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Saudi Arabian crude exports drop to a four-month low during July
Saudi Arabian crude oil exports fell to their lowest level since four months in July, according data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Monday. The world's biggest oil exporter has seen its crude exports fall to 5,994 million barrels a day from 6,141 million bpd, the lowest level since March 20,25. Saudi Arabia's crude production for July fell to 9.201 million barrels per day (bpd) from the 9.752 in June. The data revealed that the crude throughput of Saudi refineries was 2.978 millions bpd. This is up 10% from June, when it was 2.703million bpd. Direct crude burning, however, decreased by 674,000 to 608,000 bpd. JODI publishes the monthly export figures of Saudi Arabia, and other OPEC members. Eight members of OPEC+ have agreed earlier this month to increase oil production in October by 137,000 bpd. This is a much smaller increase than the monthly increases in September and August of approximately 555,000 bpd and 411,000 bpd, respectively, and in July and June of 411,000 bpd. Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq are the eight members. Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman is also a member. The International Energy Agency has said that world oil supply is expected to rise faster this year. A surplus could grow in 2026, as OPEC+ member countries increase their output and the supply from outside of the group increases. (Reporting and editing by Anushree mukherjee, Bengaluru)
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Wall Street is expected to open lower following Trump's visa crackdown. Rate outlook in focus
Wall Street opened lower on Monday, as investors were cautious about whether geopolitical worries could offset the Federal Reserve's loosening of monetary policy. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were both down about 0.3%. Donald Trump announced on Friday that U.S. firms would have to pay $100,000 in order to obtain new H-1B visas. This could be a blow for the U.S. technology sector, which is dominant. Investors can expect to hear from several Fed officials as the markets wait for the Fed's preferred inflation indicator on Friday. Luxury carmakers, regional banks and weak demand for EVs hampered Europe’s markets Monday. Porsche and Volkswagen's parent company both cut their profit estimates after delaying the launch of EVs. The euro zone banks are down about 1%, and Spain's Sabadell is down more than 3%. This comes after BBVA announced that it had increased its offer for the bank to 3,39 euros per share by 10%. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index fell 0.2%, with Spanish stocks down more than 1% and German markets down by 0.6%. MSCI's broadest world stock index was also little changed. India's benchmark stock index fell by 0.6% after Trump's announcements regarding new H-1B visas. India's $283-billion information technology sector will feel the impact in the short term. More than half of its revenue comes from the U.S. Trump also increased tariffs last month on Indian imports to up to 50% in part due to New Delhi purchasing Russian oil. Stocks in China were choppy, even though Trump claimed that he and Chinese president Xi Jinping made progress on a TikTok deal. The blue-chip CSI300 closed about 0.5% higher. FED POLICY A OUTLOOK Investors are still keen to assess the U.S. policy direction after the Fed announced a future phase of gradual easing. The traders have priced in 44 basis point easing for the last two policy meetings. The week will see a number of policymakers speak, including John Williams and Thomas Barkin on Monday and Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman and Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday. James Rossiter is the head of global macro-strategy at TD Securities. He hopes that these remarks over the next couple days will help shape market expectations. The Fed will release data on its preferred inflation gauge on Friday, which will help to set the tone of the rate outlook for the near term. Tony Sycamore is a market analyst for IG. He believes that the PCE core price index will rise 0.2% monthly in August, keeping the annual rate at 2.9% and above the low of 2.6% it reached in April. Sycamore stated that the U.S. Dollar short trade is crowded, even though a shorter rate-cutting period should theoretically weigh on the U.S. Dollar. The dollar index, he added, has been losing its downward momentum after a tumultuous start. The dollar index (which measures the U.S. unit against six others) fell 0.3% to 97.48. The Japanese yen remained at 147.87 against the U.S. Dollar after strengthening on Friday, following Bank of Japan’s hawkish stance where two members of its board voted to keep interest rates unchanged. Brent crude futures fell 47 cents to $66.20 per barrel despite increased geopolitical tensions across Europe and the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Futures dropped 31 cents to reach $62.37. Gold prices have risen, with the last increase of about 1.2%, reaching new record highs at over $3,726 an ounce. Reporting by Nell Mackenzie, Ankur Banerjee and Shri Navaratnam. Editing and proofreading by Jacqueline Wong.
