China's ferrous futures were mixed during morning trading on Thursday November 1, with the hot-rolled coil contract trending downward during the session while the coking coal one went the opposite direction. The rebar, iron ore and coke contracts did not end too far from their opening prices.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange January rebar: 4,140 yuan ($594) per ton...Read More
Xcoal Energy & Resources has exported the first cargo of Baralaba low-vol pulverized coal injection (PCI) shipment from the Baralaba North mine in Queensland, Australia, it said on Wednesday October 31. The mine is on track to produce 250,000 tonnes of coal this quarter, with the first shipment sold to an end user in China, chief executive officer Ernie Thrasher said in a statement. The mine is ra...Read More
Benchmark international prices for cobalt stabilized last month, but salts and metal prices fell in China amid weak demand and falling local futures prices, triggering a physical sell-off.Price moves: Benchmark low-grade cobalt traded in the remarkably stable range of $33.50-34.45 per lb in October, where the assessment also ended the month. Tightness continued in the low-grade market, which takes...Read More
As competition in the global steel markets remains fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed ferrous trade cases from around the world in October 2018.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing cases this year, see the updates for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September.1. EU: seamless steel pipes and tubes from Ru...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday November 1. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during Asian morning trading, with the complex coming under pressure from weaker China data. China's weak manufacturing growth for October, with manufacturing PMI at 50.2 and non-manufacturing PMI...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia declined further over the past week after exporters continued to lower their offers amid pressure from stagnant demand and a slumping nickel market.Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,040-2,110 per tonne cif East Asia for the week ended Wednesday October 31, down by $20-30 per tonne from a wee...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices trended downward for a third week due to soft demand and losses in the nickel market.Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,400-15,700 yuan ($2,208-2,251) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Wednesday October 31, down 100 yuan per tonne from a week earlier.An inactive downstrea...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 31 pricing session in Asia. Key drivers: - Japanese buyers maintained bid prices, accepting current market levels. - Offers from new supply regions, such as Russia and the...Read More
U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 15 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures are responding to news that talks on trade negotiations between China and the U.S. are progressing. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of U.S. economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for October Non-farm Payrolls was an increase to 189,000 from downwa...Read More
Both gold and silver had a stellar performance today, moving sharply to higher pricing as the net result of both dollar weakness and market participants bidding up these precious metals. As of 3:15 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures are trading up $21.40 (+1.76%), and silver is up 3.38% (+ $ 0.473). Currently, the most active December Comex gold contract is fixed at $1,236.30, and silver futur...Read More
(Kitco News) - The U.S. dollar and economic growth can’t keep going up indefinitely and next year will be the time for a slowdown, according to one French bank, which is bullish on gold and silver in 2019.“We are bullish on gold prices, mainly due to our expectations of a weaker dollar in 2019. We think that the weaker currency and macroeconomic environment will be the main driver behi...Read More
(Kitco News) - Cryptocurrencies have no place in the global economy as a legitimate unit of money, this according to Janet Yellen, former Chair of the Federal Reserve.“I am not a fan of bitcoin, let me tell you why,” Yellen told an audience during a live panel at the 2018 Canada FinTech Forum in Montreal on Monday.Yellen said that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin lack the necessary charac...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are posting strong gains in early-afternoon U.S. trading Thursday. Traders in both metals have stepped in to buy the dips on some perceived bargain hunting, and by heavy short covering from the futures traders. Also, precious metals are seeing good buying interest as the U.S. dollar index is posting sharp losses today, on a corrective pullback from recent gain...Read More
BOSTON - (Kitco News) - Silver has not been the shining metal that TD Securities was expecting it to be in 2018, but the firm is not giving up on the precious metal as analysts see it outperforming gold in 2019.In an interview with Kitco News during the London Bullion Market Association’s 2018 conference, Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TDS, said there have been several factors con...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices ticked up and were trading near daily highs after the headline manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management missed expectations and came in at 57.7% in October. Market consensus called for the index to come in at 59%. October’s monthly decrease marked a 2.1-percentage point drop from September’s reading of 59.8%.Readings above 50% in such diff...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold demand was largely unchanged in the third quarter of the year, as massive gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF) outflows were offset by consumers taking advantage of lower gold prices, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in its Gold Demand Trends report.Total global gold demand was 964.3 tonnes in Q3, just 6.2 tonnes higher on an annual basis, the WGC said on Thursday.The Counci...Read More
Nickel premiums in China rose on Tuesday October 30, on an opening import arbitrage. The physical nickel markets in Europe and the United States were relatively quiet. Premiums rose in China with an open import arbitrage making business more profitable. The nickel markets in Europe were mostly flat despite a weak London Metal Exchange nickel price. US nickel premiums were unchanged, although consu...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly lower Wednesday October 31, pressured by a fresh 2018 high in the US dollar index.The three-month nickel price was hardest hit, falling 2.5% over the afternoon to an intraday low of $11,500 per tonne. Both three-month copper and zinc fell below nearby support levels - copper fell below $6,000 per tonne for the first time since September...Read More
The tin premium in Europe accelerated to a 21-month high on concerns surrounding Indonesian tin supply, while premiums in the United States and in Asia were immobile on sufficient supply. European premiums at 21-month high US contracts hint at climbing premiums Asia premiums steady on abundant stocks Indonesian supply crunch lifts European premiums In Europe, the premium for 99.9%...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 31 pricing session in Europe.Key driversTrades and assessments indicate the European ferro-titanium market continued the downtrend that began on September 12, when the market was assessed at $5.80-6.05 per kg. Ample supply of material, as well as traders looking to sell-off inventories before year-end were cited...Read More