Australian firms can produce a tonne of iron ore for less than $20 a tonne Big Mining beats Big Oil in profit as metal flares

Major oil producers, for decades the natural resource industry's top earners, are being eclipsed by once-smaller mining peers who are churning out record profits thanks to red-hot metals markets.

The mining windfall is the latest sign of a boom in iron ore, copper and other metals that's sending an inflationary wave through the global economy, increasing the cost of everything from electrical wires to construction beams.

In the corporate world, the top five iron ore mining companies are on track to deliver bottomline profits of $65 billion combined this year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That's about 13 per cent more than the five biggest international oil producers, flipping a decades-old hierarchy.

"It's wild," said Mark Hansen, chief executive officer of London-based trading house Concord Resources Ltd. "The value right now has shifted from energy to metals."

The eye-watering mining profits are mainly a product of iron ore, the world's biggest commodity after oil. The crucial steelmaking ingredient has been trading just a whisker below $200 a tonne and on par with record prices from a decade ago, when voracious Chinese demand triggered what became known as the commodities

Tesla Inc's factory outside Berlin won't start production before the end of January next year due to delays affecting battery pack production, according to a report by German trade magazine Automobilwoche, which cited unidentified sources close supercycle. The largest Australian mining companies can pull a tonne of iron ore from the ground for less than $20 a tonne.

Copper prices have also jumped near to all-time highs, crossing the $10,000a-tonne barrier for the first time in a decade. A basket of base metals, including aluminum, nickel, copper, tin, lead and zinc, is trading at levels only reached twice in modern history: in 2007-08 and

2011.

For the big five iron ore miners—BHP Group, Rio Tinto Group, Vale SA, Anglo American Plc and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd—this fiscal year will be just the second time this century that they'll outearn to the company.

Tesla's chief executive officer Elon Musk gave the team in charge of the plant six more months to complete the project, their oil peers, estimates show. It would be only the first time if their oil rivals hadn't been weighed down by huge writedowns in 2020.

During the previous commodity boom, which peaked between 2008 and 2011, Big Oil easily made larger profits than Big Mining. A decade ago, for example, the five energy majors—Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SE and BP Plc— delivered adjusted earnings that were double those of the big five iron ore miners.

Now, the surge in mining profits is another headache for the large oil companies as they struggle to attract shareholders amid according to the report published on Sunday.

The company is also waiting for permission from local authorities after it changed the original application for the plant. Other projects at the Berlin site—including the paint shop and body stamping lines—are at an advanced stage. mounting concern over climate change. While the miners are already returning more cash to investors, the oil producers are only just starting to do so, after some cut dividends last year.

The miners also have a better story to tell: while oil contributes to a warming world, some metals— particularly copper—are key to building a greener future based on electric cars.

The mining windfall matters beyond the natural resources industry. It's an indication that companies across multiple sectors will face rising costs, which at some point could translate into broader inflation.

The e-commerce transactions are growing fast, so are the complaints against them. More than three lakh consumer complaints have been filed against e-commerce transactions since January 2020.

As per the Department of Consumer Affairs, with more than 3 lakh complaints, e-commerce sector accounts for the largest chunk of total grievances received since January 2020. During this period, the department has received a total of around 8 lakh complaints. Most of the 3 lakh complaints against e-commerce have been disposed, with a small share of cases still pending.

Apart from e-commerce, the banking sector received more than one lakh complaints since the beginning of 2020. Telecom, electronic products and consumer durables are the other three top categories which have received complaints.

The grievances against e-commerce have risen, especially since the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the E-Commerce Rules, 2020 were notified.

As per these rules, every e-commerce entity is required to provide a long list of details on its platform about the sellers, rating and feedback, information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods and security of payment methods. They also have to make mandatory declarations like name and address of the manufacturer/ packer/ importer and the country of origin.