LiveWire

The current year is shaping up as one of the slowest in the oil and gas industry as far as mergers are concerned. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, so far there's been $86 billion of takeovers announced, pending or completed in the current year, on track for one of the most lackluster years for energy tie-ups in two decades. Source: Bloomberg

The price of iron ore has fallen roughly 40% since mid-July on concerns about demand from China, which makes more than half of the world’s steel. The downturn has dealt a blow to producing countries, notably Australia and Brazil, that are battling to protect fragile economic recoveries from outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. The benchmark price fell as low as $130.20 a metric ton on Thursday after a 15% single-day nosedive to its lowest value since November. Source: The Wall Street Journal

Copper futures rose to $4.2 per pound in the last week of August, moving away from nearly 4-month lows of $4 per pound earlier in the month, but still training a May high of $4.9 per pound. Source: Trading Economics

The volume of critical minerals flowing into the country in the first half of 2021 surpassed the 316,108 tonnes imported in the first six months of 2020 by 41,209 tonnes. Roughly three dozen materials fall under the U.S. Interior Department's list of critical minerals deemed to be important to national security and the economy. That includes the manganese and graphite used in electric vehicle batteries, the rare earth elements installed in the magnets used in wind turbines and EV motors, and several other materials required to build clean energy technology. Source: spglobal.com

In percentage terms of changes between Q1 and Q2 of 2021 was Mexico and Canada doubling down its imports of American coal. China stands out here especially as one compares the YoY change between Q2s, showing a major change of 3,135% this being due to its trade disputes with neighbor Australia. Source: spglobal