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Commodities News

Up-to-date news on raw materials


FT Mercati provides subscribers with a dedicated commodities news bulletin to stay up-to-date.
Here is a selection of the latest news:

9/25/2025

A POSSIBLE ANTIDOTE TO CBAM PROBLEMS COULD BE REGIONAL ETS SYSTEMS

The development of regional ETSs could help address concerns about the EU CBAM, which will enter its final phase in January 2026.
Critics of the system point to flaws such as the 'scrap loophole' and the lack of coverage of downstream products, which threaten to undermine European competitiveness.
Countries such as Turkey, the UK, Serbia and Taiwan are developing their own ETS or CBAM schemes, often seeking alignment with the EU ETS.
According to some experts, if carbon pricing were applied in all jurisdictions, CBAM would become superfluous and revenues would remain in producing countries. In the APAC region, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and the Emirates are strengthening their carbon pricing systems. However, differences in cost calculation methods (e.g. facility-specific in the EU vs. national average in the US proposal) create complexity and risks of double counting.

9/25/2025

USAGE AND SUPPLY TRENDS IN JAN-JULY 2025 – ICSG

According to preliminary International Copper Study Group ( ICSG ) data, this are figures of copper world production and usage (thousand tonns) :
JAN-JULY-2025 :
world mine PRODUCTION (concentrates and SX-EW) = 13,477 ;
world mine CAPACITY = 16,960 ;
primary refined PRODUCTION (A) = 13,702 ;
secondary refind PRODUCTION (B) = 2,863 ;
Total A+B = 16,565 ;
world refined USAGE (C ) = 16,464 ;
balance A+B-C = 101 (surplus).

9/25/2025

BASKET OPEC PRELIMINARY PRICE

OPECNA, the news agency of OPEC, announced the OPEC Basket preliminary price
24 september = $ 70.79 /b (up from previous daily value)
(The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) introduced on 16 June 2005, is currently made up of the following: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia , UAE and Venezuela.

9/25/2025

FREEPORT DECLARES FORCE MAJEURE AT GRASBERG MINE

Freeport-McMoRan has announced force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia on Wednesday September 24 and said that copper output could be about 35% lower in 2026 than previously estimated.
The world’s second-largest copper mine was initially forecast to produce 1.7 billion pounds of copper in 2026, but was closed earlier this month following an incident.
The miner said it’s still assessing the full impact of the incident, but initial investigations suggest the deferral of significant production in the fourth quarter of this year and into 2026 while repairs are completed and a phased restart and ramp-up of operations commences.
Grasberg could potentially return to pre-incident production levels in 2027, Freeport said.

Mines that were not affected by the incident such as the Big Gossan and Deep MLZ mines are expected to restart operations by the middle of the fourth quarter this year, the company said, with the Grasberg Block Cave Mine expected to begin a phased restart in the first-half of 2026.
PTFI's fourth-quarter sales of copper will be insignificant, Freeport said, after initially forecasting sales of 445 million pounds of copper.
Freeport joins peers including Chile state miner Codelco which are grappling with copper output losses mostly from mines disruptions.
Codelco suspended operations at its El Teniente operation on July 31 after an underground tunnel collapsed, killing seven workers.
Copper miners including Anglo American, Glencore, Teck Resources and Ivanhoe Mines are also struggling to raise output due to poor grades, inadequate water supplies and seismic activities.
PRIOR TO THE GRASBERG INCIDENT, FASTMARKETS ESTIMATED THAT 497,000 TONNES OF COPPER WAS LOST SO FAR THIS YEAR DUE TO MINE DISRUPTIONS.

9/25/2025

MARKET SURPLUS IN JAN-JULY 2025 – ICSG

According to preliminary International Copper Study Group ( ICSG ) data, the world refined copper market in first 7 months of 2025 indicates a surplus of about 101,000 tonns. (preliminary data).
In same period, world copper mine production increasd by 3.4% YoY with mine output in Chile rose by 2.3% YoY, Peru increased by 3.3% YoY and in Congo grew by about 11.8% YoY.
Refined production increased by 3.9% YoY in first 7 months 2025, with primary production increased by 3.6% YoY and secondary production (from scraps) up by 5.4% YoY.
Finally, in jan-july period, world refined copper usage grew by 5.9% YoY.

9/25/2025

CHINA - INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND METALS IN AUGUST - NBS

According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the following are some indicators for industrial production operation on metals, recorded for the month of august:
THE VALUE-ADDED OF MANUFACTURE OF METAL PRODUCTS = august +2.8% YoY; jan-august +7.4% YoY;
OUTPUT OF PIG IRON (10,000 tons) = august absolute value 6979 million yuan (+1.0% YoY); jan-august absolute value 57907 million yuan (-1.1% YoY);
OUTPUT OF CRUDE STEEL (10,000 tons) = august absolute value 7737 million yuan (-0.7% YoY); jan-august absolute value 67181 million yuan (-2.8% YoY);
OUTPUT OF ROLLED STEEL (10,000 tons) = august absolute value 12277 million yuan (+9.7% YoY); jan-august absolute value 98217 million yuan (+5.5% YoY).