U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 2 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures are responding to an additional 8% drop in the Turkish Lira in overnight trading. VF Corp. (VFC $96.29) is expected to open lower after announcing spin off its jeans division into a separate publicly traded unit.Deere (DE $137.05) is expected to open lower after JP Morgan l...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday August 13.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Monday, with a firmer dollar and uncertainty surrounding escalating global trade tensions fueling a reduction in investors' appetite for the base metals.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures...Read More
Metal Bulletin proposes to launch two low-vol pulverized coal injection (PCI) indices on a cfr China and fob Australia basis. Following market feedback on the need for credible reference prices, Metal Bulletin is today proposing to launch two new PCI indices - Metal Bulletin low-vol Index PCI cfr China and Metal Bulletin low-vol Index PCI fob Australia.The proposed specification is as below:...Read More
Iron ore prices rose at Chinese ports but softened in the seaborne market on Monday August 13, following news of tighter restrictions on blast furnaces at some mills in China....Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have stayed unchanged over the past month due to the slow market, sources told Metal Bulletin this week....Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. ...Read More
The seaborne iron ore concentrate market continued to see a discount against prices for 65% Fe fines last week, with demand in China for the former not as robust as that for high-grade Brazilian products. ...Read More
Concerns over long vessel queues at various shipping ports in Queensland, Australia have again emerged among participants of the seaborne coking coal market. ...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices picked up on Monday August 13 after the local government in Tangshan, the country's steelmaking hub in the northern region, stepped up efforts to restrict steel production....Read More
China's silicon export market was stable in the week to Friday August 10 amid slow trading although Chinese market participants expect prices to rebound once buying activity picks up toward the end of August....Read More
Physical cobalt prices dropped again last week with opportunities to restock with competitively-priced cobalt units from China continuing to fuel aggressive selling in Europe. Metal Bulletin assessed low-grade and high-grade cobalt metal prices at $33.50-35.05 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday August 10. Low-grade prices were at $33.85-35.15 per lb, in-warehouse, midweek, and high-grade st...Read More
Antimony prices in Europe jumped last week on news of China's smuggling crackdown efforts, while prices in China fell again on oversupply concerns....Read More
Market participants in Asia are anticipating a surge in deliveries of lower-priced Turkish ferrous scrap and rebar in the coming weeks as Turkey's economic troubles continue."With the Turkish lira plunging... it is highly possible that ferrous scrap prices in Asia may drop further, [leading to] cheaper rebar offers to Asia," a trader based in Southeast Asia said.The Turkish lira has lost abou...Read More
German steelmakers have settled their monthly scrap contracts for August with a drop of about ?,?5 ($6) per tonne, sources told Metal Bulletin this week....Read More
I say, "High," you say, "Low." You say, "Why?" And I say, "I don't know." I don't know why you say, "Good buy," I say, "Heck no."- Satirized from Hello Goodbye by: John Lennon / Paul McCartneyYou might say that what we are witnessing today in terms of gold pricing is like a salmon swimming upstream against the current. While there is some truth to that statement, it is a misnomer.Yes, gold prices...Read More
(Kitco News) - Rising energy, growing production costs and lower commodity prices will be major headwinds for the precious metals mining companies going forward, according to one sector analyst. Matthew Badiali, natural resource analyst at Banyan Hill Publishing In an interview with Kitco News, Matthew Badiali, natural resource analyst at Banyan Hill Publishing, said that he is choosing to sit...Read More
(Kitco News) - That is the question many frustrated investors are asking themselves as the yellow metal is seeing only modest buying pressure as half of the world’s economy teeters on the brink of a currency crisis.Although reaction has been relatively small in the gold market, some analysts are expecting the metal’s safe-haven appeal to pick up as the world grapples with Turkey’...Read More
(Kitco News) - Copper discoveries are at record lows and lower exploration budgets are not to blame, said S&P Global, noting that there could be a shortage of quality assets two decades from now.New copper discoveries never recovered following the market crash in 2008 when copper budgets plummeted, S&P Global Market Intelligence senior research analyst Kevin Murphy said in a report publish...Read More
(Kitco News) - A Turkish currency crisis that could spread to Europe is breathing a bit of life into gold as a safe-haven asset. But, analysts are still concerned that the yellow metal faces tough competition against the U.S. dollar.Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Futures, said in an interview with Kitco News that the gold market could be close to reversing its downward trend as investors are...Read More
(Kitco News) - The largest voting blocs on both Wall Street and Main Street look for the price of gold to rise next week, based on the weekly Kitco News gold survey.Wall Street traders and analysts cited expectations for some kind of bounce from recent weakness, with worries about Turkey leading to potential safe-haven buying.Shares of European banks with exposure to Turkey sold off sharply Friday...Read More