• Trades with modest losses for the second consecutive session. • Bulls fail to capitalize on the risk-off mood/subdued USD demand. • The Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony eyed for fresh impetus. Gold extended its steady decline from intraday highs, around the $1330 area, and is currently placed at the lower end of...Read More
Gold On Tuesday, the yellow metal pierced the support of the 200-hour SMA. With that the commodity price was signalling that it will decline. Gold has no technical support as low as the 1,315.00 mark. The metal might reach this level by the end of this week. However, take into account that round numbers on the gold price charts have shown resistance and support to the commodity. This ov...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Tuesday February 26, with positive trade rhetoric in US-China trade talks lending support to commodity investment, while US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signaled slower but strong US economic growth. Copper's three-month price continues to hold ground near the $6,500-per-tonne level against a backd...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Tuesday February 26, with copper, nickel and zinc futures holding gains amid a decline in Asian equities while ongoing US-China trade talks continue to indicate a potential trade resolution. Three-month copper futures continue to trade around $6,500 per tonne amid the continued removal of material, with on-warrant...Read More
Prices in the seaborne coking coal spot market remained supported on Tuesday February 26 with sellers not in a hurry to issue firm offers just yet."The port market has been doing well with prices moving strength to strength. This will rub off on the seaborne market too," a Chinese trading source said.At the Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, Hebei province, some 30,000 tonnes of a lower-ranked premium...Read More
Will the Chinese yuan replace the greenback?Will the Red Dragon replace America as a global hegemon?What would such a shift mean for the gold market?It's unimaginable what great progress China made in the last forty years. The rise of such economic power triggered many fears (or hopes) about the future international order. We invite you to read our today's article about the rivalry between China a...Read More
Australia-based Oz Minerals on Wednesday said its underlying annual profit slipped, but a better-than-expected performance at its Prominent Hill project was expected to drive future growth.The copper-focused miner posted a 1 percent drop in underlying net profit after tax to A$228.3 million ($159.77 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, compared to A$231.1 million year ago, falling just shy of an A...Read More
Last year it was the Democratic Republic of Congo. This year it is Zambia.Both African countries have driven through draconian changes to their mineral tax regimes, overcoming the entrenched opposition of some of the world's biggest mining houses.Both are betting that the world's need for their resources, particularly copper and cobalt, will keep the tax receipts flowing.Right now, however, the pu...Read More
The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), a London-based industry group representing 27 major companies, said Tuesday it would set an independent panel of experts in charge of developing a global standard for tailings facilities to be followed by its members.The set of rules, it said, will be based on a review of current best practices in the industry, including key aspects such as a...Read More
The British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources announced this week it will now have two expanded mining divisions: the Mines Health, Safety and Enforcement Division and the Mines Competitiveness and Authorizations Division.The Canadian province is resource-rich, and home to Vancouver, the mining junior capital of the world.In a press release, the Ministry said that the new...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued holding back from the deep-sea scrap markets on Tuesday February 26 because of the weak demand for their finished steel products in the country's domestic and export markets.The steel producers in the country went quiet at the end of last week after booking a Baltic Sea cargo, which sent prices down by $20 per tonne week on week."Turkish producers are not in very...Read More
Lithium producer share price weakness is a reflection of the supply response that started in 2018, head of base metals and battery materials research William Adams said.Lithium producers' share prices have generally been under pressure since late 2017. In the chart below, producers' share prices are up 15% on average from their 52-week low price. We see this as a reflection of the supply response...Read More
The process to resume full production at Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil has hit a further setback, after an accident with an iron ore tailings dam at a mine from Vale prompted a round of inspections throughout the country, sources told Fastmarkets. Market participants do not expect the Brazilian refinery to resume normal operations anytime soon. Traders and producers initially expecte...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Tuesday February 26, with copper, nickel and zinc futures holding gains amid a decline in Asian equities while ongoing US-China trade talks continue to indicate a potential trade resolution. Three-month copper futures continue to trade around $6,500 per tonne amid the continued removal of material, with on-warrant...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday February 26* Copper -$186.61 (-1,253.04 yuan) Aluminium -$332.74 (-2,234.26 yuan) Zinc -$120.26 (-807.52 yuan) Nickel -$313.42 (-2,104.55 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
After recent strong performances by the base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, most prices started to consolidate at the beginning of the week and are down an average of 0.3% this morning, Tuesday February 26.Copper and tin prices have been the strongest on the upside in recent weeks, with warrant cancellations in copper tightening up liquidity on the LME copper contract, while further s...Read More
Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during morning trading on Tuesday February 26, with nickel leading the complex lower.The weakness in the base metals follows strong gains on Monday after the market reacted positively to the news that US President Donald Trump had postponed a planned increase in tariffs on Chinese goods due to progress made in US-China trade talks.B...Read More
Botswana has offered to lend Zimbabwe $600 million to support its diamond industry and local private firms, a state-owned newspaper reported on Tuesday, amid a severe dollar crunch in the southern African nation.There are few signs the flow of foreign currency is improving in Zimbabwe after it ditched a discredited 1:1 dollar peg for its dollar-surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars, merging...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) has launched aservice for linking polished gemstones to their original rough, it saidTuesday. GemTrack creates a fingerprint that documents the stone'sjourney from mine to market, based on analyses of the stone's crystallographic,structural, chemical and microscopic features. "Given the growing demand for provenance and traceability inour i...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 26 that are worth another look.Lithium producer share price weakness is a reflection of the supply response that started in 2018, head of base metals and battery materials research William Adams said. While the supply side is weighing on sentiment, the demand side of the equation remains extremely bullish - and inc...Read More