Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Hanwha Corporation, Amcor , Natural Gas, Iron Ore, Phillips 66, Indika Energy, Michelmersh Brick Holdings, Capitan Silver and more

• The chances of a Hanwha Corp-Hanwha Energy merger just dropped significantly. With the brothers now owning 43%, the merger’s effectively off.
• The three brothers face a KRW 200B gift tax bill and need liquidity. They’ll raise cash via Hanwha Energy’s IPO, with the youngest brother set to sell a 10% stake.
• Hanwha Corp will likely fund its Hanwha Aerospace rights issue through a rights offering, using KRW 1.3 trillion from Hanwha Energy, after shutting down merger rumors.

• Amcor (AMCR US) and Berry Global Group (BERY US) all-stock merger creates a $24B packaging leader with $650M in synergies by year three.
• Berry Global Group (BERY US) shareholders to receive 7.25 Amcor (AMCR US) shares per share held, with the deal expected to close soon.
• The merger’s impact on major U.S. indices expected on an intra-quarter basis.

• WTI rebounded in March due to geopolitical risks, but oversupply concerns and Trump’s unpredictable policies may limit further gains as OPEC increases output from April.
• Henry Hub rallied in 2025, driven by strong LNG demand, supply constraints, and below-average inventories, positioning it for sustained support despite short-term volatility.
• Henry Hub’s technicals indicate a potential bullish reversal, while WTI’s bullish momentum shows signs of weakening, suggesting divergent trends in the near term.

• SGX IO Futures rose $2.25/ton over the week, closing at $102.25/ton, buoyed by seasonal steel demand and technical support above 9D and 21D DMAs.
• Implied volatility in iron ore options fell sharply YoY (ATM IV -36%, 10-delta puts -41%), making long volatility positions more affordable.
• Futures and options open interest rose 6.85% WoW, with Financial Institutions increasing net long positions, reinforcing bullish positioning.

• The battle for boardroom influence at Phillips 66 has entered a new phase.
• On March 25, 2025, activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management filed a lawsuit against Phillips 66 and its board, demanding that four board seats be opened for election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
• This move comes just weeks after Elliott revealed it had increased its stake in the oil refiner to $2.5 billion and nominated seven directors.

• Indika Energy’s FY 2024 results were weak as expected in our view, due to significant challenges amid declining coal prices, with no contributions from its investments in non-coal businesses so far.
• The balance sheet worsened significantly during the year.
• That said, liquidity remained sound.

Although Michelmersh’s (MBH’s) FY24 results reflected tough markets, there are reasons for investors to be more enthusiastic about the outlook. H224 revenue was less poor than H1 and the early weeks of FY25 saw order intake continue to build. Furthermore, with the direction of interest rates expected to be down and government policies supporting spending, the outlook is promising. MBH is also attractively valued versus peers, trading at a material discount, while its yield is close to 5%. Its balance sheet remains ungeared, further reducing risks.

• Capitan Silver announced that it has commenced its Phase 1 exploration program targeting 10,000m of RC drilling at its Cruz de Plata silver-gold project.
• The program will target previously identified high-grade silver targets at Jesus María and the Gully Fault zone.
• An updated Mineral Resource Estimate is planned for the Capitan Hill Oxide Gold Deposit in Q2/25.