Latest News
-
Greenland has rich mineral resources that are largely untapped.
After President Donald Trump's recent announcement, the Danish and Greenlandic Foreign Ministers will meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JDVance on Wednesday. Threats escalated Greenland is a?takeover'. Autonomous territory of Denmark Greenland's strategic location and mineral resources could prove useful to the United States. Greenland is home to 25 out of the 34 minerals that European Commission deem "critical raw materials". Greenland has banned the extraction of natural gas and oil for environmental reasons. The development of its mining industry is encumbered by red tape and resistance from indigenous people. Here are the main Greenland mineral deposits, according to data provided by its Mineral Resources Authority. RARE EARTHS Gardar, located in southern Greenland, is home to three of the largest deposits. Energy Transition Minerals' Kuannersuit Project is currently stalled due to legal disputes. Permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric vehicles (EVs) are made from rare-earth elements. GRAPHITE Many localities in the island have reported finding graphite or graphite schist. GreenRoc has requested an exploitation licence to develop the Amitsoq project. Natural graphite is mainly used in EV Batteries and Steelmaking. COPPER The?Mineral Resources Authority states that most copper deposits have only been the subject of limited exploration. It said that the areas of Greenland in the northeast and centre-east are particularly interesting because they have not been explored. The London-listed company?80 Mile wants to develop the Disko Nuussuaq Deposit, which contains copper, nickel and platinum. NICKEL Mineral Resources Authority reports that nickel deposits are widespread. Anglo American, a major miner, was awarded an exploration license in Western Greenland for 2019 and is looking to find nickel deposits among other things. Zinc is mainly found in the northern part of the country in a formation geological that extends over 2,500 km (1.550 miles). The Citronen Fjord project was touted as the largest undeveloped zinc resource in the world. Around the Sermiligaarsuk Fjord, in the south of the country, are the most promising areas for gold. Amaroq Minerals opened a gold mine in Mt Nalunaq, in the Kujalleq Municipality last year. DIAMONDS Although the majority of the small diamonds and largest stones can be found on the west coast, their presence may also be important in other areas. IRON ORE There are deposits at Isua, Itilliarsuk, and North West Greenland along the Lauge Koch Kyst. TITANIUM-VANADIUM The southwest, east and south are known to have deposits of vanadium and titanium. Vanadium is used primarily to make specialty steel alloys. Titanium, on the other hand, is used in commercial, industrial and medical applications. Vanadium pentoxide is the most important vanadium industrial compound. It's used as a catalyst for the production sulfuric acid. TUNGSTEN The tungsten deposits are located mainly in the northeast and central part of the country. URANIUM The Kuannersuit project, which produces uranium byproduct, was effectively stopped in 2021 when the Inuit Ataqatigiit, the ruling left-wing party, banned uranium.
-
China's trade with Russia in 2025 is the first to decline since 2005
China's trade in 2025 with Russia has dropped from its record high in 2024, according to data released by China on Wednesday. Trade totaled 1.63 trillion yuan (approximately $234 billion). The decline was due to a fall in demand for?Chinese vehicles? in Russia and a decrease in the value China's imports from Russia crude oil. China is providing a lifeline for Russia's economy after it was sanctioned following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. It has bought Russian coal, oil and gas, and sold goods from cars and electronics to its northern neighbor. China's General Administration of Customs data showed that in 2025, two-way trade was down 6.5% on a record of 1.74 billion yuan from 2024. The decline ended four years of growth. In 2020, COVID-19-related disruptions to trade caused the last drop. Last year, Chinese exports to Russia dropped 9.9% while imports from Russia declined 3.4%. In dollar terms the bilateral trade value reached $228.9 billion, down 6.9% on an annual basis. China's exports to Russia increased by 2.2% in December, ending an eight-month slump, while imports grew sharply at 17.1%. RUSSIA EARNS LESS FROM CRUDE SUPPLIES as prices fall The most recent data only provided headline figures for two-way trade. Later, a more detailed breakdown of the two-way trade will be published. Calculations show that in the first 11 month of 2025, the value of China’s crude oil imports fell by 19.6%, to 328.5 billion Yuan, from the same period of 2024. This was due to falling oil prices. According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China's volume of vehicle exports to Russia fell by 46% between January and November, despite Moscow raising its tax on Chinese vehicles that were flooding the Russian market. Russia is trying to reverse the decline in bilateral trade. In September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin toured?Beijing, the two countries signed more than 20 agreements on energy, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and aerospace. The two strategic partners have also given their blessing to the Power of Siberia 2 pipe, which will one day be able to deliver 50 billion cubic metres of Russian gas per year through Mongolia. This gas comes from the Arctic gas field of Yamal. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Editing by Neil Fullick.
