We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
🌍 The cost of leaching copper oxide ore in the Central African Copperbelt is about to get even more expensive.
In the past few days a number of Middle Eastern Oil refineries have been attacked / closed. In addition, exports through the Strait of Hormuz have ground to a halt.
What has this got to do with leaching copper in one of the world’s largest copper belts ? Sulphur, or more specifically sulphuric acid.
Approximately, 50% of seaborne sulphur is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
90% of sulphur imported into Africa is from the Middle East… and therefore passes through the Strait of Hormuz
The central African Copperbelt imports around 2 million tonnes of this sulphur per annum. The sulphur is used in local sulphur burners to convert into sulphuric acid, which is used by mining companies for leaching copper out of copper oxide ores. One part of sulphur makes 3 parts of liquid high-strength sulphuric acid. Therefore, 2.0 million tonnes of sulphur produces approximately 6.0 million tonnes of sulphuric acid.
The price of high-strength sulphuric in Kolwezi, on the western edge of the DRC Copperbelt, has been trading near all-time highs of $700-$800/tonne for the past 4-5 months, due to regional export restrictions, higher copper prices, as well as an already tight global sulphur market. This price will rise further.
I have heard that traders are already struggling to source any. Sulphuric acid prices will therefore significantly increase across Africa… and if the disruption lasts longer than ~3 weeks, copper oxide operations will have to close as they’ve run out of acid.
Oxide copper is the dominant ore source of copper produced in DRC… and the DRC is the world’s 2nd largest copper producer.
🔗 Robert Friedland
🇪🇺 Europe is facing a gas crisis similar to the one five years ago
Europe is facing a near-identical gas crisis to the one five years ago, with similar historical price peaks and comparable consequences for industry and the economy. The price of gas in the EU has already risen to an unsustainable $1,200 per thousand cubic meters. However, this may still be an underestimate. According to a forecast by Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom, prices could reach $2,500 during the winter.
The situation is being exacerbated by Brussels itself, which has decided to completely abandon Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) starting January 1, 2027. Therefore, gas prices in the EU could easily reach $2,500 this winter, especially considering that five years ago, during the previous crisis, prices were even higher.
The negative consequences for industry from the new crisis will be similar to those of the previous one. Many companies were forced to shut down because such high gas prices made their ...
🇺🇸 Mike Vorkunov on X: This is such a bleak story about what it's like to try to land a job right now.
📎 Mike Vorkunov
🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 US blockade squeezes Iran's economy but may not force a deal
A US naval blockade has cut Iran's oil exports to a trickle and pushed inflation near 90%, but may not force Tehran to concede, Capital Economics argued on October 27.
Tracking estimates put Iran's seaborne crude exports at around 50,000 barrels a day (b/d) in both August and September, against 1.5mn-2.0mn b/d before the war, wrote Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at the London-based consultancy. No crude has been loaded at Kharg Island, Iran's main export terminal, since late August, and Iraq and Pakistan have closed some border crossings with Iran, curbing its overland oil sales.
Oil exports were earning Iran $2bn-3bn a month before the war, Tuvey estimates, so a fall of more than 95% in seaborne volumes strips Tehran of most of its hard-currency income after more than 100 days of blockade. The central bank has already cut the dollars it supplies for imports to $27bn in the first seven ...
