Iron ore shipments from Western Australia's (WA) Port Hedland rallied in December, although 2023 exports were below 2022 as increased sales to India and Vietnam were offset by reduced deliveries to China and Japan.

Silicon prices in Europe have undergone a sustained price rally since early December.

UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto shipped 331.81mn t of iron ore from Western Australia (WA) in 2023.

There is plenty of capacity at all four ports to raise throughput and cut shipping queues, weather permitting.

But weaker Japanese demand weighed on overall Australian hard coking coal exports.

A prolonged slump in nickel prices is stress-testing producers worldwide, raising the prospect of sweeping mine closures that will deepen Indonesia’s dominance of global supply.

SLN, the New Caledonia nickel producer controlled by mining group Eramet, said on Monday it was running at reduced capacity after an electrical incident over the weekend caused a local power cut.

The miner on Monday posted a near 50% drop in second-quarter metallurgical coal output as it completed major work at an underground mine at its Illawarra operation, while its quarterly manganese production also missed estimates.