The increase took overall shipments for the last year to 407mn, slightly higher than a government-set target for the year of 400mn t.

The carbon intensity of the UK power sector reached its highest level in over a year in January.

Brazilian mining firm Vale said it expects to achieve iron ore production capacity of 350mn t/yr this year, up by 8.7pc from a year earlier.

"[Rail operator] Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is cancelling many trains," said one supplier.

"[Rail operator] Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is cancelling many trains," said one supplier.

In one of the most challenging engineering projects ever undertaken, Chile is building a unique steel-built suspension bridge near the site of the strongest earthquake ever recorded.

Japanese steel mill Nippon Steel expects its crude steel output in this year's January-March quarter to recover above 10mn t for the first time since January-March 2020.

In 2020, the total output of vanadium pentoxide was 19.5 mlb, a decrease of 3% from the same period last year. (Total production in 2019 is 2020 mlb)