in the first half of October.
The export duty on jet fuel was left unchanged at 10.5 rupees, or $0.11, per liter.
The export levy on diesel, however, was slashed from 16 rupees ($0.17) per liter to 8.5 rupees, or $0.09, for the next two weeks.
Amid the global diesel crisis, India’s Oil Minister Hardeep Puri said last month that the country would keep exporting diesel to help meet global demand and ease the fuel crunch.
“We honor our commitments,” the minister said at an industry event in New Delhi in September, noting that India’s refining capacity continues to expand thanks to years of investments.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Kenmare Resources, the Dublin-listed titanium minerals miner, has lowered the full-year production forecast for its most important product as it continues takeover talks with a company ultimately controlled by the Abu Dhabi royal family.
The company said on Thursday it now expected to produce 710,000-750,000 tonnes of ilmenite, which is used in the manufacture of everything from paints to plastics and textiles, at its Moma mine in Mozambique, southern Africa, this year. It previously targeted about 800,000 tonnes.
Ilmenite production fell 17 per cent last year to 842,300 tonnes.
Kenmare said the forecast downgrade was a result of “continuing commissioning challenges” at its recently upgraded largest mining plant, known as WCP A, which the group is moving to its largest ore zone, Nataka. Nataka contains about 70 per cent of Moma’s nine billion tonnes of mineral resources, according to the company.
Ilmenite is now well into its fourth year of price decline – driven by Chinese producers, operating at home and in Africa, continuing to oversupply the market. However, Kenmare said its average price for the product rose during the third quarter as it sold more “higher value” ilmenite product.
It said the price of zircon, which accounts for about a quarter of Kenmare revenues and is used to make ceramic tiles, is continuing to improve, having stabilised and started to rise last year.
Chief executive Tom Hickey said the company was continuing to “engage constructively” with the government of Mozambique over a new Moma production and exports royalty agreement and “remains focused on bringing these discussions to a positive conclusion in the near-term”.
The previous 20-year accord expired just before the end of 2024, though the terms were to remain in place until a new one was reached.
The Irish Times reported last week on how Kenmare Resources had attracted bid interest from Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding (IRH). Kenmare subsequently confirmed it had received a non-binding proposal from IRH, which has been given a deadline to announce at least a firm intention to make a formal bid by 5pm on November 17th.
IRH is a unit of International Holding Company, which is chaired by sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates deputy ruler and overseer of the business interests of Abu Dhabi’s ruling Al Nahyan family.
Shares in Kenmare are up about 25 per cent since news of the bid approach. However, they remain down almost 20 per cent from the level at which they were changing hands a year ago.
Denny Kalyalya, governor of the Bank of Zambia, said Chinese buyers would begin paying for some copper purchases in renminbi, the official name for China’s currency.
The initial phase will involve Chinese producers, who already pay taxes in yuan in the southern African country.
The move comes as China expands the international use of its currency, particularly in energy, minerals and other commodity transactions.
Zambia deepens its financial ties with China
As Africa’s second-largest copper producer, Zambia is a major supplier to global manufacturers seeking the metal for electrical wiring, renewable energy systems and electric vehicles.
Allowing Chinese buyers to settle some purchases in yuan could reduce the need to convert payments into dollars, potentially lowering transaction costs and limiting exposure to exchange-rate fluctuations.
In January, Business Insider Africa reported that Zambia had held preliminary talks with China over a potential currency swap arrangement that could help reduce exchange-rate risks in transactions with its largest bilateral creditor.
The development also reflects China’s growing role in African commodity markets, where demand for minerals has strengthened commercial and financial links between the two sides.
China pushes the yuan beyond its borders
China has been expanding the currency’s role in international trade. In March, China National Offshore Oil Corporation completed a liquefied natural gas purchase from TotalEnergies using cross-border yuan settlement through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange.
The transaction demonstrated how the currency is gaining ground in energy trade, although the US dollar remains the dominant currency for pricing global commodities.
China’s efforts to internationalise the yuan have produced gains, according to the People’s Bank of China’s 2026 RMB Internationalisation Report. The currency ranks second globally in trade financing, third in payments and fifth in foreign exchange trading.
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 15 ott - Antofagasta, a London-listed Chilean miner, said its copper production amounted to 151,900 metric tons in the third quarter of 2026, a 7% increase compared to the previous quarter, reflecting higher output at its Los Pelambres mine in Chile's Coquimbo region.
In the first nine months of the year, copper production fell by 8% compared to the year earlier to reach 436,900 tons as a result of lower grades at Centinela Concentrates and lower recoveries at Centinela Cathodes.
Gold production in the third quarter fell 4% compared to the previous qurater to 44,300 ounces and was 5% lower in the first nine months of 2026. Molybdenum production slipped by 6% compared to the second quarter to reach 2,900 tons and was 21% lower in the first nine months.
Net cash costs in the third quarter were 1.38 dollars per pound, 1% higher on a quarter-by-quarter basis. In the first nine months, net cash costs were 3% higher at 1.28 dollars a pound. "As inflationary pressures persist across the global economy, the group remains focused on supply chain resilience, disciplined cost control, operational excellence and project execution, alongside the benefit derived from by-product credits," Antofagasta said.