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Mali announces new mining deals in revised code
Mali approved seven agreements that will give the state more revenue through international and local mining firms. This is the latest effort by the military-led government to increase income from this sector. According to a late Friday statement, the Council of Ministers had approved the exploitation agreements and exploration agreements during its Friday meeting. This gave Mali a non-reducible, guaranteed stake in mining projects, with priority dividend access. The agreements cover gold mines such as the Sadiola project, operated by Allied Gold, B2Gold Fekola Mine, Resolute Mining Syama and Ganfeng Bougouni Project. Mali's ruling military class introduced a new code of mining in 2023. The new code increased royalties from 6.5% to 10%, while increasing state and local ownership to 35%. These latest agreements follow on from preliminary agreements that were signed between September 2024 and November 2024 with the same companies. Resolute Mining refused to comment. Allied Gold B2Gold Ganfeng and Ganfeng didn't respond to comments immediately. Endeavour Mining, along with other gold producers, has signed agreements that reflect the revised Mali mining code. Barrick Mining of Canada, however, is still locked in a longstanding standoff with the Government. This month, it was reported that a Barrick executive had changed sides and become an advisor to the president of Mali. The situation for Barrick has been further complicated by this change. Mali is Africa's largest gold producer, but the regulatory uncertainty has affected investment and output. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo Writing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and David Goode) The government has, like other governments in the region, emphasized resource nationalism, while shifting from Western investors towards courting Russian interest. (Reporting and writing by TiemokoDiallo Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Editing by Robbie CoreyBoulet & David Goodman).
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Timah's chief executive is optimistic that the company will meet its 2025 production target.
Restu Widiyantoro, the chief executive of Indonesia's state-run tin mining company PT Timah, told a parliamentary committee on Monday that despite a weak first half production, he is confident it will reach its target output of 21,500 metric tonnes this year. He said that a taskforce, which will crack down on illegal mining of tin in Timah’s mining zone, is expected to assist the company achieve its goal. Data from the company showed that in the first half of this year, Timah’s tin ore production dropped 32% on an annual basis to 6,997 tonnes, and its refined tin output fell 29% to 6 870 tons. Restu claimed earlier this year that illegal miners were to blame for the lower output than expected. Nur Adi Kuncoro, the company's director, said that heavy rains and delays with opening new mines had also an impact. Restu announced on Monday the creation of a taskforce to combat illegal mining in Indonesia's main tin-mining hub, Bangka and Belitung Island. The task force will also be targeting middlemen that buy ore illegally from illegal operators. Indonesia is the second-largest tin producer in the world after China. However, it has struggled to control illegal mining. The government has taken steps to combat illegal production and now requires that buyers and sellers trade refined tin via exchanges in order to improve the traceability.
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The Gries Glacier in Switzerland is melting at an alarming rate
The Swiss glacier monitoring agency said that the 5.4-km-long Gries Glacier in Switzerland, which is a research focal point, is retreating alarmingly as climate change accelerates a nationwide ice melting unprecedented to date. Matthias Huss (Director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, GLAMOS) said: "This is a dying ice sheet." He noted that the depth of ice had decreased by six meters in just the twelve months leading up to September 2025. The glacier in southern Valais will shrink by 800 meters between 2000 and 2023. It is now 3.2 km shorter today than it was in 1880. The average thickness of the ice has increased to 57 metres. In May 2025, the grim reality of rapid melting glaciers was revealed when a devastating glacier collapse devastated the village of Blatten in the canton Valais. Huss blamed Gries Glacier melting on consecutive years of dryness in 2022 and 2023 and a hot summer of 2025, despite a momentary respite from heavy snowfall mid-April of 2025. "We would require much more snow in order to offset the effects of very warm summers." "This summer 2025 was also much too hot," Huss said. He said that at its lowest points, the glacier would melt in five years. However, at altitudes around 3,000 meters, it could take 40-50 years to disappear. According to GLAMOS, between 2016 and 2022, about 100 glaciers in Switzerland have disappeared. According to a recent report from the World Meteorological Organisation, the ice loss in almost all regions of the world has increased since the 1990s. This is mainly because summer melting has been stronger. For the third consecutive year, it found that every glaciated area on Earth had reported ice losses. (Written by Olivia Le Poidevin, Geneva; Edited by Alexandra Hudson).
