Profits from zinc miners and refiners are expected to move downstream into the zinc smelting sector to reshape the unhealthy and significantly, profits-diverged structure, sources told Fastmarkets MB at the 21st China International Lead and Zinc Conference.Profits in the upstream zinc mining and refining sectors has risen by 8% year on year in the first nine months of 2018, while those in the smel...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday November 05*Copper -$205.55 (-1,425.89 yuan) Aluminium -$444.44 (-3,082.97 yuan) Zinc -$50.76 (-352.08 yuan) Nickel $570.66 (3,958.54 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month prices at 3pm Shanghai time, taking account of VAT and impor...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday November 6.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower at the close of trading on Monday November 5, topped by a continued downturn in lead's three-month price while aluminium was the only metal to trade in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of...Read More
The global excess of steel production capacity is resulting in increased volumes of imports into the Middle East, BS Shetty of Al Ghurair Iron & Steel (AGIS) told an industry conference on Monday November 5.Steel mills in China and India have more than 50% of the world's steel production capacity, and they get export incentives, Shetty told delegates to the Arab Iron & Steel Union Summit in Amman,...Read More
This week could prove to be a monumental week with the midterm elections beginning tomorrow. According to Bloomberg politics, "The 2018 midterms are the most closely watched, most expensive, and most fretted-about congressional elections in memory." The stakes are enormous, as the outcome could determine whether the status quo remains the same or if there will be some real changes in the way Washi...Read More
The import price for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia stopped declining during the past week, with trading activity still muted.Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for imported slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was at $470-480 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday November 5, the same as the previous week.The assessment had previously been falling since mid-October amid lower offers.....Read More
(Kitco News) - Roy Sebag the visionary behind GoldMoney is taking aim at the jewelry sector and looking to disrupt Western views on gold with his latest venture, Mene, set to make its TSX debut on November 6. A spinoff of Goldmoney, Mene will make its TSX debut under the symbol "MENE." The company, named after the ancient Aramaic word for a unit of money, is selling what Sebag calls, "investment...Read More
(Kitco News) - From all the precious and base metals, gold has the most to gain if equities see further losses, said Bloomberg Intelligence (BI), which is not ruling out the $1,400 an ounce level for gold.“Gold has the most upside if equities continue to decline, particularly if U.S. stocks give back more vs. the world. In this scenario, the dollar should decline and metals and broad commodi...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday November 5, with market participants taking a pessimistic view on demand and supply. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,630-4,660 yuan ($672-676) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 4,450-4,480 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneSpot rebar prices fell on Monday amid early-hours losses in the futures market...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil market was largely steady on Monday November 5, but expectations have emerged for some upward momentum in the export segment as soon as prices bottom out.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,030-4,040 yuan ($584-586) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,030-4,040 yuan per tonne, unchangedPrices in both major trading regions in China w...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are modestly lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday, in a choppy, two-sided trading session. Both the bulls and the bears are cautious ahead of what will likely be a very active trading week. December gold futures were last down $1.90 an ounce at $1,231.40. December Comex silver was last down $0.121 at $14.635 an ounce. Focus is on Tuesday's U.S. mid-te...Read More
Photo by Piotr Swat/Shutterstock.com (Kitco News) - Nearly 100% of Barrick Gold Corporation shareholders (NYSE: ABX, TSX: ABX) voted in favor of a merger with Randgold Resources, clearing one more hurdle that paves way for the creation of the world’s biggest gold producer.In a press release Monday, following a special shareholder vote, the company said that 99.8% or more than 683 millio...Read More
Australian lithium spodumene producer Altura Mining shipped about 10,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene from Port Hedland in Western Australia to China in October 2018, the company has said.Altura announced on October 31 that it had despatched two cargoes each of around 5,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene to China, on October 9 and October 20. The material came from the company's Pilgangoora lithium mi...Read More
(Kitco News) - The “proverbial perfect storm” of underperformance in the natural resource sector peaked in the third quarter, with the market now looking historically attractive, according to investment management firm VanEck.“Whether it be the concerns around … trade-war-induced slowdown in global growth and associated metals weakness …, [or] presumed dilutive acqu...Read More
Share this articleThe Mount Newman railway line in Western Australia. Source: BHP Billiton Ltd.BHP Billiton Ltd. [BHP-NYSE; BHPLF-OTCPK] has suspended all iron ore rail operations in Western Australia after a train carrying iron ore took off without the driver on board and travelled across the Pilbara outback before it was stopped early Monday.Local media reports said the train literally ran away...Read More
(Kitco News) - While the world continues to react to the election of Brazilian populist president Jair Bolsonaro, some government officials don’t expect this to have much impact on the nation’s plan to develop its national resource.In an exclusive interview with Kitco News ahead of the October runoff election, Pedro Bruno Barros De Souza, secretary of public policy coordination, said t...Read More
Australian lithium spodumene miner Neometals reported that it had achieved slightly higher production volumes in the July-September quarter in a results statement published on Wednesday October 31.Neometals increased its output by about 1.68%, producing 111,023 tonnes of lithium spodumene in the quarter, compared with 109,183 tonnes produced in April-June.Output of higher-grade lithium spodumene (...Read More
(Kitco News) - Large speculators rebuilt their bearish positioning in gold futures during the most recent reporting week for data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, yet this may have been a temporary phenomenon, with prices since rising again amid a fall in the U.S. dollar, analysts said. During the week-long period to Oct. 30 covered by the CFTC’s report, Comex December g...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold has bounced in a $20 range since the end of October. Discounting the drop on Oct. 31, which we believe was fund selling to grab some profits for client-statement purposes to offset losses in the equity space, gold has remained in a very tight range. Good economic numbers on Friday helped to strengthen the dollar, but gold remained resilient into the weekend. The technical pictu...Read More
Lithium spodumene miner Tawana Resources reported a quarter-on-quarter production increase of 63% from operations at Bald Hill in Western Australia in July-September this year, in a results statement for the third quarter published on Wednesday October 31.The Australian miner produced 28,419 tonnes of lithium spodumene in the quarter ended on September 30, compared with 17,403 tonnes in the previo...Read More