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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:

5/8/2026

Huayou Cobalt acquires Atlantic Lithium for $210 million, strengthening China's African critical minerals grip

China's strategic push into Africa's critical minerals sector has advanced significantly with the announcement of a $210 million acquisition agreement whereby Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt will acquire Ghana-focused lithium developer Atlantic Lithium. The deal underscores Beijing's accelerating strategy to secure upstream control of battery metals essential for the global energy transition.

Under the transaction terms, Huayou Cobalt will acquire all issued shares of Atlantic Lithium at $0.25 per share, valuing the company at approximately $210 million. The acquisition targets Atlantic Lithium's flagship Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana, along with the company's exploration assets in Côte d'Ivoire, both recognized as emerging supply sources in West Africa's lithium belt, according to MiningWeekly.

Atlantic Lithium CEO Keith Muller commented on the proposal, stating that Huayou's acquisition acknowledges the Ewoyaa project as a highly attractive hard-rock lithium asset capable of serving growing global electric vehicle and energy storage markets. The Ewoyaa project formally entered global lithium production following Ghana's parliamentary ratification of the mining lease in March 2026, ending years of regulatory delays and granting Atlantic Lithium exclusive rights to mine and process lithium in the Central Region for an initial 15-year period.

Huayou Cobalt, already a major player in Africa's cobalt and nickel supply chains, described the acquisition as strengthening its position in new energy materials at a time when global demand for electric vehicles and energy storage systems continues to surge. The company positioned the transaction as a natural extension of its growing footprint across Africa's critical minerals landscape.

For Atlantic Lithium, the board indicated that the acquisition offer provides a more stable and de-risked development path forward amid lithium price volatility, financing pressures, and the complexities of developing the Ewoyaa project under existing joint venture arrangements. Atlantic Lithium's largest shareholder, Assore International Holdings, which holds approximately 26.4% of the company's issued shares, has endorsed the deal.

The acquisition further reflects China's broader strategy of consolidating control over Africa's critical minerals sector through acquisitions, equity investments, and long-term offtake agreements. China has rapidly expanded its dominance in Africa's mining sector, securing long-term control over critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and copper, giving Chinese firms a strong upstream position in global supply chains, particularly in battery metals.

The Ewoyaa project is expected to play a central role in positioning Ghana within global battery supply chains once fully developed. As global competition for battery metals intensifies, Africa is increasingly emerging as a key battleground in the race to secure resources powering the clean energy transition.

Source: Business Insider Africa, MiningWeekly

5/8/2026

Huayou Cobalt to Acquire Atlantic Lithium in A$292m All-Cash Deal

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt has agreed to acquire all issued shares of Atlantic Lithium through an Australian scheme of arrangement for A$0.354 per share in an all-cash transaction, valuing the company at approximately A$292m ($210m). The acquisition price represents a 26.6% premium over Atlantic Lithium's recent closing price of A$0.280 per share and a 21.8% premium over the 30-day volume weighted average price of A$0.291 per share.

The transaction, announced on May 8, 2026, is structured as a binding scheme implementation deed and validates the potential of Atlantic Lithium's Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana. Atlantic Lithium CEO Keith Muller stated that the company's board had undertaken a detailed evaluation of strategic options to maximize shareholder value on a risk-adjusted basis. Muller cited ongoing lithium price volatility, complex jurisdictional challenges, and timing and execution risks associated with financing, developing and operating the Ewoyaa project under current joint venture arrangements as key considerations.

The company's directors have committed to vote their shares, representing approximately 1.8% of issued shares, in favour of the scheme, subject to stated conditions. Assore International, which holds roughly 26.4% of Atlantic Lithium's issued shares, has also signaled its intention to support the scheme, provided no superior proposal emerges and an independent expert determines the scheme is in shareholders' best interests.

The transaction requires standard and additional conditions, including shareholder approval at a meeting scheduled for November 2026. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer will serve as Huayou's legal adviser in Australia, while Atlantic Lithium has engaged Canaccord Genuity as its financial adviser and HopgoodGanim Lawyers for legal advice.

