Industrial Minerals

Middle East & North Africa

• Global oil and gas exploration up 9% in January Tuesday, February 07, 2012

  US continues to drive global rig count, boosting demand for oilfield minerals Read More

• IM Global Lithium Roundup: 27 January - 3 February Friday, February 03, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s lithium stories in the news Read More

• IM Global Rare Earths Roundup: 27 January - 3 February Friday, February 03, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s rare earth stories in the news Read More

• Baltic Dry Index crashes to 25-year lows Thursday, February 02, 2012

  Further falls mean charter rates drop below operating costs; China bans Valemaxes Read More

• Phosphate rock prices forecast to drop 25% in 2012 Thursday, February 02, 2012

  New Middle East supply and economic uncertainty push down prices - Credit Suisse Read More

• Oman mineral-focused port preparing for early operations Tuesday, January 31, 2012

  Port offers to help investors delineate extraction zones and obtain permits Read More

• Beleaguered shipping rates decline further Thursday, January 26, 2012

  Fall in Baltic Dry Index continues, despite Vale lifting flooding force majeure Read More

• Industrial Minerals Prices February 2012 February 2012

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• Price Briefing: New Year, new price - minerals respond to fluctuating world markets February 2012

  The start of the year saw many mineral grades increasing in value as producers upped their prices to cope with hikes in energy, freight and tight global market fundamentals Read More

• Afghanistan’s mineral plan February 2012

  With its position at the heart of Central Asia, and significant mineral resources including lithium and rare earths, Afghanistan holds vast potential for attracting private sector investment, Vasili Nicoletopoulos reveals Read More

• People and places February 2012 February 2012

  Gordon Stollery, Canada Fluorspar; Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Solvay; Akiva Mozes, Israel Chemicals; Ron Bryan, Compass Minerals; John A. Clarke, Great Quest Metals; Mario Juarez, Lithium One; Daniel Greenwell, Tronox Read More

• Projects in the Pipeline: Kaolin bounces back February 2012

  It has been a difficult couple of years for kaolin as the global recession spread to its end user markets, but a recent recovery in demand has also encouraged a surge of new operations and exploration projects Read More

• Global steel production rose 6.8% in 2011 driven by China Monday, January 23, 2012

  Turkey, South Korea and Italy show robust growth; signs of slowdown at year-end Read More

• Baltic Dry Index sinks to three-year lows Thursday, January 19, 2012

  Shipping rates drop 40% in 2012, no recovery seen until after Chinese New Year Read More

• IM Global Lithium Roundup: 6-13 January Friday, January 13, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s lithium stories in the news Read More

• Price Briefing: Energy costs drive up soda ash prices December 2011

  Soda ash prices continued their march upwards as European-based market participants placed the price at a €10/tonne premium to levels seen in the last quarter. Read More

• Diary Dates December 2011 December 2011

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• High purity limestone quest December 2011

  Reconnaissance assessments are one of the first steps in identifying new commercial mining projects. Clive Mitchell outlines the British Geological Survey’s recent evaluation of high purity limestone deposits worldwide, including in the Middle East Read More

• Calcium carbonate’s polymer promise December 2011

  Mineral fillers offer cost reduction – and sometimes enhanced properties – to polymer formulations. Siddhartha Roy outlines ground calcium carbonate’s changing role in the growing polymer market Read More

• Cristal plans Saudi Ti-slag plant for 2013 December 2011

  Cristal Global is planning to build a 500,000 tpa titanium slag operation in Saudi Arabia which could double capacity if the market required, the company told delegates at last month’s TZMI Congress in Hong Kong. Read More

• RPMinerals – evolution of bentonite, barytes business November 2011

  IM talked with Ahmed Rasheed and Frank Wright about RPMinerals and how Egypt is “perfectly placed” to service the global market Read More

