Column: China’s commodity import trend driven by prices, not economy
China's imports of major commodities are often viewed through the prism of the performance of, and outlook for, the world's second-biggest economy.
Brazil’s Vale, the world’s number one iron ore miner and third-largest refined nickel producer, said over the weekend talks with Glencore over combining their Canadian operations were not urgent.
Vale and Glencore, the world’s fourth largest miner following its takeover of Xstrata, initiated talks on jointly operating mines, mills and smelters in Ontario’s Sudbury Basin, last year.
Vale Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira told reporters on Dec. 18 his Rio de Janeiro-based company expected to make a decision on a possible tie-up in the first quarter, but Peter Poppinga, Vale’s head for base metals, told Bloomberg: “We are studying and we are talking but we are not in a hurry,” adding that a deal is not expected “early this year”.
Poppinga was interviewed after Vale opened the doors to a new mine in the Sudbury area, touted as the first time in more than four decades.
The Totten mine – which Vale calls ‘Canada’s mine of the future’ – officially opened on Friday with full production of copper, nickel and some precious metals expected in 2016.
