Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
(Kitco News) - Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE, TSX: ABX) said progress has been made in tax negotiations involving the government of Tanzania and Acacia Mining and that the company is no longer setting a timetable for an agreement. Barrick owns 63.9% of the shares in Acacia, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates independently of Barrick. However, Barrick has been negotiating on behal...Read More
Unionized workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata, the world's largest open pit copper mine, have threatened strikes in protest against plans to develop underground mining there and ensuing layoffs.Chuquicamata general manager Mauricio Barazza informed workers last April that 1,700 people, 36% of the mine's workforce, would be asked to leave the company during the mine's transition to an underground pro...Read More
Nickel on the London Metal Exchange were down by more than 3% at the close of trading on Monday June 25 while other base metals prices also slumped. Nickel traded in an intraday range of $680 per tonne, eventually closing 3.6% by the end of trading below $15,000 per tonne.A sharp rise in the dollar index, which remains high, piled pressure on the base metals last week while added uncertainty about...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
The Chinese domestic ferro-silicon market has dropped further, in line with demand and increased production in northern China, while export prices have held despite weaker demand; meanwhile, the European market has been steady, and market sentiment suggests higher spot prices in the near term. Weaker fundamentals, higher supply in northern China drag down domestic prices Europe third-quarter...Read More
The ascent in ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices paused last week after a few consecutive weeks of increases. Chinese, European APT prices stabilize Low availability continues to support APT prices but fewer inquiries seen European ferro-tungsten edges down amid weak demand Chinese ammonium paratungstate (APT) export market slowed down last week amid fewer inquiries from overseas and...Read More
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) received its first bauxite shipment from Compagnie des Bauxites de Guin?(C)e (CBG) on Sunday June 24 in preparation for the commissioning of its Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi. Al Taweelah will produce its first alumina in the first half of 2019. At full capacity, the refinery will receive 5 million tonnes per year of bauxite from CBG. EGA has the capacit...Read More
Ferro-chrome benchmark price negotiations for the third quarter of 2018 are revealing a fresh spin on some familiar topics and a more detailed look at regional price differences across the supply chain. Metal Bulletin reported last week that the widely-expected reduction in the third-quarter settlement is likely to be smaller than previously anticipated, due to strengthening ferro-chrome markets,...Read More
Chinese silicon export prices continued to fall amid thin buying appetite and a stronger dollar last week while the European market remained quiet. Metal Bulletin's Chinese grade 553 silicon metal export price dropped to $1,740-1,800 per tonne on Friday June 22, from $1,760-1,850 per tonne the week before. In China, continued environmental scrutiny has weakened demand from silicon metal consu...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap markets remained quiet on Monday June 25 due to the uncertainty in the market following the general elections in Turkey.Preliminary results from Turkey's presidential election on Sunday June 24 gave Recep Tayyip Erdogan a commanding lead, while his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to win majority of the 600 parliamentary seats. However, the 'People's Al...Read More
China is working toward implementing a complete ban on imports of solid waste, including all metal scrap, by the end of 2020, the country's State Council said on Sunday June 24. The cabinet said the country vows to substantially cut the amount of solid waste imports and eventually prohibit its imports in less than two years' time in an attempt to reduce soil pollution caused by waste processing, a...Read More
Comex copper prices started another week in negative territory with global trade volatility preventing a recovery. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.40 cents or 0.5% to $3.0130 per lb. Volatile global trading conditions continue to dampen investment after the United States' most recent announcement of a 20% import tariff on EU car im...Read More
The European Commission (EC) needs to wait before making a decision in the safeguard case until trade flow changes become clear because, currently, there is no threat to the EU steel market from imports, Tommaso Sandrini, president of Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet told Metal Bulletin.The EC opened an investigation in late March, in an attempt to prevent steel shipments being r...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices softened further on Monday June 25 amid persistently weak demand, traders told Metal Bulletin.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,260-4,270 yuan ($655-656) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,150-4,170 yuan per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneMonday's price decline was due to weakening demand as a result of downstream b...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
Liberty House aims to make "more than $5 billion in investments over the next few years" across the United States and Canada following the restart of its rod mill in Georgetown, South Carolina, on Monday June 25."Of this [$5 billion] total, $1 billion is expected to be invested during the coming year to acquire and develop steel, aluminium, engineering, mining, energy generation, and financial ser...Read More
Swedish engineering group Sandvik has signed an agreement to sell its stainless wire business to Zapp Group. The deal includes the production unit in Sandviken, Sweden and the global sales organization, along with selected trademarks and patents and approximately 145 employees, the majority of which are in Sandviken. Revenues for the stainless wire business were 310 million SEK ($34.9 million) in...Read More