Europe frets over the stability of Indonesian tin supply, China sees less product coming from Myanmar and US buyers are trying to wait out the current high tin prices. Europe mulls how to make up for lost Indonesian supply Chinese premiums flat while import window closed US sees little spot buying, with buyers said to be waiting for rising LME tin prices to subside.European premiums flatIn Europe,...Read More
Slight price increases have begun to emerge for domestic hollow steel sections in Europe as a result of increases in the upstream steel coil market. ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, announced on Tuesday February 19 that its prices for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil would increase by ?,?30 per tonne with immediate effect. The producer's higher HRC off...Read More
Shanghai zinc premiums softened over the past week on low spot interest due to import losses and a backwardation in London Metal Exchange price spreads, while lead premiums were largely unchanged across the globe, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday February 20. Shanghai zinc market saw transactions at a lower premium, and import losses hovered around $100 per tonne. The contango of zinc spreads in mid...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 20 that are worth another look.A blockchain pilot project designed to demonstrate the presence of artisanal and small-scale mining sites in the tungsten supply chain is scheduled to be completed in May 2019. Glencore expects healthy future demand for cobalt and a bottoming out of prices after a difficul...Read More
There's still much to come in terms of crypto news 2019. Yet there have already been several significant developments in the global crypto markets just seven weeks into Q1. In a historic first, two of the largest economies in South America settled a trade agreement in Bitcoin.A new browser extension called Tippin allows users to send small BTC tips to users on Twitter via the lightning network.Jap...Read More
Section 232 tariffs on aluminium and steel raised $3.6 billion in their first nine months, and revenues for the last two months are likely to push that figure up by around another $1 billion, US government data shows.That figure would be enough to cover the shortfall in funding sought by United States President Donald Trump for border security. In other words, aluminium and steel tariffs could fun...Read More
Detailed data for Chinese trade is still not available, but there are indications that the East Asian country may have become the biggest importer of pig iron in Asia last year, according to Fastmarkets' research team.We pointed out in June last year that the Chinese import pig iron market might revive to fill the widening gap between iron and steel production in China, alongside ferrous scrap.Hon...Read More
The process to exclude steel and aluminium from the Section 232 import tariffs applied by the United States is having some interesting consequences.Notably, in the event of a national security issue - which Section 232 was designed to address - the United States would theoretically rely on Japan for its steel and Saudi Arabia for its aluminium.Those countries have been granted the highest volume o...Read More
I'm accumulating gold, silver, and gold/silver stocks to maintain a 5-7% portfolio allocation to precious metals.I consider gold to be fairly valued or mildly undervalued at the current time. Not necessarily deeply undervalued like some argue, but a good long-term risk/reward opportunity.Streaming/royalty companies are my preferred choice.Silver and platinum are historically undervalued.Precio...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up over 1% at the close of trading on Wednesday February 20, breaching $6,400 per tonne for the first time since July 2018 amid high volumes and dwindling LME stocks. Total volumes traded in copper led the complex with more than 21,000 lots changing hands by the close, the most since January 4. Despite significant buying over the aft...Read More
The Comex copper market continued to move in a positive direction on Wednesday February 20, with global trade talks between the United States and China showing progress.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange increased 2.25 cents to $2.8970 per lb. Additionally, the red metal's price remains elevated against a backdrop of falling London....Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell across the board on Wednesday February 20 amid a quiet trading day, while Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) announced its product discount levels for March.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $88 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.21 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $87.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.21 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $89.10 per tonne...Read More
Big action in gold right now.Everyone is excited about gold and gold miners.We are getting up to some critical resistance areas. Produced by HoweStreet.com Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.Follow HoweStreet.com and get email alertsRead More
Published7:56PM ET Tue, 19 Feb 2019Updated6 Hours AgoReuters Getty ImagesPalladium jumped above the $1,500 per ounce mark for the first time on Wednesday, propelled by a stark supply deficit, while gold hit a 10-month high on a weaker dollar as investors awaited cues on U.S. monetary policy.Spot palladium, which traded as high as $1,502 per ounce, was up 0.74 percent at $1,490.50 at 1:52 p.m. EST...Read More
Russia's divestiture out of dollars and into gold is bullish for the metal.50-year high in central bank demand is also boosting the yellow metal.Gold's intermediate-term trend remains up despite strong dollar.Despite the continued strength of the U.S. currency, and partly because of Russia's increased appetite for the metal, gold's bullish prospects in 2019 are as strong as they've been in...Read More
Katanga Mining (TSX: KAT; US-OTC: KATFF) lost $116 million in 2018's fourth quarter to end the year with $13.4 million in gross profit, a result of temporary cobalt sale suspensions, higher reagent costs at its Luilu metallurgical plant and increased mine infrastructure and support costs.The company says its fourth quarter loss was partly offset by higher copper sales in the quarter.The company re...Read More
Montreal-based Osisko Metals has released the maiden resource estimate for its Key Anacon and Gilmour South deposits, collectively the Eastern Bathurst Mining Camp (EBMC) project. The properties are located south of Bathurst.With a 5.5% zinc equivalent cut-off, indicated resources in the Key Anacon Main and Titan zones total 2.0 million tonnes grading 5.77% zinc, 2.38% lead, 0.22% copper, and 68.9...Read More
Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals (TSE: HBM) has plans to double the annual gold output from the Lalor gold-copper-zinc mine 13 km west of Snow Lake, Manitoba. As part of the plan the New Britannia mill will be refurbished at a cost of $95 million raising Lalor gold output to 140,000 oz. per year.The Lalor mine will then be joining the ranks of primary gold producers as one of the lowest sustaining...Read More
The US Army Corps of Engineers has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), as required under the National Environmental Policy Act, for Northern Dynasty's (TSX: NDM; NYSE : NAK) Alaska Pebble project, one of the richest copper-gold deposits ever discovered.The DEIS is an important milestone and positive development for Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty, its subsidiary Pebble Limit...Read More
On Wednesday, hopes that an escalation of the trade war between the US and China can been avoided (or at least postponed) sparked a massive rally in mining stocks - already buoyed by climbing metals prices.US President Donald Trump said yesterday he may not increase tariffs on Chinese products on March 1, as talks about the trading relationship between the world's two largest economies continue in...Read More