rawmaterialsmarkets

The global gold market is experiencing a surge—amid escalating geopolitical tensions, prices for the precious metal are hitting historic highs, and global demand for the first time exceeded the 5,000-ton mark in 2025. We explain how much gold is mined in Russia, where the largest deposits are located, and whether it’s possible to obtain a license to develop mineral resources.

The copper market is rapidly tightening: a surge in shipments to the US and rising orders in China create the conditions for a rally that could push global prices to historical highs. This is reported by Bloomberg.
Futures in London this week have surpassed the $14,000 per ton mark — a ceiling that was only breached a handful of times this year. Many traders expect a quick breakout above the $14,500 record set in late January on the wave of speculative buying in China.

In July, nearly 30,000 tons of petroleum products were shipped to Russia from South Korea. This was reported on Friday, August 7, by Reuters, citing data from ship-tracking systems Kpler and Vortexa.
At least two tankers with destinations in Russia’s Far East were loaded with petroleum products from storage tanks at Ulsan port, the agency notes. According to Kpler and one of the sources for the journalists, one of the vessels has already arrived in Russia but has not yet begun unloading. As the agency’s interlocutors point out, the речь is about diesel and aviation fuel.

Saudi crude oil imports into the U.S. fell to zero in July, marking the first time in more than 40 years that a whole month passed without any such shipments since 1985, according to preliminary government data.
The halt in Saudi oil exports to the United States is linked to disruptions caused by the U.S.–Iran conflict, which effectively blocked shipments of crude oil from the Persian Gulf. Data from the U.S. Energy Department released on Wednesday confirmed that Saudi oil shipments toward the U.S. completely stopped last month. This sharp change contrasts with the start of the year, when American refineries were buying more than 800,000 barrels of Saudi oil per day.

According to Financial Times (FT) information, Russia is expanding its “shadow fleet” of ships intended for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). These measures are being taken ahead of the 2027 entry into force of the EU ban on imports of Russian LNG, the outlet reported on Tuesday, August 4, citing data from analytics firm Windward.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the two largest oil companies in the country—ExxonMobil and Chevron—for record profits due to high oil prices, and urged the companies to lower the price of gasoline for Americans. Trump also accused Chevron’s CEO of not properly acknowledging the role of the White House administration in the oil industry’s successes.

Australian shares in lithium companies rose on Tuesday after Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) issued a more optimistic outlook for the lithium market at the Diggers & Dealers conference, sparking a wave of buying in the battered sector — despite weak spot prices for lithium.
Liontown shares climbed more than 4%, leading gains among peers, after CEO Tony Ottaviano pointed to improving demand for spodumene, higher operating performance from the Kathleen Valley mine, and the start of work on a planned production expansion.

Oil production in Brazil hit a record high in June, as output growth among suppliers outside the Middle East helped offset supply disruptions caused by the conflict in Iran.
Crude oil production in Brazil increased by about 19% year-on-year and reached 4.5 million barrels per day in June, according to data from the National Agency for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels. Compared with May, the figure rose by about 4%. Total oil and natural gas production reached 5.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron increased their profits by several times last quarter thanks to high oil prices due to the war in the Middle East. Due to limited opportunities to produce, refine, and export oil and oil products in the Persian Gulf, American companies are using their capacity to the fullest. But their windfall profits are bringing them closer to a confrontation with Donald Trump, who is demanding lower fuel prices.

Kazakhstan is holding talks with Russia on the processing of Russian oil at its refineries. Reuters reported this on Thursday, July 30, citing the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan.
"Negotiations are under way on the processing of Russian-origin oil, followed by the sale of the resulting products within Kazakhstan and the export of part of the products to the Russian Federation", Reuters quotes a statement from a Kazakhstan agency.

American companies imported fertilizers worth $1.04 billion from Russia in January—May 2026—an all-time high since statistics began in 2003, TASS reports, citing data from the U.S. customs service. This is 28% more than in the same period of 2025, when the shipment volume was $806.4 million.

The production index of oil products in Russia (as part of the overall industrial production index) in June of the current year was 21.8% lower than a year earlier. These are the data from Rosstat released on Wednesday, July 22. For comparison: in May 2026, this indicator, year-on-year, fell in Russia by 13.5%.

Wholesale natural gas prices in Europe on Wednesday hovered near multi-month highs, as renewed sea attacks in the Middle East boosted geopolitical risk premiums in energy markets and raised fresh concerns about fuel supplies to Europe for the winter.

Chevron plans to sign on Friday, July 17, preliminary agreements with Iraq on investments in the West Qurna-2 and N asiriya oil fields, a senior executive at the company told Bloomberg, who was not identified. In addition, according to this source, the U.S. oil major is among the companies studying the possibility of building a pipeline to export Iraqi oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

Liquefied natural gas will become the United States’ second-largest net export industry over the next five years, contributing nearly $1.4 trillion to gross domestic product by 2040, according to a study by S&P Global Energy.
In 2025, the country became the first to export more than 100 million metric tons of LNG in a single year, helped by the commissioning of new production capacity.

U.S. oil and gasoline inventories declined last week: oil refineries increased crude processing volumes, while demand for gasoline remained high in mid-summer driving season, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Commercial oil inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels—down to 409.7 million barrels for the week ending 10.07.2025, according to EIA data. Analysts had forecast a decline of 2.6 million barrels.

Natural gas prices in Europe jumped to their highest levels in more than three months on Wednesday as the intensification of the conflict between the US and Iran raised concerns about a major disruption to global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.
Basic Dutch gas contract for the coming month increased by 3% to €54.40 per megawatt-hour (MWh), reaching its highest trading level since March 30. At the same time, equivalent British futures reflected this rise, climbing by about 3% over the day, in line with a broader European energy rally.

Rio Tinto reported on Wednesday that iron ore sales rose in the second quarter and confirmed its annual production outlook: higher operating performance at the Pilbara division offset weakness in copper production.
The company said global iron ore sales increased by 5% year over year—to 88.8 million metric tons in the second quarter, while Pilbara iron ore sales rose by 7%—to 85.3 million tons, the highest quarterly figure since 2020.

China instructed the country’s largest oil refineries to maintain a high level of fuel production amid renewed fighting between Iran and the United States, which poses a risk of disruptions in oil supplies through the Persian Gulf. Bloomberg News reported this on Saturday.

Turkey and Iraq will sign an annual agreement in the coming days to maintain the operation of the oil pipeline connecting the two countries, Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday.
The current agreement between the countries on the pipeline is due to expire on 27.07.
“We have advanced the agreement for the next 12 months to the final stage. We plan to sign it in the coming days,” Bayraktar said during an official visit to Baghdad. He also added that oil shipments from Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea will continue.