-
Ducks end nine-game losing streak by defeating Stars
Chris Kreider's game-winning goal helped the Anaheim Ducks snap a nine-game loss streak by beating the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Tuesday night. Lukas Dostal, who made 24 saves, also had Beckett Sennecke as well as Jacob Trouba. The Ducks snapped their 0-8-1 streak and won two of the three meetings they had with the Stars in this season. Anaheim's (2-9-2) only win in 13 games was on Tuesday. Roope Hintz scored for?the Stars who have lost their first four games in regulation (2-1-1). Casey DeSmith made 22 saves. Dallas, who defeated the Los Angeles Kings by 3-1 on Monday night, fell to 6-2-0 after the second half of two consecutive games this season. The Stars have won six of their nine previous visits to Anaheim. Hintz brought the Stars to within one goal with 2:12 left in the third period by one-timing Matt Duchene's feed. But that was the closest Dallas could get. Trouba has added a blank-netter to the 19:39 time. Sennecke smashed a backhander into the net at 12:03 in the third period. At 3:35 in the middle frame of the game, Kreider scored by snapping a shot-blocker?side past DeSmith. Anaheim led Dallas in first-period shots 12-7. The Stars have been unable to score with the man-advantage in the last four games. The team said that Stars' defenseman MiroHeiskanen was absent from the game because of a family issue. Leo Carlsson, Ducks' forward (lower-body injury), and Cutter Gathier (illness), missed Tuesday's?contest. Troy Terry (upper-body) missed his third consecutive game. The Ducks will play a two-game series with the Kings starting Friday in Los Angeles. The Stars will conclude their six game road trip on Thursday in Utah. Field Level Media
-
Silver cracks $90 in Fed rate cut betting
Silver surpassed the $90 mark for the first time, and gold climbed to a new record on Wednesday, after softer than expected U.S. inflation data fueled bets that interest rates would be cut amid geopolitical uncertainties. As of 0525 GMT spot gold was up 1% at $4,633.40 an ounce, after reaching a session high of $4.639.42. U.S. Gold Futures for February Delivery rose by 0.8% to $4640.90. Spot silver rose 4.2% to $90.59?per ounce, after breaking through $90 for the very first time. It has already risen nearly 27% this year. "U.S. CPI figures showed that inflation was relatively contained at 2,6% (year-on year), and risk assets might be hoping for an equally benign?PPI to keep expectations alive of further monetary policy ease," said Tim Waterer. The U.S. core Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% from month to month and 2.6% annually in December. This was below analysts' expectations for 0.3% and 2.7% increases, respectively. The U.S. core Producer Price Index for December will be released later today. U.S. president Donald Trump welcomed inflation figures and reiterated his call for Jerome Powell, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairperson to "meaningfully" cut interest rates. Powell was backed by the global central bankers and Wall Street bank CEOs on Tuesday, after former Fed officials condemned Trump's decision to probe him. Analysts claim that concerns about Fed independence and trust in U.S. asset added to the demand for yellow metal as a safe-haven. Investors anticipate two rate cuts of 25 basis points this year. The earliest is expected in June. In a low interest rate environment, and when there is geopolitical or economic uncertainty, non-yielding investments tend to perform well. ANZ said that it expects gold prices to rise above $5,000/oz during the first half of 2026. Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central, believes that silver will likely reach $100 this year and sees a two-digit increase in the price. Other than that, the spot price of platinum rose 4%, to $2,415.95 an ounce. This is a new high for a week. It hit a record $2,478.50/oz on December 29. Palladium rose 3.3% to $1,899.44 an ounce. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich, Mrigank dhaniwala and Ishaan rora)
-
China's copper imports in 2025 will be the lowest since 2020 amid a major price rally
China's Customs data revealed?on Wednesday that the demand for unwrought copper in China will be at its lowest since 2020. Data from the General Administration of Customs revealed that the top consumer imported 5,32 million metric tonnes of?copper? unwrought in 2025, down by 6.4% from 2024. This was the lowest level since record imports of copper in 2020. The data shows that December imports grew by 2.3%, to 437,000 tonnes, compared to November. Imports of copper and copper products include anodes, refined, alloy, and semi-finished copper. Copper prices in 2025 will be the highest since 2009. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange rose by nearly 42% in the past year and 11% just in December. Investors expected that refined copper supplies would tighten on?non United States markets. Inflows surged due to a CME Premium to the LME because of tariffs fears. Copper stock in COMEX warehouses The LME's on-warrant price of copper fell by more than 40%, while the NYSE saw its prices rise more than 400%. Both exchanges report that the two currencies will be in balance throughout the year. The copper?price was also supported by unexpected mine outages that occurred in 2025 and the booming demand of data centres and electricty, where the metal is a major material. Imports of copper concentrates and ore rose by 7.9% to 30,31 million tons from 28,11 million tons. This is a record high. According to the latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, China produced 13,32?million tonnes of refined copper between January and November. This is an increase of 9.8% year-on-year. Imports of copper concentrates and ore in December increased from 2,53 million tons in the previous month. (Reporting and editing by Tom Hogue, Lewis Jackson, and Dylan Duan)
-
The yen is on the market's radar with the 'Takaichi Trade', a turbo-charged morning bid in Europe.
