The prices for nickel and copper were the poorest performers in trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday March 14, Fastmarkets has heard.Weaker data on China's industry drove the LME three-month nickel price down by 2.2% to $13,185 per tonne at the close of trading."The January-February combined data on Chinese industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment failed to provid...Read More
Stocks extended their uptrend on Wednesday, as investors' sentiment remained bullish following the recent advances. The S&P 500 index was the highest since the early October yesterday. But will the rally continue despite some short-term technical overbought conditions?The U.S. stock market indexes gained 0.6-0.7% on Wednesday, as investors' sentiment remained bullish. The S&P 500 index ret...Read More
The United States copper market failed to hold onto previous gains during morning trading on Thursday March 14, with weaker-than-expected Chinese data capping the base metals space.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.30 cents to $2.8925 per lb. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at around 10am Shangha...Read More
Investing.com - Gold prices fell on Thursday in Asia even after China reported weaker-than-expected industrial output data.Gold Futures for April delivery were down 0.5%, at $1,303.35 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange by 1:11 AM ET (05:11 GMT). The precious metal remained above the key $1,300 level after hitting a near two-week peak of $1,309.60 on Wednesday.China...Read More
Iron ore prices jumped on Thursday March 14 amid a positive destocking of steel products in China and signs of loosening restrictions on steelmaking operations.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.26 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.38 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $89.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.80...Read More
The Indian government's plans of hitting 300 million tonnes of steel capacity by 2030 sounds overambitious in the current scenario given that output only managed to reach the 101 million tonne mark in 2017 - indicating three-fold (Read More
In a once rare property crime now trending higher around the world, thieves are stealing precious metals from automobiles. These opportunistic criminals don’t bother rummaging through glove compartments in the hope of finding stashed jewelry or gold coins. Instead, they go for the near certain score of exposed catalytic converters. A car’s catalytic converter is attached to its exhaust...Read More
After suffering for some seven years through to 2015, the world's steelmakers have had cause for cheer over the past couple of years. After some heavy losses and write-downs, they finally appear to have emerged from the wreckage of the global financial crisis. An economic upswing has taken root in most regions of the world, Chinese steel output and export growth has slowed noticeably, and steel pr...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
B.C.'s biggest mining mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in 2018 doubled in value to $9.5 billion compared with $4.6 billion in 2017, which was the second-lowest-valued year for M&As since 2013.Despite the impressive growth in 2018, the annual value of B.C.'s mining M&As still has a long way to go to reach the 2015 high of $10.4 billion. In recent years, the average mining M&A deal value has grown fa...Read More
On March 14 the Mining Association of Canada released the latest edition of its annual Facts & Figures report that provides a comprehensive overview of the trends affecting Canada's mining sector. It contains the unwanted truth that this country's competitiveness continues to erode.Canada is losing its ability to seize new opportunities for growth and it is essential the federal and provincial gov...Read More
Miner Anglo American on Thursday completed the installation of a floating island of solar panels in a tailings pond associated with its flagship Los Bronces copper mine outside the Chilean capital of Santiago, a bid to boost efficiency at the deposit.The 256 panels, tethered to the bottom of the artificial lagoon to ensure proper orientation even in strong winds and changing water levels, have the...Read More
Southern Copper Corp, one of the world's biggest copper producers, is considering an investment in a lithium project in Mexico that has also attracted interest from a Chinese firm, the company's chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday.Oscar Gonzalez said company officials visited the lithium project in the state of Sonora, Mexico, although he could not recall the name of the Canadian miner he sa...Read More
Backers of Freepoint Commodities have given the merchant trader approval to make further long-term investments in copper assets, the firm's commodities strategist, David Wilson, said at the International Copper conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday March 13. "Internally I can see that there is more appetite for us to invest in copper assets as well as trading. There's definitely a change in sentime...Read More
Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday it had completed a joint deal with the Russia-China Investment fund and a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to acquire a 9.53 stake in Russian mining company Intergeo.Intergeo, a part of Onexim Group, which manages the assets of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, is developing its Kingash deposit in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region and Ak-Sug...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their bookings of deep-sea scrap cargoes with prices remaining stable, sources said on Thursday March 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $317 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $331 per tonne cfr.The same mill...Read More
Gold futures scored a second straight gain on Wednesday, with a climb above $1,300 an ounce sending prices to their highest settlement month to date. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan faces a fresh vote late in the session after a revised deal was rejected on Tuesday. Fears of a disorderly exit by the U.K. from the European Union before the March 29 deadline to formally leave Europe's...Read More