Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Wednesday December 26 amid conservative trading activity.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $71.39 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.19 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $71.22 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.19 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $73.60 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.08 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $63.67 per tonne cf...Read More
Trading in the seaborne coking coal spot market came to a standstill on Wednesday December 26, with Australia on Boxing Day holiday and participants in China remaining in a wait-and-see mode."[Seaborne coking coal] prices have yet to bottom out so end users are not in a hurry to enter the market," a Chinese trader said."The recent call for another 100 yuan ($14.50) per tonne decrease in the c...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday December 27.The London Metal Exchange will reopen Thursday following a two-day break in trading - for Christmas and the annual Boxing Day holiday.Here is how prices looked at the most-recent close of trading, on December 24:Chinese battery materials producer GEM has signed a memorandum with South Korea's Ecopro to supply the latter...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday December 26.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were on divergent paths during Asian morning trading on Wednesday December 26, with aluminum registering the largest gain on news of further capacity cuts in China. Check Fastmarket MB's live futures report here. Ferro-c...Read More
Years ago, the idea that machines would replace humans on the trading floor seemed far-fetched and the suggestion that algorithms might replace humans entirely ridiculous.But both have happened in some shape or form, making the advent of blockchain - now being vaunted as the next game-changer in technology - a lot more realistic than naysayers might initially think.Dozens of trials and projec...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
Silver has punched through $15, nearly erasing all losses from the August 15th beat-down. The gold chart isn't too shabby either. Here are the details...Silver has just punched through the $15 price level:This is even before the opening bell.Let's see if silver can get put in a close above this psychologically-important whole number.The last time one ounce of silver cost $15 was on August 15th, 20...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were on divergent paths during Asian morning trading on Wednesday December 26, with aluminum registering the largest gain on news of further capacity cuts in China.The most-traded February aluminium contract on the SHFE stood at 13,860 yuan ($2,011) per tonne as at 10.12am Shanghai time, up by 70 yuan per tonne from Tuesday's close.The increases...Read More
While it's easy to find articles that suggest a Santa Claus rally isn't taking place this year, the Power of the Patterns would disagree!This chart looks at the performance from several assets in the metals sector the past 30-days.Even though all of these metals assets are lower in 2018, each of these is experiencing a nice rally this month!So maybe ole Santa didn't disappoint everyone this year....Read More
The Gold Bugs Index could be sending some good news to this out of favor sector of late!The Gold bugs index has struggled for the past 7-years compared to the S&P 500, as it has created a series of lower highs. This decline reflects that Gold miners have been much weaker than the S&P 500. The weakness in the ratio has been suggesting to be long the S&P and short the Gold bugs index.Of late the rat...Read More
All three major US equity indexes gained at least 4% on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closing just short of a 5% surge. It's the first time that has happened since 2011, according to Bloomberg.Major mining companies were caught up in the market frenzy on Wednesday with lithium producers and potash miners enjoying some of the heaviest buying.Among fertilizer producers, Israel Chemical l...Read More
China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co will invest $147.2 million to build a copper project in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as it extends the exploration of its mining assets in the country, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange on Tuesday.The project will be located in the Lukuni region in the south of DRC, and will have annual electro-deposited copper production capacity...Read More
For the past nine months, a U.S. company that is the world's largest producer of lithium - a key ingredient in electric-car batteries - has been locked in battle with the Chilean government over pricing issues, production quotas and environmental compliance. With no resolution in sight, the fight is sending tremors all the way up the electric vehicle supply chain that provides batteries to Tesla I...Read More
All three major US equity indexes gained at least 4% on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closing just short of a 5% surge. It's the first time that has happened since 2011, according to Bloomberg.Major mining companies were caught up in the market frenzy on Wednesday with lithium producers and potash miners enjoying some of the heaviest buying.Among fertilizer producers, Israel Chemical l...Read More
For the past nine months, a U.S. company that is the world's largest producer of lithium - a key ingredient in electric-car batteries - has been locked in battle with the Chilean government over pricing issues, production quotas and environmental compliance. With no resolution in sight, the fight is sending tremors all the way up the electric vehicle supply chain that provides batteries to Tesla I...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales increased 5.1% this holiday season, buoyedby a rise in online purchasing, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Revenues across all retail categories climbed to more than $850billion for the period from November 1 to December 24, recording the strongestgrowth in six years, the report said Wednesday. Online purchases jumped 19% forthe same period. "From shopping a...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US saw a sharp increase in imports and exports of polisheddiamonds in October, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Inboundshipments hit a record level for any month other than May,which is boosted by preparations for the annual JCK Las Vegas fair, Rapaport archives show. Rough tradingslowed.US Diamond Trade Data for October 2018 Millions unless stated otherwiseRead More
RAPAPORT... A five-year dispute between diamond manufacturer Pluczenik and broker W. Nagel is set to continue, despite a recent court ruling. Pluczenik has submitted an appeal to the UK Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a directive for its Belgium-based business to pay Nagel $3.3 million over a breached pact made nearly 25 years ago. The sides had different interpretations of the nature of a 1994...Read More