Ankur Banerjee gives us a look at what the day will bring for the European and Global markets. And then we're back to screen-gazing, as the yen edged towards?160 a dollar, fueling intervention concerns, as the prospect a snap election in Japan next month turbocharges so-called "Takaichi trading". Investors are selling the Japanese government bonds and the yen because they fear low interest rates and additional stimulus for an economy that has one of the largest debt burdens of any developed country. After local media reported that Prime Minister Takaichi may call for general elections in February, the Nikkei index soared to 54,000 for the first-time on Wednesday. The yen is at its lowest level against the dollar since July 20,24. Traders are cautious about authorities intervening, even though it could be difficult just before an election. The market is still vigilant, because a snap election could lead to Japan's own version of?U.S. Fiscal cliff. Silver and gold continue to rise in value as they reach new peaks, as geopolitical tensions drive safe-haven flows. Dollar has struggled with weak U.S. data and concerns about the Federal Reserve. The data on Tuesday revealed that U.S. inflation is low, which means rate cuts are still possible in 2026. However, traders don't expect the Fed will move before Jerome Powell’s term ends in may. Investors say that the escalating dispute between Powell and U.S. president Donald Trump has reinforced the argument for diversification outside the United States. The?U.S. The?U.S. Supreme Court will likely issue a ruling or two on Wednesday. This could include litigation regarding the legality Trump's tariffs. The court will release its rulings around 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT). The court doesn't announce in advance the decisions it will make. Later?inthe day, traders will be looking for comments from Citigroup and Bank of America on Trump's proposed 10% credit card interest rate cap. JPMorgan Chase said that the proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates would hurt consumers and weigh on the market. The bank reported a quarterly profit on Tuesday that was higher than analysts' expectations. The following are key developments that may influence the markets on Wednesday. Bank earnings and possible SCOTUS decision on U.S. Tariffs
-
Oil pauses gains as Venezuela shipments resume, but Iran concerns loom
The oil market fell after four consecutive days of gains on Wednesday, as Venezuela resumed exports. Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories and products rose. However there were fears that Iranian supplies would be disrupted due to deadly civil unrest. Brent futures fell 20 cents or 0.3% to $65.27 per barrel by 0525 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was down 23 cents or 0.4% at $60.92 per barrel. Suvro Sarkar is an energy analyst with DBS Bank. He said that oil prices had already factored in a geopolitical premium in recent days, due to the rising tensions in Iran and drone attacks on the Black Sea. He said that unless we see further escalation, and the possibility of disruptions in oil flows, the market may consolidate and wait for next steps in the complex world order. He also said that the American Petroleum Institute's (API) report of large crude and products builds in the U.S. late on Tuesday may be contributing to the price rise. API, citing market sources, reported that crude stocks in the U.S. - the world's largest oil consumer - rose by 5,23 million barrels during the week ending January 9. Gasoline stocks rose by?8.23m barrels while distillate stockpiles rose by 4.34m barrels compared to a week ago. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its stockpile data later on Wednesday. A poll conducted on Tuesday showed that U.S. crude stockpiles are expected to have decreased last week while gasoline and distillate stocks likely increased. Three sources reported that Venezuela, an OPEC member, has also begun reversing the oil production cuts it had made as a result of the U.S. embargo. Two supertankers left Venezuelan waters Monday, each carrying 1.8 million barrels of crude oil. This could be the first shipment of a 50-million barrel supply deal between Caracas & Washington in order to restart exports in the wake the capture by the U.S. of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Despite this, the increasing?protests of Iran have raised concerns about supply disruptions. Iran is the fourth largest OPEC producer. U.S. president Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to continue protesting, and said that?help is on its way' without specifying exactly what this meant. Citi analysts raised their forecast for Brent oil over the next three months to $70 per barrel. Citi analysts note that the protests so far have not reached the main Iranian oil-producing areas, which limits the actual effect on supply. They said that the current risks were geared toward frictions in logistics and politics, rather than outages. This would keep the impact on Iranian crude exports and supply contained. (Reporting from Katya Glubkova and Emily Chow, in Tokyo; editing by Christian Schmollinger).
