Iron ore prices drifted higher this week, the most-traded contract completed its rollover, and the I2609 contract hit an intraweek high of 727 yuan/mt. The price moves were driven mainly by news-related disruptions rather than a substantive improvement in fundamentals. First, BHP’s Port Hedland strike negotiations remained at a stalemate; the 24-hour strike originally scheduled to start on August 9 was postponed to August 18 after consultations, which lifted sentiment somewhat but had a limited impact on actual shipments. Second, market rumors that long-term contract negotiations had started triggered temporary concerns about tight supply of medium- and low-grade ore. At the macro level, the central bank conducted 500 billion yuan of outright reverse repo operations at the beginning of the month, signaling looser liquidity and offering warm sentiment support to the market. Fundamentals continued to be weak: extreme weather triggered by Typhoon Dolphin disrupted end-user construction and further weakened steel demand; steel mills became more cautious in procurement; spot market trading was sluggish; and the rise in iron ore prices lacked strong demand-side support. Chart: MMI 61% Port Spot Index Source: SMM This week, China’s iron ore concentrate prices showed mixed performance with pronounced regional divergence. Prices in Tangshan, Qian'an, and Qianxi in Hebei were basically stable; Chaoyang, Beipiao, and Jianping in western Liaoning also remained steady; east China saw prices edge down by 10-15 yuan/mt. In the Tangshan area, the tax-inclusive EXW price of 66% grade iron ore concentrate on a dry basis was quoted at 950-955 yuan/mt, with prices weakening slightly. On the supply side, resources at mine and beneficiation plants remained tight, but had eased somewhat compared with earlier, and overall supply trended looser; mines in other regions mostly maintained normal production according to plan. On the demand side, steel mills mainly purchased as needed, and some mills had already formulated new maintenance plans, weakening rigid demand support for iron ore concentrate; meanwhile, steel mills showed a strong desire to bargain down prices, and the price spread between domestic and imported ore was narrowing. Overall, China’s iron ore prices remained relatively stable this week. Chart: The price spread between domestic and imported ore narrowed slightly this week, and is expected to widen slightly next week Outlook for Next Week Imported Ore: Looking ahead to next week, iron ore prices may continue to move sideways in a narrow range, with both upward and downward drivers insufficient. Fundamentals-wise , end-use demand is unlikely to improve in the near term: new typhoons will continue to form and may affect China, downstream construction pace will continue to be disrupted, and with hot metal output staying low, steel mills’ rigid consumption demand for iron ore will be hard to expand. On the supply side, there is an expectation of supply growth; overseas mines still have room to boost shipments; port inventories may accumulate further, capping the upside for ore prices. News side , the progress of strike negotiations at BHP's Port Hedland and rumors around long-term contract talks may still cause periodic disruptions to market sentiment, but given their limited impact on actual supply and demand, they are unlikely to drive trend-like price fluctuations. Overall, the market currently lacks clear directional contradictions, and iron ore prices may move sideways in a narrow range next week. Domestic ore: Looking ahead to next week, domestic iron ore concentrate resources are expected to remain tight. Demand side, there are expectations for production resumptions at some steel mills. Combined with the recent rise in imported ore spot prices, the price spread between domestic and imported ore has continued to narrow. Meanwhile, iron ore futures are showing relative strength, which may lend some support to domestic ore prices. However, domestic ore price gains are expected to lag those of imported ore, and the price spread between domestic and imported ore is likely to continue narrowing.

A Russian strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on August 11 killed seven employees of the Zaporizhstal steel plant. Parent company Metinvest Group said production at the plant had come to a complete halt, while other damaged facilities were operating at reduced capacity.

