The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday October 2.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Tuesday October 2, with prices shaken by weaker-than-expected US economic data on Monday while a steady uptick in the dollar index is capping any price rallies.Edging lower over the morning, the three-mo...Read More
Cobalt prices stabilized in late September, underpinned by tight supply of broken cathodes, but kept in check by the possibility of Chinese suppliers resuming or ramping up exports to Europe. Low-grade cobalt prices were unchanged week on week at $33.50-34.25 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday September 28, according to Fastmarkets MB's latest assessment. High-grade cobalt prices were also unchanged...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly higher following release of the September ADP Employment report released at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase to 185,000 from 163,000 in August. Actual was.JC Penney (JCP $) is expected to open higher after Jill Soltau was chosen as the company's new chi...Read More
In English, this Italian title translates to "gold higher on concerns about Italy." Acting like a safe-haven asset for the first time in a while, gold prices traded dramatically higher as concerns have grown by the European Commission about the proposed budget plan in Italy. According to MarketWatch, "The European Commission raised concerns over the budget plans of the anti-establishment Italian...Read More
(Kitco News) - Consolidation of smaller mining companies in the current low price environment will be beneficial for the sector as a whole, according to one mining executive. Jim Bannantine, president and CEO of Great Panther Silver In a telephone interview with Kitco News, Jim Bannantine, president and CEO of Great Panther Silver (NYSE: GPL, TSX: GPR), said that he thinks investors are only s...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are solidly higher in early-afternoon U.S. trading Tuesday, on keener risk aversion in the marketplace coming from the European Union. Gold prices hit a one-week high, while silver notched a four-week high. Gold and silver bulls were especially encouraged by their metals' ability to rally today in the face of a firmer U.S. dollar index that hit six-week high o...Read More
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday hailed a "remarkably positive outlook" for the U.S. economy that he feels is on the verge of a "historically rare" era of ultra-low unemployment and tame prices.The situation, with below 4 percent unemployment expected through at least two more years, and inflation that will remain modest even as wages ri...Read More
Exchange operator CME Group reports that metals volume averaged 623,000 contracts per day in the third quarter, up 2% from 611,000 in the same period a year ago. Copper futures and options average daily volume grew 24% to 138,000 contracts during the third quarter, while the same for platinum rose 12% to 22,000 contracts. For the month of September, total average daily metals volume was 598,000 co...Read More
Around the world, walk the dog and shoot the moon are all yo-yo tricks; trading gold the past few months has had the same effect. We are experiencing the yo-yo effect -- a lot of tricks that have gone nowhere. The real trick in markets like this is to learn the sleeping baby and the patience to watch, waiting for an opportunity to participate. All markets, no matter what the product, go through th...Read More
US regulators may be given powers to conduct oversight and investigate price reporting and price setting entities within the aluminium markets if recently-introduced legislation becomes law. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by US representatives Ken Buck (Republican-Colorado) and Jim Costa (Democrat-California) that would grant the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the abilit...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose at the end of September after smelters in China cherry-picked deals and traders bid on nearby tenders at higher numbers. The copper concentrate index rose to $86.4 per tonne / 8.64 cents per lb on Friday September 28, an increase of $2.40/0.24 cents and the highest since October 2017. And with mine disruption worries firmly in th...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday October 1 after some forecast-missing economic data from China.Three-month copper reached its lowest point since September 21 at $6,152 per tonne before recovering some lost ground.Since the start of September, around 71,175 tonnes of copper have been booked for removal from LME-listed warehouses, while cancelled...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market fell in the week ended Friday September 28, with prices dropping as suppliers sought to secure profits ahead of the country's Golden Week holiday.In Europe, the spot market for standard-grade ferro-silicon was steady after dropping for four weeks, with suppliers trying to set a price floor at around ?,?1,300 ($1,508) per tonne delivered. Chinese prices drop ahead o...Read More
Blackstone Resources AG has launched a research and development program focused on new battery technology, with the goal of developing small and flat batteries for the mobile phone and laptop markets, the company said. A variety of metals will be tested for the technology, which would also have further applications across the broader batteries market. The Baar, Switzerland-based mining and explora...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose at the end of September after smelters in China cherry-picked deals and traders bid on nearby tenders at higher numbers. The copper concentrate index rose to $86.4 per tonne / 8.64 cents per lb on Friday September 28, an increase of $2.40/0.24 cents and the highest since October 2017. And with mine disruption worries firmly in th...Read More
The alumina index fob Australia continued to fall on Monday October 1, down 25% since the beginning of September. The benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index fell to $462.90 per tonne on Monday from $500 per tonne on Friday. It had dropped 7% last week.Key drivers Workers at Alcoa's Western Australian alumina operations agreed on Friday to end a strike that started on August 8. They...Read More
The first shipments of zinc concentrates from the Century Mine restart to offtake partners have been delayed until December due to overly high lead content, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets MB. The project, which officially opened last month, generated 7,100 tonnes of zinc concentrates out of tailing reprocessing in September, according to a regulatory filing on M...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market fell in the week ended Friday September 28, with prices dropping as suppliers sought to secure profits ahead of the country's Golden Week holiday.In Europe, the spot market for standard-grade ferro-silicon was steady after dropping for four weeks, with suppliers trying to set a price floor at around ?,?1,300 ($1,508) per tonne delivered. Chinese prices drop ahead o...Read More
Blackstone Resources AG has launched a research and development program focused on new battery technology, with the goal of developing small and flat batteries for the mobile phone and laptop markets, the company said. A variety of metals will be tested for the technology, which would also have further applications across the broader batteries market. The Baar, Switzerland-based mining and explora...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets on Monday October 1 after booking a number of cargoes for October and November deliveries in the past week.The mills in the country booked at least four deep-sea cargoes last week, totaling 95,000 tonnes.The prices of scrap shipments into Turkey were expected to remain firm in the short term, market participants said."Current Bal...Read More