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
(Updates with closing prices)By Peter HobsonLONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Nickel prices rose to athree-month high on Wednesday as investors worried that one ofthe world's largest producers, Brazilian miner Vale ,could curtail supply in an already tight market.Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME)closed up 1.9 percent at $12,350 a tonne.The stainless steel ingredient hit more than two-ye...Read More
By: Craig HemkeAn improving technical picture can be a key driver of the institutional fund flows that will be necessary to drive COMEX gold and the mining shares upward in the weeks ahead.However, let's make one thing perfectly clear before we go any further...I understand that the price of COMEX gold and silver is managed and manipulated by The Bullion Banks.You likely understand this, too.How...Read More
As part of Merk's in-house research we regularly evaluate a consistent set of charts covering the economy, equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies. The aim is to keep our eyes open and to look through the noise of the headlines, avoiding the distractions of sensationalized click-bait. In sharing this content, we offer a cross-check to your own thinking and aim to add value to your own...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinMetals stay well bid into Wednesday's FOMC Monetary Policy Statement and Press Conference Ira Epstein reviews the days trading in the metal markets. For more information and access to Ira's free offers for commodity traders, visit https://www.iraepstein.com. Read More
Fresh reports are emerging of traders taking positions in the manganese ore market, sparking reminders of speculation-led rallies that occurred in previous years. Position trading refers to buying up larger than normal cargoes of manganese ore on expectations of making profit from a resultant price rise. It is a tactic that has not been seen for some time because opportunities have been limited du...Read More
MODEST INCREASE IN THE GOLD PRICE BUT WIDE SPREADS "Bulls to the left of me, bears to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you..." There's no real consensus among analysts about the direction and price of gold in this year's survey. While the average of all forecasts suggest a modest 1.8% gain for gold, this figure is somewhat overshadowed by a $325 trading range. While gold is appare...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices went up on Wednesday January 30 following another burst of fresh bookings completed at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets.There were two cargoes booked from the United States.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $310 per tonne cfr for February shipment.A second US cargo was booked by a mill...Read More
The US copper premium remained at a multi-year high this week, with a significant stock cancelation at the LME's New Orleans warehouses failing to nudge it even higher; the Chinese cathode market was quiet before the Lunar New Year holiday and due to a negative import arbitrage. A total of 25,000 tonnes of copper was freshly canceled in New Orleans on Tuesday and Wednesday but US premiums were un...Read More
Prices for steel billet in Asia are likely to come under greater pressure in 2019 with demand for it as well as downstream long steel products expected to stay subdued amid an impending surge in new supply, sources told Fastmarkets MB."Regional demand is weak, so there is not enough room for everyone," a Vietnam-based trader said, referring to a string of new billet production capacity set to come...Read More
The US copper price built on previous momentum with optimism growing ahead of America and Chinese trade talks. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped by 4.15 cents to $2.7665 per lb. Scheduled trade talks between the United States and China could be one reason for this, while US Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to hold intere...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part still consolidating the gains seen at the end of last week, following weakness on Monday January 28, an up day on Tuesday, and now awaiting further direction.Three-month LME prices were up by an average of 0.2% on Wednesday morning, with the majority up between 0.1% and 0.3%, but with nickel up by 0.9% and aluminium...Read More
OPEC is imploding day by day.Right now, no other catalyst weighs heavier on the 14-member oil cartel than the collapse of Venezuela's oil industry.I wish I could tell you that nobody saw this coming.Truth is, everyone did.We've seen the writing on the wall for more than a decade... ever since Hugo Ch??vez seized all oil assets held by major oil players like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.This was t...Read More
Australian lithium miner Neometals produced 15.33% less lithium spodumene year-on-year in the October-December quarter of 2018, the company reported on Wednesday January 30.The quarter's output from the flagship Mount Marion asset in Western Australia was 94,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene, compared with 111,023 tonnes produced in the July-September quarter.Output of higher-grade lithium spodumene...Read More
In today's INK Research US market comments, we noted that insiders in the American insurance industry were an upbeat bunch, in stark contrast to the Utilities sector insiders who remained on the canvass following the December drop in the Utilities SPDR ETF (XLU). As we wrote, it is probably a reasonable assumption to make that at least part of insider behaviour towards those two groups incorpor...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices spiked on Wednesday January 30 despite sellers winding down ahead of the Chinese New Year break, with developments in the iron ore market providing some upward momentum.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,780-3,800 yuan ($561-564) per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,720-3,740 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonnePrices rose during the day wit...Read More
China's steel futures surged during morning trading on Wednesday January 30, while the iron ore contract hit its upper limit of 6% compared with the previous day's settlement price on news that Vale's output of the steelmaking raw material could fall by a tenth following a tailings dam breach last week.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,754 yuan ($557)...Read More
A lack of new business kept the prices of hollow steel sections in Europe unchanged on Wednesday January 30 although market sentiment has been mixed, participants told Fastmarkets MB.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe was unchanged week on week at ?,?630-640 ($720-731) per tonne delivered on Wednesday.This week m...Read More
European prices for mesh-quality wire rod stayed flat across the continent on Wednesday January 30, with market activity almost at a standstill ahead of the imposition by the European Commission (EC) of new import quotas next month.Fastmarkets' weekly domestic price assessment for mesh-quality wire rod in Northern Europe stayed at ?,?530-550 ($606-629) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with prices...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe remained stable on Wednesday January 30, with no new deals reported while market participants waited for a final proposal from the European Commission (EC) on its 2019 safeguarding import quotas.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe stayed at ?,?510-520 ($583-594) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, bu...Read More