Tongling Nonferrous Completes Phase 2 of Mirador Copper Mine; Mining Contract Signing in Progress

Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council in the US, said that oil tankers had "already begun to pass sporadically" through the Strait of Hormuz, and that if necessary, the scale of a globally coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves could be expanded. Speaking on CNBC, he said the White House had formulated response plans for every stage of supply chain disruptions, and said he was "very confident that the current situation is under control and will end soon."

A senior Iranian official said on the 17th that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vetoed a proposal to “de-escalate tensions or achieve peace” with the US at a foreign affairs meeting, rejecting an offer relayed to Iran’s Foreign Ministry by two intermediary countries. The senior Iranian official said that Mojtaba stated at the foreign affairs meeting that “now is not the time for peace,” and said that the US and Israel must be defeated and made to pay compensation.

UBS’s latest research warned that if the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz persists, global crude oil and refined product inventories will fall to historic lows by month-end April, and Brent crude prices could then climb to above $150 per barrel, with further upside risk.