Ramu sends nickel price to 5-year high amid tightest market in decade

With the price of uranium down about 25% from levels reached before the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan last year, the least the industry wanted to hear was what the latest edition of the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index had to say: the yellow material prices may well bottom in 2012.

Rio Tinto, the world's third largest miner behind BHP Billiton and Vale, is bullish on the demand for commodities despite renewed volatility in Europe and the risk of financial contagion.

With huge investments in Peruvian copper, Chinalco Mining, a division of the giant Aluminum Corp of China, follows another Chinese state-owned miner to the Hong Kong market to raise money.

At a time when hedge funds are reducing bullish silver bets by the most in two years, analysts predict a rally as manufacturing expands from China to the U.S., boosting demand for the precious metal most used in industry.

Gold imports to China from Hong Kong were up 59% in March, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.

A total of 242,000 tonnes of iron ore were traded on the first day of business on China’s first physical iron ore trading platform, China Beijing Mining Exchange (CBMX) said in a press release.

A private group of Chinese magnates is planning to take away Guinea’s Simandou, the world's largest undeveloped iron ore project, from Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.

The new China Beijing Metals Exchange (CBMX), the country’s first physical iron ore trading platform is set to debut Tuesday, with the major producers of the commodity BHP Billiton (NYSE:RIO), Vale (NYSE:VALE), Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) as members.

A takeover of the 134-year old LME – responsible for 80% of the global metals futures trade – is expected to become official this week amid talk of manipulation and distorted pricing in the copper market. Some traders are fingering Swiss giant Glencore while others believe China has managed to corner the market.