Metals: Copper +1.5% to $4.26lb, Iron ore +0.5% to...

Metals: Copper +1.5% to $4.26lb, Iron ore +0.5% to $217.0/t

Energy: Brent crude 0.0% to US$68.6/bbl, WTI +1.3% to US$67.2/bbl

Key overnight stock moves: BHP LND +1.9%, Rio Tinto LND +1.4%, S32 (LDN) +0.7%, AAL +0.7%, GLEN +2.0%, Vale +1.3%, AA +10.5%, Shell +0.6%, BP +0.6%, XOM +1.1%, Chevron +0.6%, COP +1.4%

Global Indices: S&P 500 +1.52%, DOW +1.62% & FTSE +0.54%

Iron ore price rises on disappointing figures by top producers. The iron ore price rose on Tuesday, boosted by disappointing figures by the world’s biggest producers. Vale churned out 75.7 million tonnes in the second quarter, compared to the 78 million tonnes average estimate among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. BHP said it would start a “major maintenance” campaign over the next three months at Port Hedland, its key iron ore loading facility in Western Australia. Lower than expected supply growth has helped prop up prices, which at more than $220 a tonne on Tuesday are delivering huge profits for iron ore producers. (Mining.com)

Iron ore supply will not increase significantly in the months ahead as the world’s biggest producers of the steelmaking raw material grapple with a range of issues from labour shortages to bad weather. Global miner BHP said early on Tuesday Australia time it would start a “major maintenance” campaign over the next three months at Port Hedland, its key iron ore loading facility in Western Australia. At the same time, Brazil’s Vale flagged up on Tuesday delays to the restarting of several operations, while Anglo American trimmed its iron ore sales guidance citing rail constraints and adverse whether in South Africa. (Financial Times)

BHP has warned that Chinese restrictions on Australian coal would “remain for a number of years” and joined Rio Tinto in signalling that iron ore supply could be soft in the months ahead. While BHP’s flagship iron ore division set a new export record in the year to June 30, its performance over the past three months was weaker than expected and sales over the past six months were almost 4 per cent weaker than the same period last year. (AFR)

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA produced slightly less iron ore than expected last quarter because of teething problems at a new plant in a fresh blow to an already tight global market for the steelmaking ingredient. The world’s second-largest iron producer churned out 75.7 million metric tons in the second quarter compared with the 78 million-ton average estimate among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The result was still up from both the previous three months and the Covid-impacted year-ago period. (Bloomberg)