Mining stocks reversed sharply as copper producers Freeport-McMoRan and Teck Resources fell about 7% after a report that the White House has yet to decide on refined copper tariffs. The pullback comes just as Freeport’s $100 billion valuation is again in focus, magnifying sensitivity to policy risk around US trade measures. For mine planners and project financiers, the move signals renewed volatility in copper, silver and gold pricing that could affect hurdle rates, hedging strategies and near-term approvals for large capital projects.

Platinum and palladium price forecasts have been cut by BMI as shrinking global car sales curb autocatalyst demand and South African PGM supply recovers, easing earlier deficit concerns. Sibanye-Stillwater is restructuring a loss-making shaft in South Africa and simultaneously facing a strike at its Stillwater and East Boulder palladium operations in Montana, adding mine-level uncertainty. The World Platinum Investment Council estimates above-ground platinum stocks will fall to cover only about 3.4 months of demand by year-end, signalling tighter physical availability despite softer prices.

Global coal demand is now forecast by the IEA to rise 1.2% in 2026 to 8.94 billion tonnes, reversing an expected decline as Strait of Hormuz disruptions drive LNG shortages and push thermal coal prices up to around $150/t. Increased coal-fired generation in Europe, Japan, South Korea, China and other gas-reliant markets with idle coal capacity, combined with an unusually strong El Niño cutting hydropower, is tightening supply. Global output will stay above 9 Bt but dip in 2026 after Chinese safety inspections, with a modest production rebound only expected in 2027.