The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was slightly firmer this morning, Friday November 23, while the rest of the complex was down by an average of 0.6%. Zinc led the decline with a 1.2% fall, while copper was off by 0.8% at $6,217 per tonne. Volume has been high with 11,796 lots traded as at 7.24am London time – the bulk of which has been in nickel, where 6,902 lots ha...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 17 points in pre-opening trade. Weakness was led by energy stocks following a 5% drop in the price of crude oil in overnight trade. Trade volumes are expected to remain significantly lower than average today. Trading in U.S. equities on U.S. exchanges closes at 1:00 PM EST.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged a...Read More
(Kitco News) - Even though U.S. retail sales will not beat last year’s performance – the strongest in more than a decade – the 2018 holiday season will still be a “cheerful” one, IHS Markit said in its outlook.Retail sales during the winter holidays will grow 4.4% over last year, which saw a 5.7% increase — the best results since 2005, said IHS Markit associate...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Thursday after U.S. inventories swelled to their highest level since December adding to concerns about a global crude glut but OPEC talk of an output cut limited losses.Benchmark Brent fell 96 cents last trading at $62.52 a barrel at 1840 GMT, edging back from a more than $1 drop in early European trading. U.S. WTI fell more than a $1 before easing back to s...Read More
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan signed an agreement with a state-owned Turkish company on Thursday allowing it to mine for gold and other minerals in Sudan’s Red Sea state, a source at the Sudanese petroleum ministry said.The agreement between Sudan’s Geological Authority, which falls under the petroleum ministry, and Turkey’s Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate (MTA)...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold managed to hold on to most of its previous gains, with markets largely ignoring the European Central Bank’s (ECB) meeting minutes and instead focusing on Italy’s decision to resist EU’s budget pressure.The December Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,228.30 an ounce, up 0.02% on the day, keeping firmly above the $1,220 level.With the U.S. financial mark...Read More
GENEVA (Reuters) - Countries belonging to the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies applied 40 new trade restrictive measures between mid-May and mid-October, covering around $481 billion of trade, the World Trade Organization said on Thursday.The new restrictions covered six times more trade than in the previous period and were the largest since the WTO started monitoring G20 trade in...Read More
Base metals price changes on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Wednesday November 21, with positive moves in copper, lead and zinc futures contrary to the continued slide in nickel, while the complex remained broadly impervious to continued strength in the US dollar index.Lead futures improved amid a nine-year low in total LME inventory, rising by 2.2% over the day's...Read More
Zinc premiums narrowed in Southeast Asia but were stable elsewhere in the week ended Tuesday November 20 after zinc forward price spreads became the most widely backwardated since at least 2004. Lead premiums dropped in Taiwan, with lower offers moving levels down. Zinc cash/three-month price spread backwardation soars to $98 per tonne Taiwan lead premium falls pressed by increase in I...Read More
China continues to rely heavily on imported bauxite, with imports set to reach a five-year high of 70 million tonnes this year, Pi Jianqing, deputy manager of the non-ferrous department of Hanzhou Jinjiang Group, said last week. "China is expecting to import 70 million tonnes of bauxite in 2018. This [is the highest] since 2013, when the market stockpiled large quantities of bauxite on tightness c...Read More
Albemarle Corp has entered into an exclusive deal with Australian miner Mineral Resources (MRL) that may lead to the development of new battery-grade lithium hydroxide plant in Western Australia.The companies have agreed to consider the creation of a joint venture that would own and operate the Wodgina hard rock lithium mine and ultimately develop an integrated lithium hydroxide operation at the s...Read More
The European ferro-molybdenum market has dropped this week because of slow demand from consumers in the steel sector and from traders, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 21.Moreover, more price losses can be expected in the near term if consumer demand does not pick up, they added, while suppliers typically try to clear out most of their inventories ahead of the new calendar year.Fastm...Read More
The European ferro-molybdenum market has dropped this week because of slow demand from consumers in the steel sector and from traders, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 21.Moreover, more price losses can be expected in the near term if consumer demand does not pick up, they added, while suppliers typically try to clear out most of their inventories ahead of the new calendar year.Fastm...Read More
China continues to rely heavily on imported bauxite, with imports set to reach a five-year high of 70 million tonnes this year, Pi Jianqing, deputy manager of the non-ferrous department of Hanzhou Jinjiang Group, said last week. "China is expecting to import 70 million tonnes of bauxite in 2018. This [is the highest] since 2013, when the market stockpiled large quantities of bauxite on tightness c...Read More
Trafigura's rescue package for Nyrstar comes at a price, with the trader taking greater ownership of one of the world's largest zinc smelter's prized assets in return for helping it bridge a nine-day liquidity crunch. Nyrstar announced on Wednesday November 21 that its biggest shareholder, Trafigura, had granted it a committed working capital facility of $650 million, effective November 30. The Be...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The Turkish steel producers have extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap markets due to sluggish demand for their finished steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 21.In addition to their fears of renewed product outflows from China, the weakening local and export rebar prices have become another obstacle for the mills in Turkey.Rebar prices in China, in both the domes...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 21 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers European suppliers resisted cutting prices or held off offering material altogether. The move follows a downward trend in alloy prices that started on September 12, when the market was assessed at $5.80-6.05 per kg, and stopped a couple of weeks ago.Alloy trading activity was generally quiet this week, with only deals...Read More
Comex copper prices bounced back during the midweek trading session with a softer dollar and technical support boosting the red metal.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.20 cents to $2.7785 per lb.Prices could be volatile today with market participants sidelined due to the upcoming...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board by an average of 0.4% this morning, Wednesday November 21.Lead led the rebound with a 1% gain to $1,979 per tonne, while nickel was little changed and the rest were up between 0.2% and 0.3%, with copper up by 0.3% at $6,194 per tonne.Volume has been below average with 4,562 lots traded as at 7.19am London time. Th...Read More