Liquidity in the seaborne coking coal spot market remained low on Friday November 9 though some bullish sentiment has emerged. A cargo of second-tier hard coking coal was heard sold to an end user in northern China at around $208 per tonne cfr China, but market sources said this was part of a term contract for the month of December.A trader based in Tangshan hinted that supply was running low, and...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Friday November 9, with sellers keeping prices steady despite a pick-up in trading activity in a bid to secure more sales. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,480-4,520 yuan ($646-652) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 4,350-4,400 yuan per tonne, unchangedBuyers in Shanghai raised their procurement rates slightly ahead of the weekend ami...Read More
Cobalt prices were unchanged this past week, but recent illiquidity in the spot market could make prices vulnerable to a move lower in the coming weeks, markets sources told Fastmarkets MB. The price assessments for low-grade cobalt and high-grade cobalt were unchanged at $33.50-34.45 per lb and $33.50-34.50 per lb, respectively, on Friday November 9.Apart from one small low-grade sale above $36 p...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday November 9:Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $3.60-4.00 per lb from $3.40-4.00Chromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $10,800-11,200 per tonne from $10,800-11,500Cobalt sulfate,...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The Chinese market has witnessed a cobalt recycling boom in the pastyear as a result of high cobalt prices, although the establishment of a truly comprehensive and efficient recycling system is still some way off, Fastmarkets learned from a cobalt panel discussion in Xiamen, China. "The rally in cobalt prices has provided a lot of incentive to [cobalt] recycling businesses, and...Read More
The following Fastmarkets non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday November 9:Aluminium ingotDuty paid delivered works pressure diecasting ingot...Read More
The potential for scrap prices to slowly rebound and a bearish outlook for secondary aluminium ingot prices are causing European producers to worry about margins for 2019.European secondary aluminium ingot demand is expected to stay muted through the second quarter of 2019 due to weak automotive demand caused by bottlenecks in the European Union's new emission testing procedure, market participant...Read More
Japanese H2 scrap continued to lead price falls in the Asia markets amid weak demand from end-users and bearish sentiment among traders.Key buyers are looking out for Japanese H2 scrap as the most competitive raw material for their furnaces this week after fob Tokyo Bay prices dipped further. This was after the Kanto Tetsugen tender results were announced today.Containerized scrap prices in Taiwan...Read More
U.S. stocks tumbled in trading this afternoon with selling pressure a result of multiple factors. After producing respectable gains throughout the week, U.S. equities reacted to two major events, as well. First, market participants reacted to the statement released by the Federal Reserve yesterday from this month's FOMC meeting. Second, data suggested a "hotter-than-expected" reading on producer p...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose toward a 16-month high against the euro on Friday as falling equity prices spurred a flight to quality and the U.S. Federal Reserve reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance, citing the strong U.S. economy.The S&P 500 fell more than 1 percent, with shares of large technology, industrial and material companies taking a hit as weak Chinese data and a sli...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold has given up its October gains and analysts say that it will be difficult for the yellow metal to rally as oil prices fall into bear-market territory, according to some commodity analysts.We’re only in the first week, but November is proving to be a disappointing month for gold as the yellow metal trades near a four-week low. December gold futures last traded at $1,208.60...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are trading solidly down and at a four-week low in late-morning action Friday. Early losses have been extended on technical selling pressure, including sell stop orders being triggered when key chart support levels were breached. Bearish "outside markets" today that include a higher U.S. dollar index and lower crude oil prices are pressuring the precious metal...Read More
(Kitco News) - Wall Street changed its near-term outlook on gold prices and now looks for the metal to continue to decline on an expectation for more U.S. rate hikes, although Main Street still leans bullish, according to the weekly Kitco News gold survey.The Federal Open Market Committee wrapped up a meeting Thursday in which policymakers issued a statement saying economic activity remains &ldquo...Read More
The U.S. Midterm Election ending without any surprises, and had stock prices soaring higher on Wednesday, while gold was essentially unchanged. With equities being bid higher, gold is losing an important safety-related support with the return of “risk-on” among equity investors. Although the expected results saw just a 0.12% lift in gold, the GDX sold off into the close as most t...Read More
Gold has come under pressure the last few days, but from a long-term perspective, the pattern has held up and all signs point to higher prices. We can look at the trade in gold a couple of ways -- we can panic because it's down 2% from its recent highs or rejoice that it's still 5% higher than the lows. In other words, is the glass half empty or half full? We will choose to look at the glass half...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices remain under pressure, and are trading at session lows after producer price inflation came in much hotter than expected last month.Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said its Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.6% in October following an increase of 0.2% in September; the data was stronger than expected with economists' forecasting an increase of 0.2%.Core PPI, which strips...Read More
Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX, NYSE: PVG), which operates the Brucejack Mine in British Columbia that began commercial production in July 2017, reports adjusted earnings rose to $26.3 million, or 14 cents per share, in the third quarter, up from $14 million, or 8 cents, in the same period a year ago. Net earnings were $10.7 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $7 million, or 4 ce...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Thursday November 8, with both zinc and lead futures pushing higher on low LME inventories, while nickel failed to follow the uptrend.Climbing 3.9% over the afternoon, the three-month lead price reached an intraday high of $2,008.50 per tonne, which is 5% higher than its weekly low of $1,905 per tonne on Novembe...Read More
Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery will continue to run at 50% capacity following a federal court ruling, Fastmarkets understands. The federal court has decided to uphold the decision, previously made by the Para state court, to halt operations of the refinery's DRS2 bauxite residue disposal for environmental reasons. Alunorte has been running at 50% capacity since March following the original deci...Read More