The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday November 9. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Friday November 9, failing to match upward momentum across Asian sessions amid strong economic data on Chinese exports. The three-month lead price was the biggest loser, falling 2% from yesterday's close to $1,...Read More
Fastmarkets MB reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market during the week ended November 9.Raw Materials Japanese H2 scrap continued to lead price falls in the Asia markets amid weak demand from end users and bearish sentiment among traders.It is unlikely that there will be any spot-market activity in 2019 for direct-reduction (DR) grade iron ore pellets, according to...Read More
Steel consumption in Latin America was expected to grow by 3.10% in 2019, compared with this year, according to regional steel association Alacero.The region's steel use was expected to reach 70.60 million tonnes next year, from an estimate of 68.50 million tonnes in 2018, the association said on Tuesday November 6."Latin America is on the path for a slow economic recovery," Alacero...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday November 9, with demand increasing slightly.The local market has been slow for a long time but some bookings were heard this week, even if the market cannot be described as very active.Market participants were not expecting any sharp movement in demand or prices before the end of the year, because buying...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 $530-550 per tonne ex-works, December production.Turkey, domestic, hot-rolled coil, traded a...Read More
Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative in the week ended Friday November 9, with some prices going down, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants did not expect local demand to improve until at least the end of 2018, because of the unwillingness to restock before the year-end.In addition, some buyers are having payment problems because sellers will not accept long-term payme...Read More
Imports of hot-dipped galvanized steel coils and sheets from China and Vietnam into Malaysia will be subject to provisional anti-dumping duties ranging from 3.33% to 16.13%, Malaysia's ministry of international trade and industry announced on Thursday November 8.The duties will be effective for no longer than 120 days beginning on November 8.They are a result of the preliminary determination in Ma...Read More
U.S. stocks tumbled in trading this afternoon with selling pressure a result of multiple factors. After producing respectable gains throughout the week, U.S. equities reacted to two major events, as well. First, market participants reacted to the statement released by the Federal Reserve yesterday from this month's FOMC meeting. Second, data suggested a "hotter-than-expected" reading on producer p...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold has given up its October gains and analysts say that it will be difficult for the yellow metal to rally as oil prices fall into bear-market territory, according to some commodity analysts.We’re only in the first week, but November is proving to be a disappointing month for gold as the yellow metal trades near a four-week low. December gold futures last traded at $1,208.60...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are trading solidly down and at a four-week low in late-morning action Friday. Early losses have been extended on technical selling pressure, including sell stop orders being triggered when key chart support levels were breached. Bearish "outside markets" today that include a higher U.S. dollar index and lower crude oil prices are pressuring the precious metal...Read More
(Kitco News) - Wall Street changed its near-term outlook on gold prices and now looks for the metal to continue to decline on an expectation for more U.S. rate hikes, although Main Street still leans bullish, according to the weekly Kitco News gold survey.The Federal Open Market Committee wrapped up a meeting Thursday in which policymakers issued a statement saying economic activity remains &ldquo...Read More
The import price for steel billet in Southeast Asia remained flat on Friday November 9 amid a lack of trading activity, with many buyers and sellers taking a wait-and-see approach.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for billet imported into Southeast Asia was $505-510 per tonne cfr Manila on Friday, unchanged since October 30.No major deals were reported during the week amid a wide bid-offer sprea...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices remain under pressure, and are trading at session lows after producer price inflation came in much hotter than expected last month.Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said its Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.6% in October following an increase of 0.2% in September; the data was stronger than expected with economists' forecasting an increase of 0.2%.Core PPI, which strips...Read More
The U.S. Midterm Election ending without any surprises, and had stock prices soaring higher on Wednesday, while gold was essentially unchanged. With equities being bid higher, gold is losing an important safety-related support with the return of “risk-on” among equity investors. Although the expected results saw just a 0.12% lift in gold, the GDX sold off into the close as most t...Read More
Gold has come under pressure the last few days, but from a long-term perspective, the pattern has held up and all signs point to higher prices. We can look at the trade in gold a couple of ways -- we can panic because it's down 2% from its recent highs or rejoice that it's still 5% higher than the lows. In other words, is the glass half empty or half full? We will choose to look at the glass half...Read More
BERLIN - Germany has earmarked 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to support a consortium looking to produce electric car battery cells and plans to fund a research facility to develop next-generation solid-state batteries, three sources told Reuters.The measures, expected to be announced next week, are designed to reduce the dependence of German carmakers on Asian electric vehicle (EV) battery suppli...Read More
MELBOURNE - Australian lithium producer Altura Mining on Friday said it had signed a deal to supply Chinese battery giant Ganfeng Lithium with concentrate from its Pilgangoora mine in Western Australia.Battery makers such as Ganfeng and Tesla have been scouring the globe for new sources of lithium to help meet an anticipated boom in demand for batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), with miners in...Read More
Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX, NYSE: PVG), which operates the Brucejack Mine in British Columbia that began commercial production in July 2017, reports adjusted earnings rose to $26.3 million, or 14 cents per share, in the third quarter, up from $14 million, or 8 cents, in the same period a year ago. Net earnings were $10.7 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $7 million, or 4 ce...Read More
Key data for the pricing session for the week ended Friday November 9. China Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices continued to soften slightly amid ongoing weak market sentiment. The UG2 chrome ore index dropped amid low liquidity, with buyers and sellers failing to agree a price in a falling market. The imported charge chrome...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose toward a 16-month high against the euro on Friday as falling equity prices spurred a flight to quality and the U.S. Federal Reserve reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance, citing the strong U.S. economy.The S&P 500 fell more than 1 percent, with shares of large technology, industrial and material companies taking a hit as weak Chinese data and a sli...Read More