U.S. natural gas futures surged more than 13% on Wednesday as temperatures drop and forecasts call for more winter weather ahead.

The contract for February delivery advanced 13.3% to $4.818 per million British thermal units, the highest level since November.

“The heating demand outlook for [the] eastern-third of the U.S. has strengthened materially for this weekend and for the last week of January,” said Again Capital’s John Kilduff, noting that this Saturday could see record natural gas demand due to a cold blast forecast for Friday.

“The weather has gone from being a non-factor or bearish factor all season to being meaningful, again, for prices and demand,” he added.

After surging for much of 2021, natural gas prices dropped 36% during the fourth quarter following warm temperatures and as the omicron variant sent jitters through the market.

Still, the contract posted a 47% gain for 2021, and is already up nearly 30% for 2022…read more.

The $3-trillion EV market needs batteries that are 20-30% graphite–a material the U.S. currently doesn’t produce at all.

That makes graphite a matter of national security in the global energy race.

Each EV battery requires not only lithium–a metal that investors are very interested in–but even more graphite, the metal that prevents the lithium batteries from breaking down.

Yet, the U.S. hasn’t produced any graphite for decades.

Now, with the EV market starting to explode, and automakers and battery manufacturers expected to consume far more than ever, we’re looking at a nightmarish graphite supply chain that is mostly dependent on China–but not necessarily on the Chinese.

Currently, China is one of the few countries with graphite processing facilities, but one of the leading producers in the world is an international company with both a North American technology and production arm and wholly owned Chinese subsidiaries and expert team operating since 2008. And it’s parked right next to the largest graphite mine in the world, in China allowing it to secure this critical supply today while growing with the explosive demand of tomorrow…read more.

Indonesian coal miners are seeking a quick resolution to a government coal export ban that is already causing fuel prices to rise and could disrupt the energy needs of some of the world’s biggest economies.

The world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal on Saturday banned the shipments because of concerns it could not meet its own power demand. But the prohibition risks undermining the energy needs of global economic linchpins China, India, Japan, and South Korea, which together received 73% of Indonesian coal exports in 2021, according to shiptracking data from Kpler.

Though key coal trading hubs such as Australia are closed on Monday, prices for coal to India’s west coast have already climbed by as much as 500 rupees ($6.73) per tonne since the ban was announced, said Riya Vyas, a business analyst at iEnergy Natural Resources Limited.

But, she did not know of any exporters who had declared force majeure, which describes when companies cannot supply fuel because of events beyond their control.

The ban follows a tumultuous year for global coal as prices surged amid a supply crunch in China, the world’s biggest consumer. Prices of the most commonly exported grade of Indonesian coal rose to a record $158 per tonne in October thought it slipped $68 on Dec. 29, according to data from Caixin…read more.

• The global mining industry is facing its most important decade ever as the world races to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
• The energy transition has sparked a race for critical metals used in solar power and battery technology.
• Miners will also have to keep their operations safe and sustainable in the years to come if they want to remain relevant.

The international mining industry is facing arguably “its most important decade” as the world starts the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), Rohitesh Dhawan, said in an interview earlier this month.

Dhawan emphasized that mining will be at the very center of this transition because of the burgeoning demand for metals used in solar and wind power, and in the batteries needed to drive electric vehicles.

On the back of his confirmed participation at the Future Minerals Summit in Riyadh, Dhawan stressed ICMM’s simple message of “mining with principles” to maximize the benefit of mining while minimizing the harm to people and the environment.

Dhawan said that ICMM seeks to ensure that the lives of everyone touched by mining are made better, and that the operations are safe, fair, equitable, just and sustainable.

ICMM’s 28 corporate members represent one-third of the global mining industry, and through its association members the council has an indirect influence on most of the sector…read more. 

Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS), one of Australia’s top lithium miners, slashed its forecast for shipments, further exacerbating tight supply for the key ingredient in electric-vehicle batteries.

The Perth-based company cited a raft of issues — from delays in commissioning and ramping up more processing capacity, to unplanned shutdowns and skilled worker shortages — in lowering its guidance for spodumene concentrate shipments to between 380,000 and 440,000 tonnes in the year ending June 30, from 440,000 to 490,000 tons previously.

• The global push toward electrified transport has fired up consumption for lithium and the battery material’s prices have more than tripled this year to a record. Miners are scurrying to expand capacity, but they can’t keep up with demand and market tightness is likely to persist in the near term.
• “We expect both lithium chemicals and spodumene prices to continue to go up,” said Dennis Ip and Leo Ho, analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets. Spodumene — lithium-bearing hard rock and the material Pilbara produces — is in particularly short-supply, they added, with ongoing price hikes likely…read more.