Iron ore prices continued to fall on Monday March 11, with buyers cautious amid retreats in the futures and swaps markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $83.79 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.98 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $83.19 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.98 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $85.66 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $2.59 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Ind...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBHP, Global Ore, 80,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Mining Area C fines, traded at the April average of two 62% Fe indices at a discount of...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were flat on Monday March 11 in the absence of trades, but market participants have raised concerns over possible logistical disruptions in Queensland, Australia.Developments at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) and near it could affect coal supply from the port, sources said.A train derailed close to the DBCT on Sunday while at the port, issues relating to its unl...Read More

Seaborne iron ore pellet and concentrate prices were mixed last week amid persistently lackluster demand.PelletsThe Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Blast Furnace Pellet index was at $127.52 per tonne cfr China last Friday March 8, down by $3.12 per tonne from a week earlier.A tender for 64% Fe Indian KIOCL pellets was concluded around $115-117 per tonne fob. Traders said workable prices for this product on...Read More

Despite further poor economic data at the end of last week, the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part higher this morning, Monday March 11.With the exception of tin that was down by 0.2%, the rest of the complex were up between 0.3% for copper and 1.3% for zinc. Copper was recently quoted at $6,414 per tonne, compared with $6,395.50 per tonne at Friday&...Read More

Fastmarkets will host a free web seminar on Monday April 8 at 9.30am London time to introduce the new Fastmarkets-settled London Metal Exchange cash-settled cobalt contract. Learn how Fastmarkets assesses the cobalt market and how you can manage your risk with the new LME cash-settled contract. Click here to register for the webinar. Date Monday April 8, 2019 Time 9.30am London time Join us and th...Read More

The London Metal Exchange launched a new cash-settled cobalt contract, settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark standard-grade cobalt price, on Monday March 11.Physical cobalt prices have seen dramatic swings in recent years, coinciding with mounting interest in the minor metal, arising from the boom in the use of battery and electric vehicles, and leading to stronger calls for a new way to hedge co...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures up 4 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of January Retail Sales report. Consensus was a decrease of 0.1% versus a revised drop of 1.6% in December. Actual was an increase of 0.2%. Excluding auto sales, consensus for January Retail Sales was an increase of 0.2% versus a revised...Read More

A three-percentage-point cut to the rate of value-added tax (VAT) paid by Chinese manufacturers of metals and minerals will have little effect on export markets, traders have told Fastmarkets.Market sources claim that the low levels of VAT exporters pay now will make the reduction more theoretical than actual.Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang announced the tax cut on March 5. The top rate of VAT,...Read More

The price of antimony in China continued to fall for a second week in the latest assessment period, which ended on Wednesday March 6, after some domestic suppliers cut their prices further to clear inventories.Many consumers were not keen on buying to restock, however, because they expected yet another fall in the price.Fastmarkets assessed the price for MMTA standard-grade II antimony, delivered...Read More

This weekend, the stock market bull turned 10 years old, handing investors more than 17% in annualized total returns along the way. According to my old S&P coworker, Howard Silverblatt, that performance is more than three times better than the annualized return from the end of 1999 (5.43%) and almost twice as good as the return since 1989 (9.64%). Of course, plenty of people stayed on the side...Read More

The ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices in China and Europe moved higher last week amid consumer restocking and continued tightness in concentrates in China while prompt availability for material in Europe has tightened. Tightness in concentrates in China persists APT prices move up on consumer restocking Ferro-tungsten prices firm on tight prompt availability In China, Fastmarkets MB a...Read More

Low-grade manganese ore prices lost some recent gains in the seaborne market last week after warnings of high prices repelling buyers. 37% manganese ore prices slip in seaborne market44% manganese ore prices inch upManganese ore prices rise in China's portsManganese alloy prices find strength in ChinaSilico-manganese prices hold in India, Europe and US Seaborne low-grade manganese ore prices surr...Read More

Malaysia and India have unique competitive advantages in manganese alloy production that other Asian alloy producers are unable to match, according to panelists at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys conference in Hong Kong on Monday March 11. Manganese alloy production in the two countries has developed rapidly over the last 10 years, Aloys D'Harambure, executive director of the International Mangane...Read More

The global copper supply chain could be underestimating the market impact of Chinese scrap cuts amid the country's growing consumption, established industry expert Jonathan Barnes told Fastmarkets. "China has been absorbing around 50% of the world's copper scrap," Barnes said. "The effect of the tightening legislation is big. People have been underestimating the impact of Chinese copper scrap cons...Read More

The London Metal Exchange is at the heart of yet another warehousing conundrum, with pressure mounting for a ruling on why the linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule was not activated at end of January despite a large queue of Glencore-owned aluminium appearing at Istim's warehouses in Malaysia.Glencore has lodged an official complaint to the LME to revert the situation and activate LILO as of Januar...Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.21% to finish the week at 25,450.24, and the S&P 500 Index lost 2.20% to end the week at 2,743.07. Spot gold rose US$4.80 per oz. to US$1,297.70 per oz. gold.Yamana Gold, Glencore and Goldcorp have reached an agreement under which the companies propose to integrate Yamana's wholly owned Agua Rica project with the Alumbrera mine in Argentina's Catamarca provi...Read More

Gold-oriented Aurania Resources (TSXV: ARU) is finding as much copper as gold in the early innings of exploration at its Lost Cities-Cutucu project in southeastern Ecuador.In January the junior explorer reported grades ranging from 0.9-9% copper from eight grab samples of rock in streams at its Tsenken-A porphyry target. Highlights included 9% copper with 185 grams silver per tonne and 7.1% copper...Read More

Canada's benchmark index fell 0.44% to 15,996.21 to start March 2019 after a strong February. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index rose 0.43% to 73.60, and the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index rose 3.7% to 195.25. The gold price rose 0.37% to US$1,297.70. Shares of Serabi Gold rose 32.1% to 80 ?. In early March 2019, the company boosted the mineral resource for its Coringa gold project in Brazil 37% to 845,00...Read More

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) has abandoned its hostile takeover bid for Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), after the companies struck a joint-venture deal on their Nevada assets.Barrick will own 61.5% and Newmont, 38.5%, of the new joint venture, which will be operated by Barrick, and will allow the two partners to "tear down the fences and operate our assets as one mining complex," Barrick's new...Read More