-
China's oil imports in 2025 and December inflows are both at record levels
China's crude imports increased 17% in December compared to a year earlier, and total imports for 2025 will rise 4.4%. The daily volumes of crude oil imported in December 2025 and throughout the year will be at all-time records. According to the General Administration of Customs, the world's biggest crude importer imported 55.97 millions metric tons of petroleum in December. This is equivalent to 13,18 million barrels of oil per day. The increase was 10% compared to 50.89 in November. The data shows that China will import 557.73 millions tons of crude oil by 2025 or 11,55?million barrels per day, an increase of 4.4% over the previous year. According to Kpler, an independent consultancy, the increase in crude oil imports is due to a stronger crude?throughput, and a firmer demand for restocking. The consultancy said that China's oil output is expected to increase by 0.7% in 2025. According to Rystad Energy, the average stockbuild in 2025 will be 430,000 bpd. This is up from 84,000 in 2024. Half of this growth is due to new storage capacity by both state-owned companies and independent ones. Ye Lin, vice-president at Rystad energy, said that "energy security is the main?driver" of China's stockpiling in light of rising geopolitical tensions. Low oil prices are also important, since the average crude price in China is $10 per barrel less than it was in 2024 due to sanctions. Kpler, and the ship-tracking company Vortexa, both estimated that seaborne crude imports reached a record high of 12 million barrels per day in December. Lower oil prices encouraged refiners to increase purchases, while strategic-petroleum-reserve restocking may also have played a role, said Muyu Xu, an analyst at Kpler. Xu said that independent refiners had been able to buy more spot cargoes since receiving their import quota allocations for November. Kpler, Vortexa and Kpler said that onshore crude inventories increased by 35 million barrels during December. Kpler also added that China’s?onshore oil inventories hit a record of 1.206 billion in late December or early January. Vortexa reported that more than 12 million barrels of new stock were built in December, mostly at state-owned facilities connected to Sinopec Maoming refinery and PetroChina Jieyang, Vortexa stated. In Shandong, nearly 15 million barrels were accumulated. Vortexa said that this was in line with the record-high sanctioned oil imports to Shandong between November and December. As a result of increased Russian supplies, some Iranian barrels were replaced by Russian oil in December. This was reported by Emma Li, a Vortexa analyst. China's imports of natural gas, including pipeline gas as well as liquefied gas (LNG), jumped 16.3% in December compared to a year ago. They now total 13.45 million tonnes. Customs data show that gas imports for 2025 will total 127.87 millions tons, down by 2.8% compared to a year ago.
New west-east route keeps Europe hooked on Russian gas
Western European federal governments have sought to decrease their energy dependence on Russia considering that the break out of the Ukraine war, however when it comes to gas, they have significantly substituted the country's pipeline products with its melted gas (LNG).
A analysis of information found more than a tenth of the Russian gas previously shipped by pipeline to the European Union has actually been replaced by LNG provided into EU ports.
The rise is partially the result of discount rates, industry and trading sources say.
Personal Russian manufacturer Novatek in 2015 sold low-cost cargoes into the EU turned down by purchasers in other parts of the world, while state-owned Gazprom increased exports from its new Portovaya LNG task, offseting its falling pipeline deliveries westward.
Home to the EU's largest fleet of import terminals, Spain, which did not formerly import piped Russian gas, has become the leading re-exporter of seaborne Russian supply.
EU stats and estimations reveal the rise in LNG has pressed the share of Russian gas in EU supply back up to around 15% after pipeline imports from Gazprom had plunged since the war to 8.7% from 37% of EU gas supply.
Russia sent more than 15.6 million metric heaps (mt) of Russian LNG to EU ports last year, according to information analytics company Kpler, a small increase from 2022 and a 37.7% jump compared to 2021.
The increase does not breach EU law.