Atlantic Lithium holds a portfolio of lithium projects spanning 509 square kilometres in Ghana and 771 square kilometres in Côte d'Ivoire, including under-explored and promising licences. The Ewoyaa Lithium Project's mining lease received Ghanaian parliamentary approval in March 2026, marking a significant milestone for the project.

Source: Mining Technology, May 8, 2026

5/8/2026

U.S. Stock Market Retreats from Records Amid Volatile Oil Prices and Iran War Uncertainty

The U.S. stock market pulled back from its recent record highs on Thursday as oil prices experienced significant volatility amid ongoing negotiations regarding the Iran war, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times.

Brent crude oil settled at $100.06 per barrel, down 1.2% on the day but continuing a decline from levels above $115 earlier in the week. The price swings reflected market uncertainty as Iran reviewed the latest U.S. proposals for ending the conflict. Brent briefly fell near $96 per barrel following comments from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson suggesting an agreement could come "sooner rather than later," with Pakistan mediating talks between the United States and Iran. However, the price later erased much of that decline and briefly topped $102.

The primary market concern centers on the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed due to the war. An end to the conflict could allow oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf to resume crude deliveries. Oil and gasoline prices remain substantially elevated compared to pre-war levels due to the strait's continued closure. Additionally, Iran has reportedly created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the strait, a move that could further increase shipping costs.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% from its all-time high established the previous day, closing at 7,337.11, down 28.01 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 313.62 points, or 0.6%, to 49,596.97, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 32.75 points to 25,806.20, declining 0.1% from its own record.

Despite the broader market decline, strong corporate earnings provided some support. Datadog surged 31.3% after the cloud monitoring and security platform exceeded profit expectations. Albemarle rose 3% following better-than-expected results from the lithium and specialty chemicals company. Axon Enterprise rallied 10.6% after raising its full-year revenue forecast, boosted by growth in counter-drone products.

On the downside, Whirlpool tumbled 11.9% after reporting significantly weaker results than analysts anticipated. The appliance maker is implementing its largest price increases in a decade for North American products while accelerating cost reductions amid weakening U.S. consumer confidence. Shake Shack dropped 28.3% after its quarterly results fell well below expectations. McDonald's slipped 0.1%, with CEO Chris Kempczinski noting that high gasoline prices and consumer anxiety over the Iran war could impact sales in the coming months.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose as oil prices pared their declines. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.38% from 4.36% the previous day, compared to 3.97% before the Iran war began. Higher yields can increase borrowing costs for households and businesses and tend to pressure stock valuations.

Economic data proved mixed. Initial jobless claims rose, though less severely than economists expected. Productivity growth for U.S. workers improved by only half the expected rate for the latest quarter.

Internationally, European stock markets declined, with London dropping 1.5% and Paris falling 1.2%. Japan's Nikkei 225, resuming trading after a holiday, surged 5.6% and has gained nearly 71% over the past 12 months, driven primarily by technology and semiconductor stocks benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom. Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at MONEX, cautioned that concentrated buying activity in leading AI and semiconductor stocks may constitute a "bubble."

Source: Los Angeles Times, reporting by Stan Choe (Associated Press)

5/8/2026

Nation Building Drives Persistent Energy Demand: Why Oil and Gas Remain Structural Economic Necessity

Energy demand does not follow linear trajectories or respond predictably to policy narratives. Instead, it responds to the fundamental requirements of nation building, reconstruction, and infrastructure development, according to analysis from Oil & Gas 360 contributor Greg Barnett, MBA, as part of the publication's Past Prologue Series.

The article challenges prevailing commentary that frames energy demand primarily through climate or transportation lenses, arguing instead that demand is fundamentally a nation-building problem. Reconstruction activities are inherently energy-intensive by definition. Roads, bridges, ports, housing, water systems, and power grids require diesel, asphalt, cement, steel, and heavy equipment to construct. Solar and wind power cannot currently provide the energy necessary to operate heavy construction equipment like Caterpillar excavators, meaning every post-conflict reconstruction, post-disaster recovery effort, and infrastructure hardening program initially runs on hydrocarbons, regardless of how the finished infrastructure is ultimately powered.