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Kuwait's oil capacity reaches 3,2 million barrels per day
In an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas, Oil Minister Tariq Al Roumi stated that Kuwait's crude production capacity is 3.2 million barrels a day. Multiple reports indicate that this is the highest capacity in over a decade. In 2010, it peaked at 3.33 million bpd before falling to less than 3 million bpd. Al-Roumi, a spokesperson for Al Qabas, said that Kuwait will increase its oil production under the OPEC+ deal to 2.559 millions bpd by October. On September 7, eight OPEC+ member countries agreed to increase output by 137,000 bpd for October. This is in line with the group's policy of increasing production gradually after years of cutting it. Al-Roumi noted that OPEC+ based their decision on the market's development, and that "accordingly, a decision to increase production could be paused, or reversed." He said that this ensured flexibility in the decision-making process, especially since meetings were held every month. This allows for faster responses to market conditions. The Minister said he is optimistic about achieving an equilibrium on the oil market. He added that the OPEC+'s decision to increase output has had a positive impact on the supply-demand dynamic since April. The International Energy Agency anticipates that consumption will grow by 740,000 BPD in 2025, and an additional 700,000. BPD in 2026. OPEC sees a demand increase of 1.3 million bpd this year and an additional 1.4 millions bpd in the following year. This is the largest gap between the two forecasts ever. Al-Roumi stated that the global oil demand has recovered, and crude inventories are now below their five-year average.
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European stocks fall after Trump's visa crackdown and rate outlook is in focus
The euro markets fell on Monday as automakers warned of their profit. Meanwhile, the dollar remained steady, as the markets waited to determine if geopolitical worries would offset the optimism about the Federal Reserve's loosening monetary policy. The STOXX 600 index for Europe was little changed. Spanish and German stocks were down by 0.6% and 0.50%, respectively. Both Porsche and its parent Volkswagen cut their profit estimates after announcing a delay in the launch of EVs due to low demand. The MSCI world stock index was little changed, while India's benchmark fell 0.2%, after the Trump Administration announced that it would charge companies $100,000 to obtain new H-1B visas. This is a blow for the tech sector, which relies heavily on skilled workers in India and China. Stocks in China were choppy, even though U.S. president Donald Trump claimed that he and Chinese president Xi Jinping made progress on a TikTok deal. The Shanghai Composite index.SSEC rose by 0.2%, while the blue-chip CSI300 index rose by 0.5%. India's $283-billion information technology sector will feel the pain soon. More than half of its revenue comes from the U.S. Trump doubled tariffs last month on Indian imports to 50%, in part due to New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil. It's a threat to operating costs and margins. Kyle Rodda is a senior financial analyst with Capital.com. He said that it was possible to increase wages and labour costs. If they are unable to find enough workers within the U.S., tech companies could also face punitive measures. FED POLICY A OUTLOOK Investors are still keen to assess the U.S. policy direction after the Fed announced a future phase of gradual easing. The traders have priced in 44 basis point easing for the last two policy meetings. The week will see a number of policymakers speak, including John Williams and Thomas Barkin on Monday and Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman and Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday. James Rossiter is the head of global macro-strategy at TD Securities. He hopes that these remarks over the next couple days will help shape market expectations. The Fed will release data on its preferred inflation gauge on Friday, which will help to set the tone of the rate outlook for the near term. Tony Sycamore is a market analyst for IG. He believes that the PCE core price index will rise 0.2% monthly, keeping the annual rate at 2.9%. This is the same as it was in July and higher than the 2.6% low reached in April. Sycamore stated that the U.S. Dollar short trade is crowded, even though a more modest rate-cutting would theoretically weigh on the U.S. Dollar. The dollar index, he added, has been losing its downward momentum after a tumultuous start. The dollar index (which measures the U.S. money against six other currencies) was down by 0.2% to 97.54. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are both down by 0.2%. The Japanese yen has remained steady at 147.87 U.S. dollars after strengthening on Friday, following the Bank of Japan hawkish stance where two members of its board voted against maintaining interest rates. Brent crude futures were 34 cents higher, at $67.02 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Futures rose 36 cents, to $63.04. The gold price rose, reaching a record high at $3,719.65 an ounce at one time. (Reporting and editing by Nell Mackenzie, Ankur Banerjee and Shri Navaratnam. Editing and proofreading by Jacqueline Wong, Bernadette Baum and Jacqueline Wong)
