Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsAlcoa intends to shut its Spanish aluminium smelting operations at La Coru??a and Avil?(C)s, saying they are the least productive in the Alcoa system due to structural issues. BHP's zinc concentrates production rose 5% year on year in the three months ended September 30, according to...Read More
A meeting in Brussels next week will discuss whether four chemical compounds irreplaceable in the production of lead batteries should be banned, effectively spelling the end for the technology in the region. The proposal for an in-effect ban is part of Reach, a European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals that came into force in 2007...Read More
The Comex copper price rebounded in the US morning on Friday October 19 despite weak growth in China, with potential further stimulus from the Chinese central bank expected. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.70 cents to $2.7735 per lb. China's economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter of this year to the w...Read More
The global metals industry gathered in force last week in London for what remains, despite recent spin-off conferences elsewhere in the world, the largest and longest-established such event for the raw materials sector.London Metal Exchange (LME) week is a time of taking stock - of prices in the underlying markets, the state of the industry, the global political and economic backdrop and, closer t...Read More
A year of unprecedented copper smelter disruptions has put copper concentrate benchmark negotiations on the front foot, with miners and smelters closer than usual in bid and offered terms at the outset of discussions. Major outages at key smelters, including Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin, Glencore's Pasar and Codelco's Chuquicamata have pushed up spot treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs...Read More
Gold futures settled slightly lower on the day, with the most active December Comex contract currently fixed at $1,229.60, a net decline of $0.50 on the day. However, gold scored modest gains this week. Gold opened on Monday at approximately $1,221.10, and it is currently fixed at $1,229.60, resulting in an eight dollar gain this week.Although the gains have been small and incremental, gold has no...Read More
Sacha Lifschitz, senior nickel trader at London-based Concord Resources, has left the company for personal reasons, Fastmarkets understands.Lifschitz declined to comment at the time of publication, while...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold’s resiliency this week in light of a higher U.S. dollar and hawkish FOMC meeting minutes could mean the precious metal is ready to shine again, according to analysts.As this week is coming to a close, gold is heading for a third straight weekly gain, which marks a significant turnaround following a dismal summer. The December Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,231...Read More
(Kitco News) - The mining sector is seeing some renewed excitement as gold prices post their third week of gains, but one mining executive said that the sector still needs more to attract fresh investment capital. Mathieu Savard, president of the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association and vice-president of exploration for Osisko Mining In an interview with Kitco New on the sidelines of Xplor,...Read More
Coated steel base prices have risen by $1 per hundredweight ($20 per short ton) in the United States over the past week, on the heels of the week-earlier $2-per-cwt increases by mills, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM assessed base prices for hot-dipped galvanized steel at $48 per cwt fob Midwest mill on Thursday October 18, up from $47 per cwt a week earlier. Prices for hot-dipp...Read More
(Kitco News) - Lottery fever has once again gripped the U.S. as Friday's Mega Millions lottery pushes close to the one-billion dollar mark.As of Friday morning, the jackpot had an estimated value of $970 million with a cash option worth $548 million. The Mega Million's lottery win could buy about 788,617 ounces of gold with prices currently trading around $1,230 an ounce. To put that into perspect...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold futures are heading for their third weekly rise in a row, and Wall Street and Main Street look for the metal to make it four straight next week, based on the Kitco News gold survey.A number of factors underpinned gold this week, including geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia after news reports that journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after going into the S...Read More
SARAJEVO, Oct 19 - A Bosnian regional government will help to keep aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar running, a minister said on Friday, after heavy debt brought it to the brink of closure.Management at Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter had called for the Bosniak-Croat Federation to intervene after the business was hit by rising alumina and electricity prices.The company sounded the alarm last week...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are modestly up in early U.S. trading Friday, supported on some safe-haven buying interest in a nervous trading environment heading into the weekend. December gold futures were last up $1.80 an ounce at $1,231.90. December Comex silver was last up $0.121 at $14.725 an ounce. Don't be surprised if trader and investor anxiety upticks as the trading session progresses Frida...Read More
When gold’s latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report was released last Friday, we learned speculators boosted their net-short position in bullion futures and options to the largest level since at least 2006 in the week ended Oct. 9th. During the previous session on October 11th, gold posted the biggest daily rise since the Brexit vote as a surge in safe- haven demand saw managed money specu...Read More
Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative in the week to Friday October 19, but the possibility of a reduction to import duties in the United States has brought hope to the market, sources told Fastmarkets.US president Donald Trump doubled the import tariffs on steel and aluminium from Turkey on August 10, with the duty on aluminium rising to 20% and that for steel import...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices continue to hold on to modest gains, following weaker-than existing home sales data, from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).Existing home sales were slightly down, showing a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 5.15 million in September. Economists were expecting to see a sales rate of 5.29 million units.Gold prices were largely unchanged after the data wa...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday October 19, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Some market participants had been expecting prices to fall because of declining prices for hot-rolled coil, and the weak demand.Domestic pricesOne producer in northern Turkey was offering 0.5mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $700 per tonne ex...Read More
Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY) reports that an employee died after falling from a height while working in the shaft bottom at its Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville on Friday. An investigation into the accident is under way. “Management expresses their deepest condolences to the deceased employee’s family, friends and colleagues,” Harmony says. By Allen Sykora For Kit...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: HRC, CRC, HDG, PPGIHot-rolled coilTurkey, domestic, hot-rolled coil, offered at $560-570 per tonne ex-works, late November-early December production.Turkey, domestic, hot-...Read More