Historical precedent supports this observation. From European reconstruction after World War II to Asian recovery following the financial crisis, from Middle Eastern reconstruction after regional conflicts to domestic rebuilding efforts following natural disasters, energy demand rises before efficiency gains materialize. Electrification represents a downstream benefit, while construction represents an upstream reality that cannot be deferred.

The current global environment presents a distinctive challenge due to the breadth of simultaneous reconstruction efforts. Multiple regions are rebuilding concurrently: war-damaged states, aging Western infrastructure including airports and bridges, and emerging economies expanding basic services. Each region draws from the same global energy pool, and none can afford to delay rebuilding pending perfect policy alignment.

Demand modeling frequently falters at this juncture because analysts tend to isolate transportation fuels and extrapolate behavioral change patterns. This approach underweights industrial demand, petrochemicals, construction, and the energy requirements of resilience itself. Grid hardening, data capacity expansion, water supply security, and climate adaptation all require increased energy consumption before efficiency improvements can reduce it.

Oil-producing nations face their own structural imperatives that shape market behavior. OPEC+ countries function as states with populations, budgets, and social contracts rather than abstract supply nodes. Many nations directly fund employment, subsidies, and public services through hydrocarbon revenues. Their tolerance for prolonged price suppression is lower than in previous cycles, changing how they approach production decisions.

Spare production capacity is no longer treated as wasted potential but as strategic insurance. Production growth is paced against fiscal needs and political stability rather than market share considerations alone. Coordination among producers emerges naturally when they share incentives shaped by domestic political and economic realities.

Diplomacy has assumed a larger role in energy markets than commonly acknowledged. Energy trade functions as a tool of statecraft, with sanctions, tariffs, and access to financial systems shaping flows as significantly as geological factors. These tools do not eliminate demand but redirect it, fragment it, and increase friction, ultimately raising costs and changing behavior without erasing underlying energy requirements.

The resulting market structure is considerably more complex and less elastic than conventional narratives suggest. Rapid substitution scenarios often ignore timing considerations and the uneven scaling of alternatives. Infrastructure development lags behind technological ambition. Governments meanwhile require reliable power, affordable heat, and transport fuels that perform across all conditions. Energy transition, where successful, proceeds incrementally and unevenly rather than eliminating hydrocarbons on predetermined schedules.

The global economy is not choosing between oil and gas or alternatives in binary fashion. Instead, it is layering new energy systems atop existing infrastructure without destabilizing societies in the process. This layering is energy-additive before becoming energy-substitutive. Demand does not disappear due to inconvenience; it shifts, conceals itself, and reappears in locations that forecasting models are slow to recognize.

Nation building is not a temporary phase but a recurring condition operating on a global scale. Social programs, infrastructure maintenance, and quality-of-life improvements are all energy-dependent and cannot wait for policy consensus. The persistence of oil and gas market strength reflects not unclear future prospects but the demanding nature of current global conditions. Energy becomes embedded in concrete, steel, cities, and stability itself. Until rebuilding, resilience, and development cease mattering globally, crude oil and natural gas will remain structural features of the global economy rather than temporary anomalies.

Source: Oil & Gas 360

5/8/2026

UAE Deploys Ghost Tankers Through Hormuz Strait Amid Iran Blockade of Gulf Oil Exports

The United Arab Emirates is actively running crude oil tankers through the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz with automatic identification system (AIS) transponders deliberately disabled, mirroring tactics historically employed by sanctioned Iranian vessels to evade detection and international sanctions. This development represents a significant shift in the dynamics of the ongoing Hormuz crisis and global crude oil supply disruptions.

According to shipping data compiled by Reuters, industry sources, and satellite tracking intelligence, the Emirates National Oil Company (ADNOC) and associated Asian buyers successfully transported at least 6 million barrels of Upper Zakum and Das crude oil through the strategic chokepoint during April 2026 alone, utilizing four tankers operating without active transponder signals. This volume, while modest compared to pre-conflict export levels, demonstrates the willingness of market participants to assume operational risks posed by Iranian military assets to access trapped supply.

