Comex copper prices dipped Friday morning in the US with a stronger dollar providing a serious headwind against the base metals complex.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.50 cents to $2.7295 per lb. Broad strength in the dollar, which is trading at its highest level since July, is proving the most prominent headwind to bas...Read More
State-owned Finnish company, Terrafame, will boost investment in developing a battery chemical plant in Sotkamo, Finland, amid a record-high quarter for zinc and nickel production output, the mining company said in a release this week.The investment, said to be worth ?,?240 million ($273 million), has received principle funding of ?,?100 million from parent company Finnish Minerals Group, with add...Read More
Amerigo MVC plant ramp-up on courseSPONSOREDamerigo resourcesBHP acquired a 6% stake in SolGold last month for US$59.2 million and increased it last week to 11.2% for a further $59.2 million.Newcrest is the company's largest shareholder with...Read More
A summary of Glencore's third-quarter production results for the three months ended September 30 (own-sourced output volume, year-on-year change):Copper - 366,900 tonnes, + 21% Increase reflects the restart/ramp-up of Katanga operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Katango restarted in December 2017. Own-source copper metal from Katanga increased by 10% quarter on quarter to 39,300 tonnes...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market during the week ended October 26.Raw Materials The Singapore Exchange's high-grade iron ore derivative contract will promote efficiency and transparency in price discovery and risk management related to this segment of the steelmaking raw material, market participants say.Global miner Vale has room to replace sales of low...Read More
Amerigo MVC plant ramp-up on courseSPONSOREDamerigo resourcesGlencore produced 1.1 million tonnes of copper during the period, up 12% year-on-year, and 28,500t of cobalt, a 44% increase.Katanga contributed 102,600t of copper and 6,500t of cobalt....Read More
Gold futures finished the day with moderate gains, as the most active December Comex contract closed $3.80 higher at $1,236.20. Although gold prices finished higher on the week, after gaining approximately $ 6.00, price advances were limited once again by dollar strength. That being said, gold prices have managed to increase in value now for the fourth consecutive week. Another noteworthy charact...Read More
Usiminas, Brazil's largest flat steel producer, focused on the domestic market during the third quarter and achieved its highest steel sales volume since the fourth quarter of 2015, its earnings report shows.Steel shipments rose by 8.96% to 1.11 million tonnes from 1.02 million tonnes a year before, the company reported on Friday October 26. The steelmaker sold 992,000 tonnes to Brazilian customer...Read More
(Kitco News) - It has taken a while, but gold is now doing exactly what it is supposed to do as the metal ends the week near a three-month high as U.S. equity markets continue to melt down and bond yields drop.The gold market is seeing its fourth week of consecutive gains and is on pace to end a six-month downtrend. December gold futures are trading near a three-week high, last trading at $1,243 a...Read More
(Kitco News) - David Garofalo, president and chief executive officer of Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG), says “nothing is broken” with the company and that third-quarter earnings were weaker largely because of a decision to move processing of lower-grade ore ahead by one quarter at the new Pe??asquito pyrite leach plant. The CEO spoke with Kitco News on Friday a day after shares of th...Read More
The CIS export billet market was largely quiet in the week ended Friday October 26 on reduced availability of material. Some mills have almost sold out their November allocations, while others preferred to wait and assess the development of the market."We [stepped aside from] the market to wait for better times," a Ukraine-based producer told Fastmarkets.Some market participants, however, noted th...Read More
(Kitco News) - Wall Street and Main Street look for gold to maintain its upward momentum next week, with the metal currently headed for its fourth straight weekly gain, based on the Kitco News gold survey.Eighteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Twelve respondents, or 67%, predicted higher prices by next Friday. Just one respondent, or 6%, called for lower, while five par...Read More
Swedish steelmaker SSAB forecasts solid demand in the fourth quarter of 2018 following a good performance in July-September this year, the company said on Friday October 26."Despite the political turbulence surrounding trade barriers, we expect the outlook to remain good for the fourth quarter of 2018," president and chief executive officer Martin Lindqvist said. "SSAB has strong positions in our...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices continue to get a safe-haven bid and are posting solid gains in late-morning trading Friday--adding to early advances as the U.S. stock market trades sharply lower. The major U.S. stock indexes have hit multi-month lows today and are presently at daily lows. Look for gold prices to continue to appreciate as long as there is turmoil in the marketplace. The move above what...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey decreased in the week ended Friday October 26, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Market participants were not expecting much improvement in local demand until the end of 2018, because of the low end-user requirements and the recent economic problems in the country.The Turkish lira lost significant value in August and September,...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board by an average of 0.7% during morning trading on Friday October 26. Concerns about the broader markets and continuing uncertainty over trade and sanctions have capped the upside for those metals trying to move higher, while it has pushed the weaker metals prices lower. Nickel leads on the downside with...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely stable over the week, but the mills are likely to try to achieve higher prices in November, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Friday October 26.The sources, however, doubt that the rise of official offers will be reflected in the transaction prices.Polish steelmakers are expected to announce new prices in early November. In the meantime, no deals have...Read More
Thursday gold was relatively flat, but the miners got crushed. For some reason, the gold bears decided to sell the miners like they were going to zero. Once again, it looks like the aggressive selling was a huge mistake. None of the miners were safe, with most falling 5% to 10%. It appeared that the sellers were chasing the short-covering dead-cat bounce in equities. In the pre-market this morning...Read More
Key data for the pricing session in the week ending Friday October 26.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot market was stable from the past week but few deals were done. UG2 prices were stable, while the imported charge chrome index eased slightly. Chinese stainless steel mills lowered their tender prices for November delivery...Read More
(Kitco News) - Societe Generale is “cautiously bullish” on gold prices, looking for the metal to average $1,250 an ounce in the fourth quarter and $1,275 in the first quarter and for all of 2019.The bank released an updated forecast Thursday ahead of next week’s gathering of the London Bullion Market Association. The bank said its outlook has not changed materially since the one...Read More