If January was characterised by mineral producers upping prices to cope with perceived hikes in energy and freight costs, then February can be characterised as a month in which the market heard news from all sources regarding mineral prices.
While markets keenly waited for the festivities in China to come to an end, other companies busied themselves by putting out forecasts on how they believed 2012 would shape up. Some were bullish (potash, ilmenite producers), while others were more cautious, no doubt catching a tailwind from the situation in the Eurozone.
Lithium
The end of January saw IM’s Lithium Supply and Markets conference take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, as ever, many conversations turned to mineral pricing. Some comments were angry; some were whimsical; others were outlandish. But everyone had an opinion on an assessment by Canadian consultancy TRU.
In an article published online by IM on 18...