By: Gary SavageAnother secular bull market in gold underway. Long basing phase is over, lots of volatility back and forth.. 7 minute long video with long-term gold chart view.https://blog.smartmoneytrackerpremium.com/Read More

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't." Erica Jong, American novelist, satirist, poet; b. 1942 "To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven." Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, poet, lecturer, philosopher; 1803-1882 "The task of beating the market is not difficult. It is the job of beating ourselves that proves overwhelming." Martin P...Read More

StrengthsThe best performing metal this week was palladium, up 6.48 percent, notching its best weekly advance since June. While global car sales are weak, loadings for their catalytic converters are going up with regulatory requirements. Gold traders and analysts were spilt on their outlook for the yellow metal next week after this week saw big price swings due to U.S.-Iran tensions escalati...Read More

Clive MaundIt has been a week of surprises since the last updates were posted. First, I had not expected Iran to retaliate following the murder of its top General by a US drone, but it did, despite the risks, as it was politically necessary to assuage the extreme anger of its population who demanded revenge. The next surprise was that Israel and the US did not use this retaliation as an excuse t...Read More

Seaborne manganese ore prices in China moved in opposing directions for different grades in the week ending Friday January 10, with low-grade ore showing further minor rises, while high-grade ore softened amid falls in portside prices.Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, climbed week on week to $4.18 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on January 10, up by 5 cents per dmtu.The corres...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ended January 10. US Key drivers  Weak spot demand in the United States continued to weigh on the grade 5-5-3 delivered price, which fell to $0.91-94 per lb. The monthly spot price had fleetingly stabilized in November at $0.96-1.02 per lb.  Buyers remain well supplied with annual contract material pric...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 13 that are worth another look.Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week.International auditing and advisory...Read More

A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More

If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More

Most major aluminium producers agree that tackling the carbon intensity of the smelting process is one of the biggest challenges facing their industry. What they cannot agree on is how to deal with the situation, as a lively panel hosted by Fastmarkets during LME Week at the end of October showed. Aluminium smelting is an energy-intensive business and the market is starting to differentiate b...Read More

China may continue importing steel billet after the Chinese New Year holiday (January 25-30) due to the expected pick-up in seasonal downstream demand and prices post-holiday, market sources told Fastmarkets.China was not heard to have imported any steel billet in January due to the holiday lull in the domestic markets. Quiet JanuaryCurrent billet import offers are around $450 per tonne cfr China...Read More

Despite uncertainty surrounding downstream demand, the price of cobalt sulfate in China has jumped by more than 12% so far this year, with suppliers either offering the material at aggressively high levels or holding back from sales.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China was 49,000-51,000 yuan ($7,080-7,369) per tonne on Friday January 10, up by 5,000-6,000 yuan...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday January 13, settling at a nine-month high against moderate volumes traded, while aluminium futures stagnated despite tumbling exchange stocks.Copper's underlying price on the LME closed at $6,290 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its highest settlement price since April 2019, while its daily trading...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange improved during morning trading on Monday January 13, with upward momentum supported by a fresh cancelation of some 4,434 tonnes, while continued outflows did little to move a steady aluminium price. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen up by 0.5% at $14,295 per tonne, while trading volumes topped the complex over the mornin...Read More

Silver's open interest is rising and within 10,000 contracts of its record high...submitted by J. JohnsonGreat and Wonderful Monday Morning Folks, Gold is trading at $1,554.40, down $5.70 after being dipped to $1,547.00 with the starting point high at $1,563.10. Silver is down 8 cents at $18.025 after going below the Maginot line again hitting $17.940 before it recovered with the high at...Read More

Operations at Australia's Curragh coal mine have been suspended following a fatal accident over the weekend, the miner said on Monday January 13. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $155.26 per tonne, up $1.73 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.87 per tonne, up $2.77 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $125.01 per tonne, up $2.68 per tonneHard...Read More

Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More

The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More

Northern European flat steel producers increased their official hot-rolled coil offer prices on Monday January 13 and transaction prices are also expected to rise, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?442.93 ($492.35) per tonne on Monday January 13, up from ?,?442.43 per tonne on January 10.Monday's index was calcul...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases on Monday January 13, due to weak rebar markets and firm scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Steelmakers in the country booked only one deep-sea cargo last week, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 10,000 tonnes of shredded and 15,000 tonnes of bonus...Read More