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

A bleak outlook for downstream demand, impending backwardations in the forward curve on the London Metal Exchange and general economic uncertainty helped drive bearish sentiment and stifle spot business at Fastmarkets' recent aluminium conference in Athens.Although the Fastmarkets International Aluminium conference is typically a hub for aluminium participants to negotiate and sign contracts for t...Read More

Gold prices ended sharply higher Tuesday as a drop in the U.S. Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index to its lowest level since 2009 pulled benchmark stock indexes lower, fueling haven demand for the precious metal. Gold for December delivery GCZ19, -0.03% on Comex rose $16.10, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,489 an ounce, after retreating 2.2% on Monday. Prices for the most-active contrac...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rose by 1.4% to close at $17,475 per tonne on Wednesday October 2 from $17,220 per tonne the previous day. The three-month nickel price has been buoyed by a 5,802 tonne outflow from LME approved warehouses recorded on the same day alongside a 2,964 tonne fresh cancelation. Sentiment was buoyant despite a paltry 3,774 lots changing hands by close o...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 2.Please click...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Wednesday October 2, with participants awaiting the return of Chinese buyers to gauge the direction of price movements.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.08 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $159.70 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.07 per ton...Read More

The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rose by 1.4% to close at $17,475 per tonne on Wednesday October 2 from $17,220 per tonne the previous day. The three-month nickel price has been buoyed by a 5,802 tonne outflow from LME approved warehouses recorded on the same day alongside a 2,964 tonne fresh cancelation. Sentiment was buoyant despite a paltry 3,774 lots changing hands by close o...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 2.Please click...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 2 that are worth another look.Estimated arbitrage opportunities between Southeast Asian warehouses and the US Midwest were little changed in September, on a steady US aluminium market.The US copper cathode premium fell to its lowest level since July 2018 due to weakened demand and United States-China trade war concerns...Read More

Aluminium market participants are bracing themselves for the possibility of a large aluminium delivery into London Metal Exchange warehouses.More than 29,000 tonnes of aluminium was delivered into LME warehouses on Wednesday October 2 across Singapore and Gwangyang. This was in addition to 11,000 tonnes delivered into Singapore on October 1.But it is Port Klang, Malaysia, that is attracting the at...Read More

The price of aluminium ingots in the United Kingdom fell to its lowest in three years in the week to Wednesday October 2 while aluminium scrap grades in the region continued to weaken.Fastmarkets assessed the price of aluminium scrap and foundry LM24 gravity diecasting ingot, delivered consumer UK at ?1,200-1,240 ($FIGURE) per tonne on October 2, down from ?1,240-1,280 per tonne the previous wee...Read More

Rotterdam in-warehouse nickel cathode and briquettes premiums plummeted in the week to Tuesday October 1 while Shanghai in-warehouse and cif premiums continued descending amid the widest ever backwardation in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month nickel spread. European premiums hit two-to-three-year lows with an unprecedented wide backwardation in the cash/three-month nickel spread causing p...Read More

The US copper cathode premium fell to its lowest level since July 2018 due to weakened demand and United States-China trade war concerns in the week to Tuesday October 1, while sufficient stocks kept European market activity - and the premium - subdued. US cathode premium hits 15-month low on dampened sentiment.  Rotterdam copper premium unchanged due to thin spot business opportunities. US...Read More

Prices for domestic wire rod across Europe remained unchanged on Wednesday October 2, with many market participants focusing on the more active rebar sector, sources told Fastmarkets this week. "Demand for wire rod is not so good, there's not a lot moving. It makes sense to leave it alone [and] wait for a potential recovery," said one Southern European producer, adding that his company had&nb...Read More

Steel H-beam prices in Europe moved down this week following ongoing feedstock price falls and minimal levels of trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 2 Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?550-590 ($599-644) per tonne on October 2, down from ?,?560-600.Market participants reported lower beam prices this week and said th...Read More

Prices for hollow steel sections in the European domestic market were unchanged this week although feedstock costs continued to decline, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 2.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?585-600 ($638-654) per tonne on Wednesday, flat week on week.The market continued to struggle with low de...Read More

Iranian export steel billet prices slipped in the week to Wednesday October 2 after several sales were agreed at prices lower than those in earlier deals.Producers tried to resist the downtrend, referring to large-volume billet sales to China in previous weeks and to the current reduced availability of material."Iranian mills were not willing to accept even $350 per tonne fob several days ago, but...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers has appointed Alastair Bickerstaff as head ofproduct development and sales for its auctions division. The company created the new role to bring the two elementsof the auctions business together so it could better address its customers'needs, it said last week.Bickerstaff, who began working with De Beers in 2005 as a London-basedtrainee rough-diamond valuer, held a variety of p...Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss-based luxury retailer Richemont has bought high-endjeweler Buccellati from China's Gangtai Group. Richemont, which also owns Cartier and Van Cleef &Arpels, closed the purchase of the 100% stake in the Italian jeweler last week.The luxury group reportedly tried to purchase an 85% share in Buccellati inDecember 2016 from its previous owner, Italian equity firm Clessidra, b...Read More

RAPAPORT... Global diamond-jewelry demand will decline 2% this year asstock-market volatility in the US is likely to affect consumer sentiment, UBSpredicted. "Demand in 2019 [to date] has been lackluster, and we expecta modest decline in global diamond-jewelry sales in [the 2019 fiscal year],"the investment bank said. UBS has been bearish about US stocks, and in May forecast that the S&P 500...Read More