Consulting analysts in tomorrow’s commodities and technologies

News

SOUTH AFRICA: NUM condemns ‘barbaric’ decision of some mines to remain open

  • Date: 01-04-20
  • Category: SOUTH AFRICA
  • Source: Daily Maverick

The NUM union is angry that some mines will operate during the 21-day lockdown. Meanwhile, some mining companies are paying basic salaries during this period and others are not. Flashpoints for conflict between capital and labour are emerging, as are tensions between the ANC-led government and its political base. And Saftu is also seeing red.

View full story

ESKOM: South African Wind Industry Queries Legality of Eskom’s Force Majeure

  • Date: 01-04-20
  • Category: ESKOM
  • Source: Bloomberg

South Africa’s wind energy producers are questioning the legality of a decision by the state-owned power utility to curtail purchases of their output due to low demand stemming from a national lockdown.

View full story

CHROME: Glencore’s chrome joint venture in South Africa with Merafe declares force majeure

  • Date: 01-04-20
  • Category: CHROME
  • Source: KFGO

LONDON (Reuters) - Glencore's chrome joint venture in South Africa with Merafe Resources has declared force majeure on qualifying contracts after a nationwide lockdown forced operations to shut, a Merafe executive said.

View full story

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: China Weighs Cuts to Electric-Car Subsidies It Just Extended

China, the biggest market for electric cars, is considering a reduction in rebates given to buyers and limits on the models that qualify even as it commits to extending the costly subsidy program for another two years.

View full story

AUTO SALES: Automakers Are About to Give an Inkling of the Sales Collapse Ahead

  • Date: 31-03-20
  • Category: AUTO SALES
  • Source: Bloomberg

A year that started off well for the U.S. auto market, with only a subtle down shift expected following years of strong demand, is suddenly shaping up to be a disaster.

View full story

COVID-19: Worker at Russia's Nornickel vessel tested positive for coronavirus

  • Date: 31-03-20
  • Category: COVID-19
  • Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - Russian nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel GMKN.MM said on Tuesday that a mechanic at one of its vessels tested positive for the coronavirus.

View full story

FUEL EFFICIENCY: Trump drops fuel-efficiency targets from 5% to 1.5%

The President of the USA, Donald Trump has just dramatically reduced emissions standards. These are now only required to increase by 1.5% each year through model year 2026 instead of the 5% annual increases introduced in 2012 by the Obama government.

View full story

HYDROGEN: Proudly South African hydrogen breakthrough with Shell’s backing

  • Date: 30-03-20
  • Category: HYDROGEN
  • Source: Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – At this time of huge coronavirus uncertainty, the chests of a group of engineers here must surely be bulging with pride following their major Proudly South African world breakthrough that could speed up the global deployment of hydrogen as a competitive universal and environment-friendly energy carrier.

View full story

Categories