Basic Materials/Resources

LONDON—Commodities giant Glencore GLNCY -1.05% PLC said Friday it made more money trading oil, metals and other commodities in six months than it had expected to make all year, citing unprecedented volatility in markets in the wake of the global recovery from the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine. Glencore said its trading division expects to post half-year earnings before interest and taxes of more than $3.2 billion, at the top end…

Most top executives say they think a recession is looming or already here, according to a new survey, reflecting a rapid deterioration of the economic outlook among business leaders.More than 60% of CEOs expect a recession in their geographic region in the next 12 to 18 months, according to a survey of 750 CEOs and other C-suite executives released Friday by the Conference Board, a business research firm. An additional 15% think the region of the world where their company operates is already in a recession.…

ADELAIDE, Australia—The world’s largest mining company abandoned the sale of its last thermal coal mine, and said it would aim to close the Australian pit in 2030. Despite record-high coal prices, BHP Group Ltd. said it failed to find a buyer for the Mt Arthur mine, which is one of Australia’s biggest coal operations but is technically complex and will have a large cleanup bill when it closes. The decision was welcomed by some activists, who have been urging big miners to…

Millions of electric vehicles will be scrapped in the coming years. For the batteries that power them, that won’t be the end of the road. Eventually, auto makers and recycling companies want to harvest valuable materials from old EV batteries to make new ones. But before they are recycled, used batteries could be given a second life on the electricity grid. Millions of electric vehicles will be scrapped in the coming years. For the batteries that power them, that won’t be the end of the…

SEOUL—A weeklong trucker strike in South Korea over fuel costs and wages is tying up supply chains in one of Asia’s export powerhouses.Thousands of truckers are refusing to drive, while deliveries by truckers who are working have been thwarted by protesters—shutting steel plants, disrupting car production and delaying shipments of raw materials needed for semiconductors. The cost to key industries over roughly the past week comes to about 1.6 trillion won, equivalent to about $1.2 billion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry…

PARIS—For decades, European industry relied on Russia to supply low-cost oil and natural gas that kept the continent’s factories humming.Now Europe’s industrial energy costs are soaring in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, hobbling manufacturers’ ability to compete in the global marketplace. Factories are scrambling to find alternatives to Russian energy under threat that Moscow could abruptly turn off the gas spigot, bringing production to a halt.…

Even if you vowed never to cruise again after Covid-19, there might just be a price to tempt you. Mass-market cruise lines need you to bite. Amid sky-high hotel prices, the best deals in lodging this summer are at sea level—literally. Cruise-review site Cruise Critic noted pricing for summer cruises is currently as low as it has been since the sector’s 2021 restart. The current average cost of a five-night Caribbean cruise begins at $100 a day, according to Cruise Critic, including…

Bayer AG BAYRY -1.56% notched a third consecutive court victory in the U.S. over its Roundup weedkiller after a jury in Missouri rejected a claim that it causes cancer days before an eagerly anticipated Supreme Court announcement on a key case. The Supreme Court is expected to announce next week whether it would hear Bayer’s bid to dismiss a Roundup case. Should the court take up the case and ultimately find in favor of the German…

BRAZLÂNDIA, Brazil—Brazil is rushing to roll out high-tech alternatives to fertilizer to boost farm production because of global price surges exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Drones fitted with cameras hover over centuries-old farms, allowing farmers to use fertilizer only where it is really needed, while nearby laboratories use the same lasers employed by NASA on Mars to perform soil analysis in seconds. Special white gels hold nutrients in place near plant roots with minute precision, preventing waste, and…

ADELAIDE, Australia—Idle uranium mines are slowly coming back to life as countries rethink their energy security and shift away from coal.Operators of mines in North America, Australia and Africa say they are preparing to restart old sites or stalled projects, encouraged by uranium prices hitting their highest levels since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan that drove the nuclear fuel into a decadelong slump. Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change and a desire to replace uranium from Russia,…