London Metal Exchange base metals prices failed to rally during the afternoon session on Tuesday May 7, with the furor surrounding fresh trade tension between the United States and China serving only to exacerbate bearish market sentiment. None fared worse than the LME three-month nickel price, which dipped to a low of $11,990 per tonne low on May 7, the first time the price has dropped below $12,...Read More
Weekly Reports |May 07 2019The uranium spot price ended April above the end-March price, but momentum faded as the month wore on.-April rally spot uranium fades-US production plunges-France to extend nuclear reduction timeframeBy Greg Peel20 transactions were concluded in the uranium spot market in April, industry consultant TradeTech reports, totalling 4.6mlbs U3O8 equivalent. Having been on the...Read More
Bob Moriarty ArchivesMay 7, 2019Very few people actually understand my role in the resource sector. Lots of people think I am just a guy who runs a mining website and writes about companies now and again. Actually behind the scenes I am far more active, and verbal than readers realize. You can talk to anyone who has ever worked with me and they will tell you that they may not agree with me but the...Read More
The National Association of Realtors (NAR - existing home sales reports) and the Census Bureau (new home sales reports) report monthly sales on a "seasonally adjusted annualized rate" basis (SAAR). Notwithstanding the reliability - or lack thereof - of the "seasonal adjustments," it would seem absurd to report monthly home sales on an annualized rate basis.To the extent the NAR and Census Bureau's...Read More
China imported around 901,767 tonnes of chrome ore and concentrates in March, a drop of 20.6% month on month and a fall of 41.9% year on year, according to official but unconfirmed data seen by Fastmarkets. Meanwhile, China's chrome ore imports from South Africa, the world's largest chrome ore producer, came to 660,503 tonnes in March, accounting for around 73.2% of total shipments despite recordi...Read More
Stewart Thomsonemail: stewart@gracelandupdates.comemail: stewart@gracelandjuniors.comemail:admin@guswinger.comMay 7, 2019 There has been an uptick in market risk over the past couple of weeks, and that’s being reflected in dollar-yen and dollar-gold. Please click here now.Double-click to enlarge this dollar versus yen chart. The 109.50 area on this chart is quite important for gold investo...Read More
China imported 2.7 million tonnes of manganese ore in March, up 21.9% from February and 42.6% higher year on year, according to official but unconfirmed data seen by Fastmarkets. The quick pick-up in shipments to China in March was a direct result of falling manganese ores prices in January which prompted Chinese buyers to secure cheap units. Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index dropped to...Read More
The US ferro-silicon price continued its precipitous fall last week amid pressure from the softer prices in global markets. Meanwhile, the European market found temporary stability amid shifting sentiment.US ferro-silicon market continues to weakenUS spot prices for ferro-silicon softened to 88-93 cents per lb on Thursday May 2, down by 2.7% from 92-94 cents per lb a week earlier, according to Fas...Read More
* Zinc hits two-month low on expectated higher supplies * Copper cancelled warrants near 27 percent * GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell on Tuesdaytowards 2-1/2 month lows hit last week on worries about demandafter U.S. President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs onChinese goods before U.S-China trade talks.B...Read More
It comes after the company's A$5 million initial public offering closed oversubscribed in late March. The stock closed at its session high of A23.5c, a 17.5% premium to the 20c issue price.Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued to book deep-sea scrap with prices going down further, sources said on Tuesday May 7.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 23,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $300 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $310 per tonne...Read More
Shades of Smoot-Hawley!? Stocks plummeted for the second time in less than 24 hours Monday when Trump signaled to China's trade negotiators that he means business. A long-delayed, $200 billion hike in tariffs will take effect on Friday because the Chinese reneged on commitments they'd already made. I don't say they allegedly reneged or that they reportedly reneged, since no one ever believed for...Read More
Trump and his twitter trumpet of reigniting trade war failed to life gold price yesterday. Short covering will be there if gold breaks and trades over $1290-$1292 zone. Silver needs to trade over $1500 to rise further. Copper and crude oil may have formed a short term bottom yesterday. "Akshay Tritiya" demand if it comes in below expectations in India can result in small correction in gold pri...Read More
Turkish domestic ship scrap prices went down in line with the weakening of the country's lira during the week ended May 6, while auto bundle scrap prices remained largely stable, sources said on Tuesday May 7.Three steel mills lowered their buy prices for ship scrap to $305 per tonne delivered, while a fourth mill kept its buy price flat at $310 per tonne delivered.As a result, Fastmarkets' weekly...Read More
Gold prices finished higher Monday, giving up earlier losses, as investors reacted to a slump in equities after President Donald Trump upended perceived progress on trade talks by threatening to raise tariffs soon on China. Gold has pulled back "with sharp market declines that are reacting to [the] U.S.-China tariff negotiations sudden bump in the road," said George Gero, managing director at RBC...Read More
The Tuesday Market Minute Global stocks mixed as investors keep risk appetites in check amid an uneasy truce on trade talks between the U.S. and China.China's Commerce Ministry confirms Vice Premier Liu He will attend a key series of talks later this week in Washington amid accusations of backsliding on previous commitments from top U.S. trade officials.Europe opens modestly higher despite weake...Read More
Gold futures climbed Friday, recouping some of the sharp loss from a day earlier that sent prices to their lowest level of the year, but the precious metal still registered a loss for the week-their fifth in six weeks. Data Friday revealed that the U.S. created a larger-than-expected 263,000 new jobs in April, which helped the unemployment rate fall to a 49-year low of 3.6%. In reaction, however,...Read More
Noront Resources announced today that Sault Ste. Marie will be the home for a new ferrochrome processing plant. Chromite, one of the resources found in the Ring of Fire, can be processed into ferrochrome, a key ingredient in stainless steel. "This is tremendous news for the city of Sault Ste. Marie," said Ross Romano, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mi...Read More
Global battery-grade lithium spot market prices moved sideways week on week while China, Japan and other countries were away from the market for public holidays.The market was slow this week amid a lack of market activity and national holidays that have added to the decelerated activity of some companies across the European and US market, most market participants that spoke to Fastmarkets said. Fa...Read More
The market for exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was quiet during the week ended Tuesday May 7 because of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the key outlet markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of HRC was $465-480 per tonne fob Black Sea on May 7, declining from $470-495 per ton...Read More