Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update 01/31/2025

Metals & Mining

Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ, Orion team up to invest $1.2 bln in metals, mining. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ and Orion Resource Partners have formed a 50-50 joint venture to invest $1.2B over four years in mining companies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based in Abu Dhabi, the venture expands ADQ’s critical minerals portfolio.

Nucor reports results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024. Earnings in the steel mills segment decreased in the fourth quarter of 2024 as compared to the third quarter of 2024 due to lower average selling prices and decreased volumes. Earnings in the steel products segment decreased in the fourth quarter of 2024 as compared to the third quarter of 2024 due to decreased volumes and lower average selling prices. Earnings in the raw materials segment increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 as compared to the third quarter of 2024. Lower corporate, administrative and tax expenses positively impacted fourth quarter net earnings.

85% probability of 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum and other imports. Differences in regional pricing for commodities such as aluminum and crude copper indicate an 85% probability of a 10% tariff being imposed. Canada is by some margin the largest supplier of primary metal to the United States, accounting for 79% of total imports in the first 11 months of 2024. On the other hand, the re-elected President threatened Mexico with tariff imposition, which is a major supplier of aluminum scrap and aluminum alloy to the USA. This could further complicate the commodity markets.

Norsk Hydro X Rio Tinto: $45M sustainability push to advance carbon capture for aluminum smelting. The globally recognized entities have partnered to exchange information and share costs on specific R&D activities, from lab tests with external suppliers to larger on-site pilots. Their goal is to enhance the beneficiation of commercially viable carbon capture technologies. The partners plan to invest ~$45M over five years in the initiative, conducted at Rio Tinto’s European facilities and Hydro’s facilities in Norway. Beyond this collaboration, both companies will continue their independent decarbonization efforts.

Transportation & Logistics

Platform Ventures investment arm expands in Georgia. Vertical Cold Storage, a developer of temperature-controlled distribution centers and unit for Kansas City-based Platform Ventures, has expanded its footprint in Georgia with the purchase of a frozen distribution center near the Port of Savannah. The facility, located at 220 Nordic Way, Pooler, GA, is ~350,000 square feet, has 40 dock doors, and includes over 35,000 pallet positions.

Spirit Airlines rejects Frontier Airlines’ merger offer as ‘woefully insufficient financially’. Frontier Airlines outlined that its proposal included the assumption that Spirit Airlines’ creditors would complete the $350M rights offering and would utilize the proceeds to retire the debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing upon its emergence from Chapter 11. Any excess liquidity would have gone into the combined entity’s balance sheet. Spirit did not address the voluntarily bankrupt carrier’s now-drawn $300M revolving credit facility (RCF) or many other core matters.

CN profits dip after fourth-quarter port and weather disruptions. Canadian National experienced a series of shocks to the system last year, and the fourth quarter was no exception: Profits and revenue declined as disruptive port work stoppages and a cold snap put a lid on traffic volumes.

Energy

Oil set for weekly losses as market awaits Trump tariffs. Oil prices were little changed on Friday but on course for weekly declines ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Saturday deadline to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Brent crude futures for March were down 1 cent at $76.86 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 7 cents to $72.78.

Others

Federal Reserve pauses interest rate cuts — first meeting without a cut since July. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee agreed unanimously to hold the target federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.5%, a move widely anticipated by financial markets – though it defies the wishes of President Donald Trump.

OpenAI could be worth as much as TikTok owner Bytedance with SoftBank’s latest investment. SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25B in OpenAI, which could value it ~$300B. The deal could make OpenAI the joint-second most valuable tech company after SpaceX. The funding round could see OpenAI pump $15B into the Stargate AI infrastructure project.