According to foreign media reports, step-out drilling at the Nyungu Central deposit within Zambia’s Mumbezhi Copper Project has returned further copper intersections, extending a newly identified mineralised zone southeast beyond the boundaries of the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).​ Recent drilling returned 65.8 m grading 0.42% copper from 226 m, including higher-grade intervals of 17.0 m at 0.58% copper and 13.2 m at 0.82% copper. A separate intersection returned 29.6 m grading 0.34% copper from 237 m, including 5.2 m at 0.80% copper. The results extend the known copper system outside the current resource estimate and provide additional targets for continued exploration.​ A total of 16 Phase 3 diamond drill holes covering 4,723 m have so far been completed at the southern end of Nyungu Central, while priority assay results remain pending for seven holes. In addition, a 6,200 m infill diamond drilling programme commenced at Nyungu Central in late July, supported by an additional drill rig now on site.​ Exploration is also continuing across the wider Mumbezhi Project, with four diamond drill rigs currently operating. Three are focused on Nyungu Central, while another is drilling at the regional Sharamba prospect, where exploration is targeting shallow copper mineralisation associated with a strong airborne electromagnetic anomaly. Visual copper mineralisation has been observed in five holes drilled along approximately 700 m of strike on the western side of the anomaly.​ The latest intersections further extend the known copper mineralisation beyond the existing Nyungu Central resource boundaries, while several priority assay results remain outstanding. Continued step-out and infill drilling will provide further indications of the scale and continuity of the mineralised system and its potential to support future resource expansion at Mumbezhi.

SMM Africa Chromium Market | 2000–2025 Production Review Introduction South Africa's chrome industry is built on a paradox that has only deepened over the past 25 years. The country holds more than 40% of the world's chrome ore reserves, yet its ability to convert that endowment into higher-value ferrochrome has steadily eroded even as raw ore output has climbed to record levels. Between 2000 and 2025, chrome ore production nearly quadrupled, while ferrochrome output — after peaking mid-cycle — is estimated to end the period below where it started. This report traces that 25-year arc era by era, from the integrated, smelting-led industry of the early 2000s through the financial crisis, the commodity super cycle, a decade of Eskom load-shedding, the COVID-19 shock, and the logistics and power crises of 2022–2025 that have left the domestic ferrochrome sector at its most constrained point on record. The story that emerges is less about geology than about cost structure and infrastructure — and it sets the context for where South Africa's chrome value chain goes from here. Figure 1 Figure 2 2000–2007: An Integrated, Dominant Industry South Africa entered the millennium as the undisputed leader of the global chrome value chain. Chrome ore output rose from 6,662kt in 2000 to 9,665kt in 2007, while ferrochrome production grew from 2,574kt to 3,561kt over the same period. By the early 2000s, roughly 90% of domestically mined chrome ore was smelted locally into ferrochrome, supported by an electricity-intensive refining base built on cheap apartheid-era power. China's urbanization-driven stainless steel boom pulled demand steadily higher through the decade, though early power-supply strain toward the mid-2000s signaled the disruption to come. 2008–2010: Financial Crisis and a Sharp Rebound The global financial crisis cut ferrochrome output from 3,561kt in 2007 to 2,346kt in 2009, a 34% peak-to-trough decline — as furnace shutdowns tied to the 2008 crisis spread across the sector. Chrome ore followed a similar path, falling to 6,865kt in 2009 before both products rebounded sharply in 2010 (10,871kt ore; 3,607kt ferrochrome) on the back of China's stimulus-led steel recovery. This period also marked a structural inflection: South Africa remained the world's dominant ferrochrome producer only until 2010, after which China's rise began reshaping the industry. 