The specific vessel movements documented include the VLCC Hafeet, which loaded 2 million barrels of Upper Zakum crude within the Gulf on April 7 and transited through the strait by April 15, executing a ship-to-ship transfer to the Olympic Luck outside the strait for delivery to Malaysia's Pengerang refinery. The VLCC Aliakmon I transported 2 million barrels of Das crude and offloaded into Oman's Ras Markaz storage facility on April 27. Two Suezmax-class tankers, the Odessa and Zouzou N., each carrying 1 million barrels of Upper Zakum, sailed directly to South Korean refining facilities. All three Suezmax vessels are managed by Greece-based Dynacom Tankers Management.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz resulted from U.S.-Israeli military operations that commenced on February 28, 2026, following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran's subsequent closure of Hormuz to non-Iranian traffic has effectively bottled up approximately one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply. A subsequent U.S. blockade targeting Iranian ports implemented in April has contributed to crude oil prices surpassing $100 per barrel. ADNOC has been compelled to reduce exports by more than 1 million barrels per day from the 3.1 million barrels per day shipped in 2025, according to data from Kpler.

Iran has responded to these transit attempts with military action. On May 3, 2026, the UAE accused Iran of deploying drones to strike the empty ADNOC tanker Barakah while transiting the strait. Two drone strikes impacted the vessel, with no casualties reported. Despite this incident, ADNOC notified customers in late April that Das and Upper Zakum crude cargoes could load in May via ship-to-ship transfers at Fujairah and Oman's Sohar port, indicating the company's intention to continue attempting transit operations.

Other Gulf producers face more constrained circumstances. Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar have either suspended sales, applied deep price discounts to attract reluctant buyers, or significantly reduced market communication regarding available supply. Saudi Arabia is rerouting crude through the Red Sea to circumvent Hormuz transit requirements. The UAE remains the sole Gulf producer actively attempting to move crude through the blockaded strait, effectively implementing high-risk transport strategies to maintain export capacity.

Industry analysts characterize the situation as a structural shift rather than a temporary disruption. The persistence of Hormuz blockade conditions will likely continue until either significant diplomatic de-escalation occurs or the conflict undergoes material escalation. Each successful barrel transit represents a marginal victory against severely constrained global crude oil supplies and underscores the precarious state of the international energy infrastructure.

5/8/2026

CFTC Investigates $7 Billion in Suspicious Oil Short Bets Timed Before Trump Announcements

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched an investigation into short oil bets totaling $7 billion, placed in March and April preceding statements by President Donald Trump that resulted in significant oil price declines, according to reporting by Reuters citing exchange data and unnamed trading sources.

Earlier reports had pegged the suspiciously timed bets at $2.6 billion total, Reuters noted, adding that the investigation has prompted warnings from the U.S. administration to staff regarding the use of non-public information for personal financial gain.

According to the latest report, the bets were executed across crude oil and fuel futures contracts on the Intercontinental Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, encompassing Brent crude, West Texas Intermediate, gasoline, and diesel futures.

The first documented suspicious short bet occurred on March 23, minutes before President Trump announced he would delay missile strikes on Iranian power infrastructure. A subsequent round of bets took place on April 7, immediately preceding Trump's announcement of a ceasefire agreement with Tehran. This announcement triggered a 15% decline in crude oil prices. Additional suspicious trading activity occurred on April 17 prior to reports about negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Another significant instance involved a $430 million short bet on crude oil futures placed on April 21, just 15 minutes before President Trump announced the indefinite extension of the ceasefire previously agreed with Iran earlier in April. This announcement resulted in Brent crude declining from over $100 to below $97 per barrel.

In response to the Reuters investigation, a White House spokesperson stated that all federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines prohibiting the use of non-public information for financial benefit.

Source: Reuters, OilPrice.com