Commodities
Gold miners bring fresh wave of suffering to Brazil’s Yanomami
© Reuters. Illegal miners are detained by a members of the Special Inspection Group from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) during an operation against illegal mining in Yanomami Indigenous land, Roraima state, Brazil, Dec
By Ueslei Marcelino
YANOMAMI INDIGENOUS LAND, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazil is losing the upper hand in its battle to save the Yanomami Indigenous people, who are dying from flu, malaria and malnutrition brought into their vast, isolated Amazon (NASDAQ:) rainforest reservation by resurgent illegal miners.
A year after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami and vowed zero tolerance for illegal mining, environmental enforcers warn that Brazil is jeopardizing last year’s hard-won progress, when about 80% of roughly 20,000 wildcatters were ousted from the Portugal-sized reservation.
As the Brazilian military has rolled back its support for the government crackdown, the gold-seeking miners have come back, they say, making fresh incursions into Yanomami land.
According to Brazil’s health ministry, 308 Yanomami died of disease, malnutrition and violence last year, with 50% of the deaths being children under four. Deaths from malaria, which is introduced by the miners, doubled in 2023 from 2022.
The presence of armed miners has also scared the Yanomami from planting manioc, their staple along with river fish, and reduced the game they can hunt.
During a Reuters visit to the Yanomami territory in December and January, agents of environmental protection agency Ibama said they are now flying solo in the battle against the miners after crucial military support was scaled down.
The Brazilian military reduced operations in mid-2023 and stopped transporting fuel for Ibama’s helicopters to forward bases inside the reservation, limiting their range across the giant territory. The Air Force has not enforced a no-fly zone, despite being ordered to do so by Lula in April, while the Navy is not doing enough to blockade rivers that are the miners’ main access for machinery and supplies, three Ibama officials said.
Brazil’s Army, Navy and Air Force did not reply to requests for comment.
The ineffective no-fly zone has led to growing numbers of unregistered pilots flying miners into Yanomami land, and then crossing the border to safety in Venezuela when intercepted by Ibama helicopters, said Ibama pilot Carlos Alberto Hoffmann. Venezuela’s government did not reply to a request for comment.
“The state is not effectively present today in Yanomami territory, and we are seeing the return of illegal mining,” said Hugo Loss, Ibama’s head of enforcement operations. Without more military support, he added, “we will lose all this year’s work.”
A Reuters photographer spent a week on Yanomami land, embedding with an elite Ibama unit as they swooped down by helicopter into mining camps to destroy dredging pumps, airplanes and other mining supplies. Miners fled at the sound of approaching helicopters, and the armed Ibama officers chased stragglers into the jungle to arrest them.
The photographer also visited the Auaris medical station near the Venezuelan border, where naked Yanomami children, their bellies swollen by malnutrition, were nursed back to health.
“Most of the miners had gone, but they are coming back,” Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa, whose activism helped create the government-protected Yanomami territory in 1992, told Reuters. “Illegal mining is so bad for us.”
Along with poisoning rivers and spreading disease, the return of the gold miners boosts criminal groups that traffic drugs and timber across the Amazon, undermining Lula’s pledge to restore law and order there and end deforestation by 2030.
Miners arrested and handcuffed by Ibama special forces said they were poor and needed an income from gold prospecting to feed their families. Most were removed from the reservation and freed, and police said they are now seeking the backers who financed the gold digs.
The destruction of the rainforest was evident from gaping pits some five meters (16 ft) deep in mining sites cleared of trees, along with dozens of ponds where dredged sludge was pumped into rivers, turning pristine waters a bright orange from the mud.
“This is war because people are dying. Hundreds of Yanomami have died in the humanitarian crisis, and they are Brazilians too,” said Felipe Finger, head of the Ibama special forces unit.
According to the 2022 census, there are 30,000 people from the Yanomami and related Ye’kwana people on the reservation, including groups with little or no contact with outsiders.
Ibama chief Rodrigo Agostinho said in a statement to Reuters that the environmental agency will not give up fighting the illegal mining on Yanomami land despite the challenges.
“We are aware of the existing adversities and we recognize the persistent presence of illegal miners in the area,” he said.
Lula held a Dec. 22 cabinet meeting that included commanders of the armed forces, where he emphasized that removing illegal miners was a government priority, according to the head of the Indigenous protection agency Funai, Joenia Wapichana.
Last week, Lula’s government pledged 1.2 billion reais ($245 million) on security and assistance efforts for the Yanomami, and Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues said Brazil’s government must throw its full weight into defending the Indigenous people.
On Wednesday, Federal Police announced the start of a new operation against illegal mining in Yanomami territory and said in a statement they will have the support of the armed forces.
Sydney Possuelo, Brazil’s top expert on isolated Indigenous tribes, helped create the Yanomami reservation and expel some 40,000 gold miners in 1992 when he headed Funai. The government must do more, he said in an interview.
“Ibama and the police simply do not have enough personnel there to get rid of the miners. The government is just saying this to show that it is doing something.
“The Air Force is not enforcing the no-fly zone. The Army and the Navy are doing nothing.”
Investing.com — Raymond James analysts provided a cautious outlook for the energy sector in 2025.