2011–2014: Peak Volumes, First Signs of Smelting Strain Chrome ore output climbed from 11,865kt to 14,038kt across this period, while ferrochrome stagnated, dipping to 3,063kt in 2012 after a forced power buy-back agreement curtailed 40% of one major producer's capacity between December 2012 and March 2013. By 2012, China had overtaken South Africa as the world's largest ferrochrome producer, a lead it would not relinquish. Ore mining nonetheless proved resilient through South Africa's five-month platinum strike in 2014, since ferrochrome producers with captive chromite mines saw little disruption to output. 2015–2019: Load-Shedding Entrenches the Chrome Ore–Ferrochrome Split This is where the divergence between the two products becomes unmistakable. Chrome ore rose almost every year, from 15,656kt to 17,661kt, while ferrochrome fell from 3,650kt to 3,188kt, a 12.7% decline. Eskom's rolling blackouts, which reached stage 4 in February 2019 and a first-ever stage 6 in December 2019, hit smelters hardest, since large industrial users such as smelters were first in line for curtailment and risked furnace damage from unplanned shutdowns. Ore mining, unconstrained by the same continuous-power requirement, kept growing. 2020–2021: Pandemic Shock, V-Shaped Recovery COVID-19 delivered the sharpest single-year contraction on record. Chrome ore fell 25% to 13,197kt and ferrochrome fell 25% to 2,404kt in 2020, as South Africa's 21-day national lockdown forced mines and smelters into care and maintenance and Transnet suspended rail and port operations. It was in this year that government first proposed a chrome ore export tax, in October 2020, aimed at protecting domestic smelting. Both products rebounded sharply in 2021, ore up 39% to 18,381kt, ferrochrome up 29% to 3,110kt — as demand normalized. 2022–2025: Logistics Gridlock, Record Chinese Demand, and a 2025 Power Crisis That Gutted the Smelting Base Chrome ore output extended its run through this period, 19,105kt (2022), 19,669kt (2023), an estimated 23,000kt (2024) and 24,000kt (2025) — as Transnet's rail and port underperformance pushed exporters toward road routes, with Maputo handling more than half of South Africa's chrome exports by 2023. China remained the anchor of demand, sourcing over 80% of its chrome ore imports from South Africa even as its own smelters overtook South Africa's as the world's largest ferrochrome producers. Ferrochrome, by contrast, entered outright collapse. After holding near 2,900–3,300kt through 2022–2024, output is estimated to have fallen to just 1,600kt in 2025 — the lowest level in the 25-year series. The proximate cause was a full-blown power-cost crisis: electricity tariffs for smelters rose more than 900% since 2008, driving South Africa's ferrochrome smelter fleet down from a peak of 66 to just 11 operational units — an 83% shutdown rate — as Glencore-Merafe suspended its Boshoek, Wonderkop and Lion smelters in 2025 and initiated formal retrenchment proceedings. Government has since negotiated a discounted 62c/kWh tariff for major producers in an attempt to bring idled capacity back online, but the scale of 2025's contraction underscores how acute the crisis became. Bottom Line Across 25 years, South Africa's chrome ore output has grown almost fourfold, from 6,662kt to an estimated 24,000kt, while ferrochrome production has round-tripped from 2,574kt to an estimated 1,600kt — below where it started. The divergence is not a resource story: South Africa's reserve base remains the world's largest. It is a cost and infrastructure story — electricity pricing, grid reliability, and rail/port logistics have progressively priced domestic smelting out of the market, shifting the country's role from processor to raw material supplier for China's expanding ferrochrome industry. Whether the new electricity tariff framework can meaningfully reverse this by restoring idled smelter capacity, rather than simply stabilizing what remains, will define the next chapter.

