CHARTS: Brutal May for metals and miners

Brazilian steelmaker CSN (CSNA3.SA: Quote)(SID.N: Quote) struck a deal to sell its 19.9 percent stake in Australian coal miner Riversdale to mining giant Rio Tinto for A$780 million ($830 million), according to a securities filing. Sao Paulo-based CSN, Brazil's largest diversified steelmaking group, sold 47.29 million Riversdale shares at a price of A$16.50 each, the filing said. The shares (RIV.AX: Quote) closed little changed at A$16.50 in Sydney on Wednesday.

Platts reports the Chinese government is planning to categorize coking coal as a strategic resource that will be “protected” via incentives to […]

Vancouver-based Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) reported earnings attributable to its shareholders of $461 million, or $0.78 per share. Adjusted quarterly profit was $450 million, or $0.76 per share, more than double the $198 million reported in the first quarter of 2010. Image by Teck Resources Limited

Metallurgical coal mining company Grande Cache Coal Corp cut its 2012 coal sales forecast as it expects production to be affected by the challenging mining conditions. The company now sees coal sales volumes of 2.2-2.4 million tonnes, down from the previous forecast of 2.4-2.6 million tonnes.

Australian coal miner Whitehaven Coal said a formal process to find a bidder for the company was nearing a conclusion and interested parties have completed due diligence. Whitehaven said on Wednesday it was in was in talks with the parties to decide which proposal, if any, would be recommended by its board

A coal project in northeastern B.C. that is being developed by a Chinese consortium could produce up to 2 million tonnes of met coal annually for the next 30 years, the Globe and Mail reports: A Chinese group is making a $1-billion bet on coal in British Columbia to secure a key raw material for its steel making industry, the latest in a series of moves this year by international companies to stake a claim on Canadian resources.

At least four capesize cargoes of South African coal have been sold back to the original sellers by Chinese buyers during the past month and all are coming to Europe, said sources familiar with the deals. The South African coal is being stockpiled in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp and at power plants either for sale into Europe or to be burned at the main buyer's own power plants.

Indian infrastructure major Punj Lloyd on Monday announced that its Singapore-based subsidiary, Sembawang Engineers and Constructors, has entered into an agreement to acquire 50% stake in a thermal coal mine company in Indonesia. The Indonesian company is based in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia and the acquisition is to be done through Sembawang Development Pte Ltd, a unit of Sembawang Engineers, the company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) announced today that employees at its Elkview operation in southeast British Columbia have ratified a new five-year agreement, replacing an agreement which expired on October 31, 2010. Production at the mine will resume effective Friday, April 8 following a temporary suspension due to strike action taken by Local 9346 of the United Steelworkers of America on January 30, 2011.