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
Domestic prices for steel beams in Europe went down on Wednesday February 6 on lower offer prices, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was ?,?610-630 ($689-712) per tonne delivered on February 13. This was down from ?,?620-640 per tonne delivered on February 6.Producers were reported to have a...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe rose slightly on Wednesday February 13 although producers struggled to find acceptance for this in the face of disappointing end-user demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe narrowed upward to ?,?535-550 ($604-621) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, from ?,?530-550 per tonne previously.Producers...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were stable over the past week as market participants waited for Chinese mills to put in new offer prices following the Lunar New Year holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 12.Demand was still weak because stock levels in the UAE were already high and buyers wanted to see which direction prices would move after t...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters left their offer prices unchanged on Wednesday February 13, although the domestic market continued to drop on low demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,800 yuan ($559-560) per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,760-3,770 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonnePrices have returned to their pre-Chinese Lunar New Year holiday l...Read More
Alderan unlocking Frisco potentialSPONSOREDalderan resourcesThe Vancouver-based company reported an adjusted December quarter loss of C$8.5 million or 4c, which came in short of analyst forecasts calling for earnings of 1c on revenues of $112.35 million.Read More
Alderan unlocking Frisco potentialSPONSOREDalderan resourcesShuar Arutam president Vicente Tsakim expressed concern about the forced eviction of community members from the project area and demanded the government take action.Read More
The Turkish steel producers have continued to hold back from the deep-sea scrap markets, after booking enough material for stocks, and have started to watch the finished steel markets, sources said on Wednesday February 13.The mills in the country have booked around 2.5 million tonnes of scrap since the beginning of the year to replenish earlier low stock levels, and were now focusing on finished...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the January Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase of 0.1% versus a decline of 0.1% in December. Actual was unchanged. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the January Consumer Price Index was an incre...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, sold at $89.60 per tonne cfr China,...Read More
Iron ore prices largely continued to soften on Wednesday February 13 with no further supply disruptions from Brazil confirmed, but two cargoes of Brazilian Blend fines (BRBF) traded at stronger levels.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.22 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.43 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $88.06 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.43 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alu...Read More
Stronger demand from Asian steel mills is pushing bulk ferrous scrap prices higher. Prices were also supported by higher bids seen at February's Kanto Tetsugen export tender in Japan.There was a deal done at $330 per tonne cfr Vietnam on Monday February 11 for an 18,000-tonne cargo of Japanese H2 scrap."Market negotiation levels were at $327-330 per tonne cfr Vietnam for Japanese H2 scrap as of Tu...Read More
China's steel futures fell during morning trading on Wednesday February 13, while those of steelmaking raw materials moved sideways.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,731 yuan ($550.30) per tonne, down 18 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,636 yuan per tonne, down 11 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 623 yuan per ton...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 12 that are worth another look.Heavy highland rains in South America's Andean region prompted mining companies to temporarily halt some copper operations in northern Chile and southern Peru from Friday February 8, before resuming full capacity by February 12. Turkish miner Eti Elektrometalurji has moved into t...Read More
A lack of fresh drivers kept US copper futures steady in Wednesday morning trading. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was flat at $2.7720 per lb.The focus of market participants - and the main driver of direction - remains the US-Chinese trade talks."We expect further upside in copper prices over the next month due to a stronger macro s...Read More
“FORE!!!”My friend Chris had just hit another golf ball out of bounds. Only this time, it sailed into the adjacent fairway and nearly took the head off some guy lining up his pitch shot.Chris was NOT a good golfer. In fact, he was undeniably the worst player in our group last spring.And yet, despite hitting every other shot off-course, Chris still managed to beat me, my brothers, and o...Read More
Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) fell 0.73% (by 2,300 tonnes) month on month in January 2019, but increased by 13.50% compared with January 2018, according to data from major Japanese trading house Marubeni on Wednesday February 13. Total MJP aluminium stocks amounted to 314,500 tonnes at the end of January, down from 316,800 tonnes in December. Nagoya regi...Read More
Will quantitative easing soon become a permanent fixture of markets?Today we ponder the formerly impossible…But we begin with a conclusion:The Federal Reserve has lost its race with Old Man Time.The opening whistle blew in December 2015... and Janet Yellen came off the blocks with a 0.25% rate hike.If the Federal Reserve could make it across the 3.5% finishing line before recession struck,...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Wednesday February 13, with broad strength in the dollar index capping gains, while developments in the US-China trade rift are doing little to lift prices. Three-month aluminium, nickel, zinc and lead prices consolidated lower after a poor performance at Tuesday's close. A downtrend in LME stocks re...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Wednesday February 13* Copper -$164.52 (-1,113.67 yuan) Aluminium -$348.25 (-2,357.34 yuan) Zinc -$99.29 (-672.12 yuan) Nickel -$244.65 (-1.656.05 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
China's rebar prices dropped on Wednesday February 13 in both the domestic and export markets on pessimistic sentiment amid futures and billet losses. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,840 yuan ($560-566) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,800-3,840 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneTangshan billet prices decreased due to weakening demand and lower&nb...Read More