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Markets brace themselves for more rate cuts as gold reaches new record highs
Gold surged on Monday to set a new record high, buoyed investors' increased expectations of a rate-cutting path. This was ahead of comments by Federal Reserve officials, and important inflation data that will be released later this week. As of 0820 GMT the spot gold price rose by 0.9%, to $3,716.27 an ounce. It had earlier reached a record high of $3.719.65. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery climbed 1.2%, to $3.751.20. The UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said: "I expect gold to hit new record highs in the coming week, with Fed officials likely to announce further rate reductions. However, data will also depend on how fast and how much they cut. Investors are closely monitoring the comments of several Federal Reserve officials this week. Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to make remarks on Tuesday. Market participants are also looking for clues about the pace of future rate cuts in the U.S. when the core Personal Consumption Expenditure data (PCE) is released on Friday. The Fed announced its first rate reduction since December on Wednesday, lowering rates 25 basis points and signaling an openness to further ease. According to CME FedWatch, investors now expect two additional 25-bp rates cuts this year. One each in December and October, with 93% and 81% chances respectively. "There has been a change in the factors that support gold. "We are now seeing Western investors adding gold to their portfolios. This is evident in the gold ETFs. They do so because they expect U.S. interest rates to fall," Staunovo said. Bullion is up more than 40% in this year due to a combination of geopolitical, economic, and central bank uncertainty. Gold spot may test resistance around $3,705 an ounce. A break above this level could lead to gains in the range between $3,719 and $3,739. Staunovo said, "We expect gold to reach $3.900 by the middle of 2026." Silver spot rose by 1.3%, to $43.64 an ounce. This is a record high for more than 14 years. Palladium rose by 1.1%, to $1161.85, while platinum gained 1.1%, to $1419.65. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Rio Tinto to sell scandium oxide to US agency for defense stockpile
The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency wants to purchase scandium oxide from Rio Tinto for up to $40,000,000 over the next five-year period to ensure supplies of this critical material to add to the nation's stockpile.
Scandium, one of the rare-earth elements, has gained prominence in recent years, especially since China, its main producer, began imposing export controls.
"Scandium was, up until recently, mainly sourced from China. China implemented export controls for scandium in late 2024. This constrained the supply and led to this acquisition by the National Defense Stockpile," DLA stated in a report published last week.
The company plans to purchase 6.4 tons of scandium dioxide within the next five years.
The first year, it will seek almost 2 tons of scandium oxide. This is equivalent to 5% of the global production last year, which was 40 tons.
In August, the U.S. gave up to $10,000,000 to Elk Creek Resources (a unit of NioCorp) to increase the domestic supply of scandium.
Currently, the U.S. Government must import the product used in many defense systems from abroad.
The document stated that "Rio Tinto Services Inc. is the only vendor capable of meeting the government's product requirements at the required capacity for the contract."
Rio Tinto stated that it would not comment commercially, but said it was "actively working with the U.S. Government to identify opportunities and leverage the available support in order to increase domestic production for the American Market and strengthen supply chain."
Rio Tinto scientists developed the first process in 2020 that allows high-purity scandium dioxide to be extracted from waste streams produced during titanium dioxide production without any additional mining.
Rio Tinto responded to an email asking for comments by saying that it was "uniquely positioned" to secure materials vital to America's future.
Rio Tinto's Quebec facility, Canada, produced its first batch of scandium dioxide three years ago. It currently has a production capacity of about 3 tons per year. (Reporting and editing by Ros Russell; Polina Devlin)
(source: Reuters)