Copper and iron ore prices should remain high in the near future because of additional demand for reconstruction in Japan after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd Chief Executive Robert Friedland said.
The earthquake in northeastern Japan destroyed thousands of homes, levelled buildings and bridges and caused damage estimated at up to $308 billion, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd submit draft merger proposal Tokyo (Reuters) - Nippon Steel Corp, the world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd submitted a draft proposal for their planned merger to Japan's
Coal mining shares rose on Thursday amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear power as Japan races to avert a meltdown at a power plant crippled by last week's earthquake and tsunami, Reuters reported:
In afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Consol Energy (CNX.N) was up 4.9 percent at $54.96 and Alpha Natural Resources (ANR.N) rose 4.3 percent to $55.17. Peabody Energy (BTU.N) was 3.6 percent higher at $70.05, Massey Energy (MEE.N) was up 3.9 percent at $63.18 and Arch Coal (ACI.N) was 2.2 percent higher at $34.91.
Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd Japan's third-biggest steelmaker, said it had no plan to declare force majeure on input deliveries. The company has suspended operations of the two giant blast furnaces at its mainstay Kashima plant in Ibaraki prefecture after the quake and tsunami.
While the jury remains out on exactly what went wrong at certain tsunami-and earthquake-impacted nuclear power reactors in Japan, investors took decisive action on Monday, selling down listed uranium stocks by up to a third. Smaller stocks were especially punished.
During Australian trade, Pitchstone Exploration was sold down by 32% on the day. The world's biggest listed uranium producer, Canada's Cameco, fell 12.7% to close at $31.70.