At 8:00 a.m. on August 11, Chile local time, the Prillex plant of explosives supplier Enaex, located in Mejillones, Chile, officially commenced a lawful strike. A total of 89 union members participated in the strike and blockaded the plant entrance, temporarily disrupting traffic on nearby roads. The plant produces ammonium nitrate, an essential raw material for blasting agents used at copper mines in northern Chile. Enaex stated that it has taken measures to ensure client deliveries, and production is currently being maintained by non-striking employees and an emergency team.

Perpetua Resources announced on the 6th that it has delineated multiple gold-antimony exploration targets at the Stibnite project in Idaho, potentially expanding the permitted pit boundaries, and has identified tungsten ore clues, according to Mining.com. Tungsten is a critical mineral with the highest melting point of all metals and extremely high density, making it an indispensable material for heavy industry, aerospace engineering, advanced electronics, and weapons such as armor-piercing projectiles. The US ceased tungsten production in 2015. The US had been mining tungsten ore, but low tungsten prices made it difficult to profit from continued mining. "Our focus is on drilling areas that align with the currently planned mining sequence and have the potential to directly add value," said Jon Cherry, CEO of Perpetua Resources. "Our priority target is to confirm higher-grade gold-antimony zones within the three permitted pits, supplement our current Stibnite gold project resources, and sustain or exceed our estimated annual target of 463,000 ounces after four years of production." The company stated that recent drilling between the Yellow Pine and West End pits continues to show significant indications of new ore bodies, including multiple high-grade gold intercepts and a new gold-tungsten discovery. Significant high-grade gold mineralization, including a gold-tungsten occurrence, was encountered at the Clark Tunnel Fault Zone (CTFZ) on the southeastern margin of the planned Yellow Pine pit. Perpetua Resources noted that drilling underway at the CTFZ also intersected the tungsten-bearing mineral scheelite. Huckleberry Fault Zone (HFZ) Gold mineralization was encountered in multiple wide-spaced drill holes and surface samples at the HFZ. Immediately adjacent to the Yellow Pine pit boundary, the HFZ is over 100 meters wide and has been traced along strike for 500 meters, with historical data suggesting the potential for high-grade lenses. At the Hangar Flats deposit, drilling of the NDMEA segment again discovered high-grade gold, while drilling at the Hangar Flats deposit targeting critical minerals encountered significant antimony and tungsten mineralization. Perpetua Resources indicated that these results collectively point to increased potential for expansion beyond the current resource envelope. The project currently hosts indicated and inferred gold resources of 3.1 million ounces and 99.8 million pounds of antimony. These targets are all based on previous drilling, historical mining activity, and recently delineated prospectivity areas across the entire property, and the company noted that any activities beyond the currently permitted footprint would be subject to additional regulatory review.

Metalsource Mining has started a new drilling phase at its Silver Hill Project in North Carolina, targeting strike and down-plunge extensions of polymetallic mineralisation intersected in Hole SH26-07. The hole previously returned 12.62m grading 3,786g/t silver equivalent, including 6.95m at 6,730g/t silver equivalent and 2.74m at 16,604g/t silver equivalent; the latter interval included 209.1g/t gold. The company said the results also showed notable silver, lead and zinc concentrations. New drill platforms west of the current drilling area will test the interpreted deep extension of the polymetallic system and mineralisation along strike and at depth. Drilling will also shift temporarily to the eastern area to test the up-dip extension of gold-rich mineralisation between SH26-07, SH26-05 and SH25-02. Metalsource is working toward a first mineral resource estimate planned for early 2027, while stressing that the current data are preliminary, insufficient to define a mineral resource, and subject to further drilling and pending analytical results.

Iron ore futures trended weaker today. The most-traded DCE I2609 contract closed at 713.5 yuan/mt, down 0.35% from the previous trading session. Spot prices at Qingdao Port averaged down about 0-2 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Trader activity was low, and steel mills were in a strong wait-and-see mood; overall spot volumes have been low so far. Iron ore supply was basically stable this week. SMM data showed that global iron ore shipments totaled 32.24 million mt last week, flat WoW. China's iron ore port arrivals reached 29.68 million mt, edging down 2% WoW. On the news front, the strike at Port Hedland continued to escalate. So far, about 150 workers have joined the strike, but the short-term overall impact on iron ore supply is limited, so market reaction has been muted. Taking all factors into account, aside from the background of iron ore oversupply and weak fundamentals, there is no strong unilateral dominant factor in the iron ore market currently. Therefore, in the short term, iron ore prices are expected to continue to consolidate on a subdued note. [SMM Steel]

Yemen's Houthi movement said on August 9 that it had launched a drone attack on Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery in Saudi Arabia, which has a crude processing capacity of around 400,000 barrels per day. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said the resulting fire was later extinguished with no injuries, while no specific supply losses have been reported. The Houthis also launched missile and drone strikes on Yemen's Mocha port near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, further increasing security risks for energy and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. If shipping risks in the Red Sea continue to escalate, higher war-risk insurance premiums, bunker fuel costs and potential rerouting expenses could push up international coal freight rates and CFR landed costs.

Industrial action at BHP’s Port Hedland iron ore operations in Western Australia expanded further on August 9, with around 100 additional workers joining a 24-hour stoppage, bringing the total number of participating workers to about 150. The action followed a 24-hour ship-loading halt on August 8. Port Hedland is the world’s largest iron ore export hub, while BHP ships around US$80 million worth of iron ore through the port each day, increasing concerns over potential short-term disruptions to seaborne iron ore supply. However, BHP said vessels continued to be loaded during the strike, while rival miners Fortescue and Hancock Prospecting are not expected to be affected by the industrial action. BHP and the unions are scheduled to resume negotiations on August 18 over a proposed four-year bargaining agreement.