RAPAPORT... Richemont's jewelry sales increased 12% in the first fiscalhalf, though signs of weakening in Asia raised investor concerns.Jewelry proceeds at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels rose to EUR 2.45 billion ($2.77billion) in the six months ending September 30, while watch sales grew 4% year on year to EUR 2.49 billion ($2.82 billion), Richemont reported Friday.At constant exchange rates,...Read More
OJSC Electrozinc, the second-largest industrial metallurgy enterprise in Russia, plans to resume zinc production at its plant in North Ossetia after operations were suspended following a fire on October 21 that killed one person and injured three more."We are considering the possibility of restoring the electrolysis shop. According to preliminary estimates, this may take 6-8 months," a spokesman f...Read More
Fastmarkets summarizes nine key points from Antaike's Nickel & Cobalt Conference on November 6-8.The spotlight was in Xiamen last week when market participants gathered to discuss hot topics in the cobalt and nickel markets, including higher cobalt prices and their impact on the market in addition to new trends for the cobalt industry.High prices do not hurt the overall use of cobalt in consumer e...Read More
ICBC Standard Bank expects the price of copper to recover toward $7,000 per tonne because investors have overstated their worries about the effects on demand arising from the trade tensions between the United States and China.Copper was priced $6,067 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange on Monday November 12, basis three months delivery. Over the past six months, the LME copper price has only ex...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday November 12.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading with nickel, zinc and lead prices pressured by a fresh 2018 high in the US dollar index, while copper and tin futures found support. Here's how base metals prices looked at 11:48am London time:For a snapshot of...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday November 13.The three-month lead price dropped almost 2% during the London Metal Exchange closing trade session on Monday November 12. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:Sluggish demand could lead to softer spot copper premiums in China next year, Arc Resources general m...Read More
Prices for special bar quality (SBQ) steel products in the United States have risen again, moving up by $0.50 per hundredweight ($10 per short ton) due to increasing raw material costs while market participants eye an early 2019 mill hike. Fastmarket AMM assessed the price for 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon) hot-rolled bar at $46.50 per cwt ($930 per ton) on Friday November 9, up 16.3% from $40...Read More
The price for steel plate in the United States continues to gain ground but sources are increasingly questioning whether it might be at or near a peak.Fastmarkets AMM assessed cut-to-length plate at $49.50 per hundredweight ($990 per short ton) on Friday November 9, up 1% from $49 per cwt previously and up 59.7% from $31 per cwt a year ago.The plate price last weighed in at $49.50 per cw...Read More
(Kitco News) - With the U.S. midterm election and the latest Federal Reserve decision out of the way, gold analysts are now switching focus to the U.S. dollar and global macro data releases— the two biggest triggers that could impact gold in the short-term, according to TD Securities.Gold saw another setback on Monday, with the December Comex gold futures tumbling from above $1,220 to around...Read More
(Kitco News) - While all commodities are suffering under the boot heel of a surging U.S. dollar, one junior explorer CEO sees the potential for gold and silver to shine as the current environment is unsustainable. Thomas Smeenk, CEO of Broadway Gold Mining Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to its highest level in 16 months, while gold fell to a one-month low and is in striking distance of testing p...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are moderately down and have hit four-week and eight-week lows, respectively, in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday. The precious metals are pressured by a very strong U.S. dollar on the foreign exchange market. The U.S. dollar index hit a 16-month high today. December gold futures were last down $5.30 an ounce at $1,203.30. December Comex silver was last do...Read More
Operations at Kazakhstan steelmaker ArcelorMittal Temirtau were partly suspended on Saturday November 10 due to an explosion in a gas pipeline, the company has said."An accident investigation will take at least three weeks. After that, we will resume production," ArcelorMittal Temirtau's chief operating officer, Vadim Basin, said on Monday November 12. "A complete investigation and production rest...Read More
(Kitco News) - Money managers trimmed their bearish positioning in gold during the most recent reporting week for data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, although these accounts have likely reversed course since and are accumulating bearish positions again, analysts said.During the week-long period to Nov. 6 covered by the report, Comex December gold gained $1 to $1,226.30 an ou...Read More
The rate at which the European Commission's import safeguard quotas for wire rod and rebar are filling up is still accelerating, and may give domestic long steel producers an opportunity to raise their prices in the next few weeks despite lukewarm demand.The European quotas were introduced in mid-July in response to the imposition by the United States of wide-ranging import tariffs on industrial g...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
The U.S. dollar rally has resumed in the wake of last week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, says Brown Brothers Harriman. “U.S. rates are headed higher, while event risk in the euro zone and the U.K. remain in place,” BBH says. Analysts say the news flow this week is expected to be dollar-supportive. Consensus estimates call for the October U.S. Consumer Pric...Read More
Fastmarkets launched its daily US Midwest Hot-Rolled Coil Index on Monday November 12.Fastmarkets believes that increasing the frequency of its hot-rolled coil index to daily from weekly is a useful and necessary addition to the company's suite of steel and ferrous scrap prices in response to unprecedented steel market volatility. The price proposal notice was updated on&n...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar surged on Monday to its highest point in 16 months against a basket of currencies and world stocks fell broadly amid concern about political risks in Europe, while U.S. and European technology shares were hammered.Major U.S. stock indexes dropped more than 1 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumping over 2 percent. Indexes were weighed down by a 4.3-percent...Read More
Ann SaphirIDAHO FALLS, Idaho (Reuters) - With the U.S. economy at or beyond full employment and inflation likely to rise slightly above a 2 percent goal over the next year, the Federal Reserve should continue to raise rates gradually, its newest policymaker said Monday — but not necessarily next month.“My modal forecast is for two to three (rate hikes) over the next period of time, wit...Read More
The consolidation of South Africa's chrome industry that has taken place since 2015 translates into better-underpinned ferro-chrome prices overall, Afarak chief operating officer Danko Koncar said at Fastmarkets MB's 34th International Ferro-alloys Conference, held in Lisbon November 11-13.Ferro-chrome prices hit multi-year lows in 2015, and four South African ferro-chrome plants were taken offlin...Read More