• Pigment pragmatism November 2011

  Demand recovery for titanium dioxide is brisk, mainly driven by China, but needy capacity expansions are hindered by continuing insecurity of adequate feedstock supply, which is driving up prices. The time has come for a pragmatic understanding of the symbiotic relationship between feedstock and pigment players Read More

• Supply Situation Report: Fluorspar producers eye vertical integration November 2011

  Global fluorspar production recovered to pre-recession volumes in 2010, with output surging to 6.01m. tonnes from 5.55m. tonnes the previous year Read More

• Saudi Arabia’s Adwan Chemical doubles silica sand capacity November 2011

  Adwan Chemical Industries Co. (ACIC), one of the leading suppliers of silica sand in Saudi Arabia, announced in October that it had doubled the capacity of its silica sand operations this year in a response to sharp global demand for its products Read More

• Qatar to unlock EVs with LNG blueprint October 2011

  Qatar Automotive Gateway to use partnerships to develop its advanced battery sector to position itself for an electric vehicle future Read More

• WTO is no quick fix for rare earths October 2011

  World Trade Organization is no short term solution for rare earth supply crisis Read More

• Natural graphite faces battle for Li-ion's share October 2011

  Debate continues over whether to use natural flake or synthetic graphite in lithium-ion batteries Read More

• Iraq opens up for mineral business October 2011

  Iraq found to have the world’s second largest phosphate rock reserves after Morocco, along with significant sulphur, limestone, high-purity silica sand, and salt deposits according to a study by the USGS and its Iraqi counterpart Geosurv Read More

• Soda ash bounces back September 2011

  The revival of commodity markets and new demand in developing regions has stimulated soda ash sales to pre-recession highs; but recovery is built on muted Chinese competition, which threatens to make a return Read More

• Symphos aims to boost phosphate innovation June 2011

  Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), one of the world’s leading phosphate producers, launched Symphos: the first international symposium on innovation and technology in the phosphate industry, held in Marrakech last month. Read More

• “The idea is to shift from a technical to an industrial organisation” June 2011

  INTERVIEW: Amar Drissi, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the world’s leading phosphate producer, OCP, talked to IM about the opening strategy to create Symphos, a phosphate symposium, and about the changes faced by the phosphate industry Read More

• Saudi group Ma’aden makes first magnesia shipment to Europe June 2011

  Saudi Arabia’s much evaluated and long-promised source of magnesia has finally come to fruition and is expected to hit the European market in early June. Read More

• Magnesia’s phoenix & flyers May 2011

  Rising demand for magnesia amid Chinese supply concerns has ignited optimism and opportunity for eastern European and Middle East players both old and new Read More

• Al-Damkhy limestone April 2011

  Jordan’s Eagle Mining plans to produce high grade calcium carbonate by the beginning of 2012 at its Al-Damkhy deposit located in the western part of Jordan Read More

• GCC chases Asian paper April 2011

  Rising demand from papermakers drives GCC growth which sees Europe and North America tailing behind Asia Read More

• North Africa crisis spreads concern over Indian fertilisers April 2011

  The wind of rebellion, which began to blow at the end of 2010 across North Africa and the Middle East sparking some of the most significant political change and potential reforms to hit the region for some time, has already impacted phosphate supply in the region, and is now causing concern in markets further afield Read More

• Evaluating sovereign risk March 2011

  Emerging regions offer enticing mineral prospects, but project risk may deter companies willing to invest overseas. Jeff Loehr outlines the pitfalls of sovereign risk and how it can be accurately measured Read More

• Supply Situation Report: Barytes sun sets in China March 2011

  Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy has been a bestseller in popular nonfiction in recent years. In his 2005 book, Matt Simmons factually and objectively laid out the case for the impact of peak oil in Saudi Arabia and the near and far term consequences to global economies Read More

• Saluting the forces of change March 2011

  Impact of spreading unrest across North Africa in mineral markets Read More

• Unrest prompts Tunisia to stop phosphate production March 2011

  As a result of the political crises sweeping North Africa, production of phosphate rock and fertiliser products ceased in Tunisia at the end of January Read More