Russia plans to mine cobalt deposits at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean

H1 2026 sulfur imports fell by 771,000 mt YoY, a decline of nearly 30%. Combined imports from the four Middle Eastern countries (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait) dropped by 1.52 million mt, a decrease of 62%. Canada emerged as a new major source, with imports rising from 172,000 mt to 328,000 mt (+90%), making it the second-largest origin. The average price in June surged to $885/mt, forming a pattern of “volume decline and price increase”.

[SMM Express] Construction of the coking, power and ferrochrome plants at the Xintai-developed Palm River Energy and Metallurgical Industrial Park in Beitbridge is now complete, according to a ZANU-PF government progress update. The milestone follows the complex's first furnace commissioning in March 2025 and comes as the project's power infrastructure — currently a 100 MW coal-fired plant, en route to a targeted 1,200 MW, with surplus electricity destined for the national grid — continues to expand toward full design capacity. A Xintai official told commodity data provider OPIS in May that the complex's third furnace was targeted for commissioning in August 2026 — this month. We look forward. Palm River forms part of a broader Special Economic Zone spanning 5,163 hectares and is being developed in phases, with Mines Minister Dr Polite Kambamura citing the project in April as central to Zimbabwe's push for a share of the US$15.8 billion global ferrochrome market. With Zimbabwe's total ferrochrome exports reaching 433,293 tonnes across the whole sector in 2025, Palm River's ramp-up, and confirmation of the third furnace's commissioning, will be a key indicator of how much additional volume the country's beneficiation drive can add to that base over the coming year.

[SMM Express] South Africa's ferrochrome exports fell 44.57% year-on-year as of June 2026, driven largely by extended smelter suspensions at Wonderkop and Boshoek. Against that backdrop, two developments elsewhere in the global ferrochrome market this year point to a supply base actively reconfiguring around Kazakhstan and Europe. In January 2026, Albania's ALBCHROME began a capacity expansion and modernization of its ferrochrome smelting facilities, aimed specifically at capturing rising demand from European stainless steel manufacturers. The timing aligns with the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, in effect since January 2026, which favours suppliers with shorter transport distances and lower embedded carbon footprints — criteria that structurally favour a European supplier like Albania over South Africa. Separately, in March 2026, Glencore proposed backing Kazakh businessman Shakhmurat Mutalip's $1.4 billion bid for a 40% stake in Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), one of the world's largest ferrochrome producers via its Kazchrome subsidiary, offering an $800 million upfront pre-payment in exchange for future ferrochrome shipments. Glencore's move is notable given the company's own deep stake in South African ferrochrome through the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture, pointing to diversification of its ferrochrome supply exposure beyond South Africa. With Kazakhstan's Bolashak mine continuing to ramp toward 7.5 million tonnes/year of chrome ore capacity and Albania positioning to serve Europe directly, South African producers face a more competitive global landscape by the time domestic smelting capacity is fully restored, rather than an unchanged market to return to.