Despite energy’s underperformance over the past two years, the midstream group emerged as a bright spot in 2024, with the Alerian/AMNA index surging 37% and Raymond (NS:) James’ midstream coverage group up 41%.
Geopolitical tensions, such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and recent Middle East confrontations, have had little impact on oil market fundamentals.
“Oil price volatility continues to be driven by rather old-fashioned supply and demand factors,” the analysts note.
They highlight mixed messages from OPEC and weak demand from China as key contributors to the current market uncertainty. Additionally, the strength of the U.S. dollar, particularly around the U.S. election, is also exerting downward pressure on oil prices.
Looking ahead, Raymond James forecasts West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude to average $70 per barrel in 2025, slightly above the futures strip, with carrying a $5 premium.
In contrast, U.S. prices are expected to average $4 per Mcf, significantly higher than current futures prices.
A notable theme for 2025 is the continued impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the energy sector.
“AI remains the number-one story in the energy sector,” Raymond James states. “Accommodating this incremental demand will take an all-of-the-above strategy: gas, renewables, and – in certain circumstances, and with very long lead times – nuclear as well.”
“The energy sector currently sits at only ~3% of S&P market cap, but investor sentiment still remains above pre-COVID levels. That being said, near-term uncertainty regarding the commodities (namely oil) has left investors with little conviction at the moment,” concluded the firm.
By Shariq Khan
New York (Reuters) -Oil prices rallied nearly 3% to their highest in three months on Friday as traders braced for supply disruptions from the broadest U.S. sanctions package targeting Russian oil and gas revenue.
President Joe Biden’s administration imposed fresh sanctions targeting Russian oil producers, tankers, intermediaries, traders and ports, aiming to hit every stage of Moscow’s oil production and distribution chains.
futures settled at $79.76 a barrel, up $2.84, or 3.7%, after crossing $80 a barrel for the first time since Oct.7.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $2.65, or 3.6%, to settle at $76.57 per barrel, also a three-month high.
At their session high, both contracts were up more than 4% after traders in Europe and Asia circulated an unverified document detailing the sanctions.
Sources in Russian oil trade and Indian refining told Reuters the sanctions will severely disrupt Russian oil exports to its major buyers India and China.
“India and China (are) scrambling right now to find alternatives,” Anas Alhajji, managing partner at Energy Outlook Advisors, said in a video posted to social network X.
The sanctions will cut Russian oil export volumes and make them more expensive, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Their timing, just a few days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, makes it likely that Trump will keep the sanctions in place and use them as a negotiating tool for a Ukraine peace treaty, Staunovo added.
Oil prices were also buoyed as extreme cold in the U.S. and Europe has lifted demand for , Alex Hodes, analyst at brokerage firm StoneX, said.
“We have several customers in the New York Harbor that have been seeing an uptick in heating oil demand,” Hodes said. “We have seen a bid in other heating fuels as well,” he added.
U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures, previously called the heating oil contract, rose 5.1% to settle at $105.07 per barrel, the highest since July.
“We anticipate a significant year-over-year increase in global oil demand of 1.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2025, primarily boosted by … demand for heating oil, kerosene and LPG,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note on Friday.
Investing.com – Macroeconomic challenges facing commodities in the first three quarters of 2024 have reversed and become tailwinds entering the new year, according to analysts at Wells Fargo (NYSE:).
Elevated interest rates and broader economic uncertainties weighed on commodity prices over the January-to-September period last year, although that trend largely turned around in the fourth quarter, the analysts led by Mason Mendez said in a note to clients published on Monday.
Commodities in general delivered a modest performance in 2024, they said, with the Bloomberg Commodity Total (EPA:) Return Index clocking a 4.5% year-to-date increase as of Dec. 26.
“While supply conditions remained supportive of higher prices, commodity demand was held back by global economic headwinds,” the analysts wrote.
That tepid demand is seen improving in 2025, becoming a possible spark that ignites an uptick in commodity prices, they added. However, they flagged that the supply side “should not be forgotten.”
“After two years of lackluster commodity prices, many commodity producers have slowed production growth,” the analysts said. “This could become a particularly acute point in 2025 in the event that demand recovers at a stronger pace than most expect.”
They noted that new commodity output often lags demand “by months, and sometimes years.”
Among individual sectors, the analysts said they are most keen on precious metals, such as , and energy, with both expected to gain at least 10% in 2025. This would exceed the return the analysts expect from the mid-point of their 250-270 target range range for the broader Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index.
Gold, in particular, experienced a turbulent end to 2024 due in part to caution around more Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which contributed to an uptick in nominal and real bond yields that dented the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
Still, the yellow metal jumped by around 27% annually to close out the year at $2,625 per troy ounce, and the prospect of more Fed rate reductions — albeit at a possibly slower pace — could continue to boost its appeal, the Wells Fargo analysts said.
They set a target range for gold prices at $2,700-$2,800 per troy ounce this year.
Energy, meanwhile, is tipped to benefit from greater demand as global economic conditions improve, the analysts forecast. is tipped to be between $85-$95 a barrel, while crude is seen at $90-$100 per barrel. Oil prices dropped by around 3% in 2024, weighed down partly by a sluggish post-pandemic recovery in global demand.
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