Wits Basin Precious Minerals Inc. announce the signing of purchase contracts for the acquisition of a producing iron ore mine, a separate, nearby drill-indicated iron ore resource, and a processing plant located near Maanshan, Anhui Province in the People’s Republic of China.
The producing mine and the drill-indicated resource total more than 94 million tonnes of [...]

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc., announced that it plans to introduce a futures contract based on prevailing market prices for hot-rolled steel coil in the U.S. Midwest region (U.S. Midwest domestic hot-rolled coil steel) early in the fourth quarter of 2008. The contract will be financially settled against [...]

SunOpta Inc. (NasdaqGS:STKL - News) (Toronto:SOY.TO - News) today announced Opta Minerals Inc. has acquired 67% of the outstanding common shares of MCP Mg-Serbien SAS (“MCP”) of France. The transaction includes an option to acquire the remaining 33% minority interest on similar terms. For fiscal 2007 MCP recorded revenues of approximately US$6.3 million selling ground [...]

ArcelorMittal today announces that it has increased its stake in Macarthur Coal Limited (ASX: MCC - News) from 14.9% to 19.9%, following the acquisition of a further 5 % stake (10,607,830 shares) from Talbot Group Holdings.
The shares were purchased at $ AUD 20, bringing ArcelorMittal’s total investment in Macarthur Coal to $ AUD 843 million. [...]

China is finding it harder than expected to clear out iron ore stocks that are overwhelming its ports, a senior official said on Wednesday, as stocks creep up past 80 million tonnes.
Severe congestion at northern Chinese ports is contributing to a rise in freight rates, which hit all-time highs last week.
That in turn has weakened [...]

The outcome of annual iron ore contract price negotiations between Australian suppliers and Chinese buyers must be decided by market forces, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said Saturday.
China wanted the status of a market economy, which Australia previously formally recognized during trade negotiations, so it must recognize that the market will determine prices, he said.
“No [...]

Aricom Plc expects to significantly expand its iron ore reserves in the Russian Far East after paying $80 million to acquire two mining licences adjoining existing projects, the company said on Tuesday.
London-listed Aricom, which launched its first Russian mine last year, will pay a total $45 million in cash and $35 million in shares for [...]

The world’s second biggest iron ore miner has flagged changes to the way the commodity is priced saying it is prepared to sell into the lucrative spot market and hold off on finalising contracts until major Chinese customers cave in to its demands.
The head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore division, Sam Walsh, says the company [...]

Against a backdrop of rising iron ore prices, Brazilian steel producers should maintain high profit margins relative to their global peers during 2008, according to Fitch Ratings. Brazilian steel companies enjoy important competitive advantages, including modern production facilities, close proximity to sources of iron ore and a highly concentrated domestic market, which limits competition based [...]

Ukraine raised iron ore exports tentatively 16.5% year-on-year in January-February to 3.611 million tonnes, a source at Ukrrudprom, the association of Ukrainian mining enterprises, told Interfax.
Iron ore concentrate exports nearly doubled to 929,900 tonnes, pellet exports [...]