Gold futures ended lower on Wednesday, giving back a portion of the gains from a day earlier as U.S. benchmark stock indexes moved higher. Futures added to losses after briefly popping higher in electronic trading in the immediate wake of the Federal Reserve's policy update, as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell held a news conference. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee left its short-term f...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices trended downward in the week ended Friday May 3 due to low demand and high inventories held by steel mills.There was mixed sentiment about spot price trends. While most market participants expected a continued softening of prices, others expected prices to become firmer once holidays in Europe, Turkey, Japan and China came to an end. Weak steel markets in Turkey damp de...Read More
Sweden's Boliden on Friday reported first-quarter core earnings slightly above analysts forecasts, and said production in the quarter had been stable both in its mines and its smelters.Operating profit, excluding revaluation of process inventory, fell to 2.05 billion Swedish crowns from 2.72 billion a year earlier, beating the 1.99 billion seen by analysts in a Reuters poll."The period can be summ...Read More
Companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo will have to ensure subcontractors they hire are domestically owned under rules being implemented by the government.The requirement adds to the raft of new measures mining companies have had to contend with over the past year, after the state in March 2018 raised taxes and other costs. Investors including Glencore Plc, Randgold Resources Ltd., China Mo...Read More
It's been a bad week for Doctor Copper.London Metal Exchange (LME) copper slumped 3% on Wednesday and has slid further to a three-month low of $6,150 per tonne, last trading at $6,180.True, the move took place in something of a liquidity black hole with China and much of Europe on holiday this week, leaving the market prey to automated funds, which have been momentum-trading a rapidly deterioratin...Read More
Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) is ramping up exploration at its Winu discovery in Western Australia, which could be the company's next major copper project.Speaking at conference in Sydney this week, group executive of growth and innovation Stephen McIntosh said the company's main goal for now is to determine whether Winu was a "Rio Tinto scale" project.The copper-gold-silver discovery, a p...Read More
Key data from the Friday May 3 pricing session in London: Key drivers: - Rally pauses and spot activity slows; buyers in Europe and parts of Asia were out of the market for some of the week. Some buyers are believed to have covered their nearby requirements last month and are awaiting direction before stocking up any further after the rally plateaued over the past week. - Sellers have so far prove...Read More
While demand for electric vehicles (EVs) continues to soar, investment in companies mining for the so-called battery metals is lagging far behind, which may trigger an upcoming global shortage of those minerals, a Tesla executive has warned.The EVs manufacturer pioneer, Reuters reports, has also said it believed that prices for key elements in the making of rechargeable batteries, including cobal...Read More
Canada's Hudbay Minerals' (TSX, NYSE: HBM) has settled a long-dragged out boardroom battle with its second-largest investor, Waterton Global Resource Management, which had been pushing for replacing the miner's chief executive officer and overhaul the board.The announcement comes two weeks after Waterton, which holds about 12% of Hudbay, filed a lawsuit against the base metals producer, in a bid...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange fell over 1% at the close of trading on Friday May 3, with downward pressure emerging amid more than 230,000 tonnes of inflows over the week, while continued US dollar strength deters investors. Aluminium registered just over 10,000 lots traded at the close this afternoon, the lowest count since April 25, with thin volumes persisting due t...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves.Read More
This recent drop in copper prices is not reflective of the current tight supply and demand fundamentals and a rebound could take place as soon as next week, Codelco's chief commercial officer Roberto Ecclefield told Fastmarkets on Friday May 3."Once China re-opens on Monday, we should see copper prices rebound," Ecclefield said in an interview. "The current price doesn't reflect fundamentals."Mark...Read More
The dip in tin prices over the past two months reflects technical factors and a drop in semiconductor sales but a rebound is hard to envision despite an largely solid fundamental backdrop.Weakness in the global semiconductor sector has contributed to an 11% drop in the LME three-month tin price since mid-April - the sharpest fall across the base metals.The three-month price fell just 2.9% in 2018...Read More
Copper concentrates treatment charges (TCs) declined in early May after traders accepted recent tender tonnages at surprisingly low levels, which stretched the gap between acceptable purchase levels for traders and smelters to its widest in the past year.As of May 3, Fastmarkets' Asia-Pacific TC/RC index dropped to $60.8 per tonne/6.08 cents per lb, compared to $62.50 per tonne/6.25 cents per lb a...Read More
Comex exchange copper prices recovered in morning trading in the United States on Friday May 3, after the April US jobs report showed strong data, raising spirits in the equity markets.The copper price for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 4.65 cents on Friday to $2.8260 per lb.Earlier in the morning, the jobs report showed that 263,000 Americans had...Read More
Benchmark alumina prices are now trading at their lowest in over a year due to lack of buying appetite and excess cargoes in the market for May and June. Fastmarkets' benchmark alumina fob Australia index was last assessed at $351.49 per tonne on May 2 - its lowest level since the index was published at $349.88 per tonne on March 1, 2018. "There are a lot of cargoes being offered in the market at...Read More
With competition in the global steel markets remaining fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in April 2019.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have been supported by strong demand in the construction industry, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 3."Demand is good, which is normal at this time of the year," a Polish trader said. "But there is some pressure coming from unexpected scrap price decreases, because mills are...Read More
The light iron market in the UK has dropped in the past week, with traders cutting their prices amid weaker European export markets, particularly into Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 3.Moreover, with European scrap export markets into Turkey set to get weaker in the near term, UK consumer monthly delivery settlements for May are likely to drop by a similar amount, they said.Fastmark...Read More
Russian steelmaker Industrial Metallurgical Holding (IMH) will start production of steel at its new Tula Steel subsidiary this month, with plans to enter the billet export market in the coming months, Fastmarkets has learnt."Tula Steel plans to sell billet," a company source told Fastmarkets. "The volumes of offers will depend on circumstances in the raw materials and finished steel markets. Howev...Read More