The miner confirmed its full year guidance for group copper production of 625,000-655,000 tons, its net cash cost guidance of 1.15-1.35 dollars per pound and its capital expenditure guidance of 3.4 billion dollars. It raised its group-level guidance for cash costs before by-product credits to 2.60-2.70 dollars a pound, up from previous guidance of 2.40-2.60 dollars a pound and reflecting global diesel prices remaining at elevated levels.
In 2027, Antofagasta projects group copper production of 630,000-690,000 tons, with higher copper grades at Los Pelambres partially offset by lower copper grades at.
The Chinese battery materials producer is negotiating to buy an 80% stake in the debt-ridden nickel smelter, a deal that could strengthen its position in Indonesia’s nickel processing industry.
China’s CNGR Advanced Material Co. is negotiating to acquire an 80% stake in Indonesia’s PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI), potentially expanding its presence in the country’s nickel smelting sector, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The acquisition could be completed after a court-ordered debt restructuring process at Gunbuster concludes early next year. However, negotiations remain ongoing, and there is no guarantee that a deal will be reached.
CNGR said it continues to evaluate potential strategic opportunities as part of its normal business operations but declined to comment specifically on the proposed acquisition, citing Gunbuster’s ongoing debt restructuring process. Gunbuster did not respond to requests for comment.
If completed, the transaction would position CNGR to compete more directly with Tsingshan Holding Group Co., another major Chinese player in Indonesia’s nickel industry. CNGR already holds controlling stakes in several Indonesian nickel smelters, including PT Nadesico Nickel Industry, located near Gunbuster.
Gunbuster’s financial troubles reshape the sector
Located on Sulawesi Island, Gunbuster was inaugurated in 2021 by then-president Joko Widodo and became a symbol of Indonesia’s rapid expansion into nickel processing. With an annual production capacity of approximately 1.8 million tonnes of nickel pig iron (NPI), it is among the country’s largest independent smelters.
However, the company has faced mounting challenges, including industry overcapacity, workplace accidents, some of them fatal, and production cuts last year. An Indonesian court placed Gunbuster under temporary debt payment suspension proceedings, known as PKPU, in June.
The company has also been affected by the restructuring of an affiliated business within China’s Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry group, formerly a major global stainless steel producer that subsequently went bankrupt.
The potential acquisition comes as Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel producer, accounts for more than 60% of global supply. Nickel is a key raw material for stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries, but tighter mining quotas and weaker demand have contributed to the closure of several smelters.
A successful takeover would give CNGR an opportunity to expand its existing Indonesian operations while bringing a financially troubled major smelter under new ownership.
The International Copper Study Group has projected that the worldwide refined copper market will stay in surplus through 2027, according to Mining Weekly. The group's forecast, issued on Wednesday, indicates the surplus will expand from roughly 104,000 metric tons in 2026 to 368,000 metric tons in 2027.
Refined copper production worldwide is expected to increase by approximately 0.4% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, the ICSG said. The higher output in 2027 is attributed to the ramp-up of smelters and refineries in Indonesia, India and the European Union.
Apparent refined copper usage is forecast to grow by about 1.5% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027. The group noted that global copper usage should continue to be underpinned by better manufacturing activity in certain key end-use sectors, ongoing demand linked to the energy transition, urbanisation and digitalisation, including data centres and artificial intelligence, as well as the build-out of new semiconductor production capacity in several countries. Asia is expected to remain the primary engine of global growth.
On the supply side, world copper mine production is projected to rise by 1.3% in 2026 and 3.1% in 2027, supported by the ramp-up of new and expanded mines and improved output in producing nations.
https://www.indexbox.io/blog/icsg-forecasts-widening-global-refined-copper-surplus-through-2027/
Iron Ore Prices Hit Two-Year Low on Weak China Demand, Rising Supply
Iron-ore prices declined for a third consecutive session on Thursday, reaching their lowest level in more than two years, according to Mining Weekly. The fall reflects ongoing concerns about weak demand in China, the top consumer of the steelmaking ingredient, alongside expectations of rising supply.
The most-traded iron-ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped 0.82% to 669 yuan, or $99.95, a ton as of 01:47 GMT, marking its lowest point since September 24, 2024. On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark November iron-ore contract was down 0.66% at $89.85 a ton as of 01:37 GMT, also its weakest since September 24, 2024.
Analysts at broker Zhengxin Futures noted in a report that downstream steel demand softened during the peak season, while iron-ore supply from the Simandou project in Guinea is expected to increase. They added that this, combined with declining freight rates, suggests potential for further downside in futures ore prices.
https://www.indexbox.io/blog/iron-ore-prices-hit-two-year-low-on-weak-china-demand-rising-supply/
BHP posts record iron ore exports as BHP stock trades at EUR 74.25
Published on 10/16/2026 at 10:28 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Iron ore volume sets the tone
BHP Group Limited stock was trading at EUR 74.25 at Lang & Schwarz on October 16, 2026 at 10:15 a.m. CEST. The latest operating signal is a record September-quarter iron ore shipment figure, while Morgan Stanley raised its 12-month target to A$69.
Hellenic Shipping News reported on October 16, 2026 that BHP exported 74.30Mt of iron ore from Western Australia in the September quarter, up 5.50 percent from the prior-year quarter. The volume was the highest fiscal first-quarter shipment figure described in the report.