Western European federal governments enforced sanctions on oil following the break out of the Ukraine war in February 2022, but they have actually not done the exact same for gas.
Instead the European Commission has called for a voluntary phaseout of all Russian fuel imports by 2027.
The switch from pipeline to LNG imports has, nevertheless, a. significant environmental expense, as energy is needed to gasify,. ship and re-liquefy the fuel - a pattern at chances with the EU goal. of reaching net absolutely no greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
ULTIMATE ORIGIN ENDS UP BEING UNNOTICEABLE
Delivery records just reveal freights' previous locations,. rather than the supreme origin.
That indicates LNG landing in Belgium, France Spain and the. Netherlands sheds its Russian label - which can prevent purchasers -. before being piped inland or reloaded onto other ships.
In late 2023, independent traders sold Russian volumes on. the Spanish market at a discount of 1 euro ($ 1.07) per. megawatt-hour (MWh) less expensive than the European benchmark cost. TTF, industry and trading sources told .
That relates to savings of approximately 920,000 euros on a. common cargo worth 41 million euros at area rates, . estimations revealed.
This year, a discount of between 30-50 eurocents has. used, the sources said.
Sales data is private, but ship-tracking satellites showed. 4 Swiss trading companies bought and sold 1.3 mt of Russian LNG. in Spain last year: Gunvor, MET, ENET and DXT.
That included a freight initially destined for Argentina,. before issues over sanctions on monetary deals with. Russia stopped the sale.
Gunvor diverted the turned down tanker to Spain.
Gunvor and MET decreased comment on their Russian trading. ENET and DXT did not react to requests for comment.
Big Spanish energy companies, including Repsol, Cepsa,. Endesa and Iberdrola said they do not buy Russian gas straight.
However, Endesa CEO José Bogas did not rule out that it. discovered its method into volumes purchased from 3rd parties.
Spain's Naturgy, France's TotalEnergies and Britain's Shell,. have stopped additional area purchases, however state they are obliged. to pay for the minimum quantity of gas on their long-term. contracts whether they take it or not.
The Russian imports have improved Spain's and the EU's. energy profile.
In 2023 the 5.08 mt imported from Russia a little surpassed. the total volume of gas Spain exported to 21 nations around. the world, consisting of some members of the EU.
TURNAROUND OF FLOWS
Until February 2022, the bulk of the gas Russia provided to. Europe showed up through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany. Now,. it lands on Europe's western periphery and makes its way inland,. reversing the previous east-to-west flow.
France's 3.6 mt of Russian LNG imports last year represented. 41% of its net exports.
When including the volumes sent eastward by Portugal and. Spain, all the gas France piped to Belgium and Germany and. almost half what was sent to Switzerland and Italy might be. attributed to Russian LNG, information from grid operators reveal.
Belgium imported some 4.8 mt of Russian LNG - practically double. the volume it piped to the Netherlands.
About 0.7 mt was available in through Dutch terminals.
Those estimations exclude transhipments, when LNG changes. ships in an EU port before sailing on.
Germany - which no longer directly imports Russian gas - is. the ultimate location.
In 2015, Germany imported 48.6% of its gas through pipeline. from Belgium, France and the Netherlands, according to the. federal network regulator Bundesnetzagentur.
As much as 13.7% of gas in the German grid could be Russian,. in a circumstance where those nations passed on as much Novatek. LNG as possible.
The reality is probably less when representing nationwide. intake and supply blends.
Physically, it is imaginable that Russian gas molecules. could come to Germany, a Bundesnetzagentur spokesperson said.
We do not know whether German importers buy Russian LNG. amounts directly. It would not be forbidden, the. representative added.
STRUGGLE TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE
As the share of Russian LNG grows, the impact especially. sticks out in Greece.
It cut gas consumption and minimized its pipeline Russian. imports by 20%.
But because Gazprom LNG shipments more than quadrupled, the. share of Russian gas in Greece's supply reached 47% in 2015,. up from 36% in 2022, according to grid operator DEFSA.
Greece's state-controlled DEPA has considering that filed for. arbitration versus Gazprom, partially based upon data revealing those. LNG sales to Greek rivals were at a high discount to. DEPA's pipeline gas contract cost.
Beginning in April, EU nations can legally ban Russian. firms from booking their facilities capability to deliver LNG.
Significant importers Spain and Belgium, however, stated they. probably will refrain from doing so.
If I prohibit it unilaterally and it comes to France? Spanish. Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said. We need a typical position.
(source: Reuters)