Fitch Ratings announced on Tuesday that it revised its metals and mining price assumptions lower, reflecting evolving economic growth expectations and demand and supply dynamics.
Data from Statistics SA (Stats SA) on Tuesday showed that mining output plunged by 8.4% in July year-on-year following a downwardly revised 7.1% decline in June.
This is bad news for South Africa’s domestic mining industry, with its hefty contribution to the country’s GDP and which is now facing the added Eskom load- shedding challenge.
Analysts have predicted that mining activity will probably be depressed for the remainder of the year, and drag economic growth even lower.
Fitch said short-term assumptions for copper, aluminium, nickel, zinc, iron ore, and hard coking coal have been cut, reflecting lower current prices and increasing uncertainties over short-term demand.
At the same time short- and medium-term assumptions for thermal coal have been raised, reflecting increased demand due to the energy crisis in Europe, it said.
“Our reduced copper assumptions for 2022-2023 reflect a global economic slowdown and expectations of weaker demand in the short term compared with supply prospects, which we anticipate to lead to a small surplus in 2023, although the market is likely to remain tight,“ it said.
Fitch said it expected small demand increases in China in 2022-2023 due to periodic lockdowns and a decline in the country’s construction sector, while consumption growth in other regions is only marginally higher than that in China.
“Nevertheless, medium-term prospects remain solid due to the energy transition accounting for 50% of growth in global copper demand anticipated over the next five years. Our medium- and long-term assumptions, therefore, remain unchanged,” Fitch said.
The rating agency said it cut the 2022 iron ore and coking coal price assumptions reflecting the year-to-date pricing on lower steel demand, particularly in China, which leads to steel production curtailments and lower demand for steelmaking inputs, falling steel producers’ margins, and build-up of iron ore inventories.
“At the same time, met coal supply has improved as Australian production recovered and Russian producers redirected some of their output from Europe to Asia. However, the market prices for met coal have bottomed out, while some hard coking coal producers started diverting sales to the thermal coal market, which benefits from high demand and pricing,” Fitch said.
It said, however, its medium- and long-term views of the iron ore and met coal markets remained unchanged.
Fitch said the lowered aluminium assumptions for 2022-2023 reflected changing market sentiments that led to reduced prices in the short term, while market fundamentals and its longer term assumptions were unchanged.
"Lower demand, particularly due to weaknesses of the Chinese construction market, will weigh on aluminium prices in the short term. However, rising energy prices could turn production in many markets loss-making, leading to curtailment and shoring up prices from further decline,“ it said.
The zinc assumptions for 2022-2023 were lowered as inflationary and recessionary pressures, and energy issues weigh on demand, while mine production remained flat, leading to market surpluses in the short term. “However, price-elastic supply should support market rebalancing in the medium term,” it said.
The group said all gold price assumptions remained unchanged, reflecting the metal’s ‘safe haven’ investment status amid high geopolitical instability and inflationary pressures.
“The market price has been moderating during most of 2022 in line with our expectations of interest rate hikes, while the strong US dollar will continue pushing the price down. We expect gold prices to moderate in the longer term once geopolitical risks abate and as the interest rate hiking cycle continues,“ it said.
According to Fitch, its increased 2022-2025 assumptions for both thermal coal price benchmarks reflect strong demand, particularly from China, against the backdrop of higher energy prices, particularly high European gas prices, leading to increased reliance on coal-powered energy generation.
“The increased price assumptions for 2024-2025 also incorporate higher coal mining costs and limited expected new capacity in the main producing countries. However, our long-term assumptions remain unchanged as consumption in China should gradually decline,” the rating agency said.
The nickel price assumption for 2022 was cut, reflecting subdued demand from the stainless steel sector, while production levels remain healthy, particularly in Russia and Indonesia.
"However, long-term demand from electric vehicle production should support longer term prices,“ Fitch said.
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