Yesterday we said if the cartel could smash, they would smash. Some might call it a flash-sale, however, which could end at any moment...(Silver Doctors Editors) As stated in yesterday's outlook, the next two weeks could see some random smashes on price here and there.On Tuesday morning, it seems the cartel is wasting no time.The selling was heavy into the COMEX open:Gold is holding up slightly b...Read More
Silver could drop to support in the $16 area without doing any significant technical damage...by Clive Maund via StreetwiseTechnical analyst Clive Maund charts silver and predicts a small drop in the price of the metal.If gold is looking set to react back over the short to medium term, which it does, then it implies that silver, which is weaker at this stage in the cycle, is set to react back too....Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Tuesday January 21, settling at its lowest price since December 10 against moderate turnover, while a fresh inflow of some 40,000 tonnes pushed copper futures lower.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,665 per tonne in the afternoon, settling at its lowest level for more than a month, while t...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have jumped, with support coming from good order books at mills, solid demand and a lack of competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday January 21.Fastmarkets' daily steel HRC index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, rose by ?,?13.93 per tonne day on day to ?,?463.41 ($513.95) per tonne on Tuesday, from ?,?449.48 per tonne....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday January 21 that are worth another look.China's hot-rolled coil market was quiet on January 21, with producers suspending their operations before the Chinese New Year, while concerns have emerged over post-holiday demand due to the spread of a mysterious respiratory virus that has claimed several lives.SolGold chief executive off...Read More
Beginning in 2020, Fastmarkets will review its pricing methodologies and price specifications across all its Price Reporting Agency (PRA) divisions - Metals & Mining and Forest Products - on an annual basis rather than twice per year. The decision is in line with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for PRAs, which sets out global standards for orderly and fa...Read More
Zinc and lead smelter Nyrstar has appointed Simon Dent, a longtime sales manager and trader, as its new head of commercial as of January 2020.The role will see Dent leading a commercial team that is responsible for all acid and byproduct...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell over 1.5% during morning trading on Tuesday January 21, declining below nearby support at the $6,200-per-tonne level, while nickel futures similarly weakened. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently at $6,152 per tonne, a 1.7% drop since yesterday's close and more than $100 per tonne against high turnover. A fresh inf...Read More
Profit-taking ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and nervousness over the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China have led to the market becoming more risk-off this morning, Tuesday January 21.Asian equities are weaker, led by a 2.7% decline in the Hang Seng.Hong Kong's credit rating was cut one position to Aa3 by ratings agency Moody's for its handling of the unrest in the country.Base metalsThre...Read More
With the exception of those for tin, base metals prices on Shanghai Futures Exchange were down at the close of morning trading on Tuesday January 21, with investor sentiment dampened after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global growth forecasts for this year and the next.The IMF on Monday downgraded its forecast for global economic growth in 2020 to 3.3%, down from its previous e...Read More
Recent mill price hikes have continued to drive up high-carbon wire rod prices in the United States, while rising ferrous scrap costs have boosted cold-heading quality (CHQ) wire rod prices.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel wire rod (high carbon), fob mill US, rose to $35 per hundredweight on Friday December 20, up 2.9% from $34 per cwt one month earlier.Over the same pricing period, Fastmarkets'...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas has announced a 10% average price increase for all flat-rolled products effective from March, the president of national steel distributors' association Inda, Carlos Loureiro, said on Tuesday January 21.A mismatch between current global and domestic prices, coupled with the rising cost of slab purchases, would justify the rise, Loureiro said in an announcement on Monda...Read More
Sales volumes from Brazilian flat steel distributors rose by 34.2% in December over the corresponding month in 2018, while purchases increased by 47.9% on the same basis of comparison, distributor association Inda said on Tuesday January 21.Sales in December totaled 253,200 tonnes, against 188,600 tonnes the year before, amid unusually high activity at the year-end, Inda data showed. Purchases cam...Read More
Hot-rolled coil export prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stabilized this week, with suppliers and buyers agreeing on a "workable price level", sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea was $475-490 per tonne on Monday January 20, unchanged week on week.Ukraine-origin HRC was sold to Turkey at $490-495 p...Read More
A thaw in trade relations between the United States and China is lending broad support to commodity prices, with the yuan strengthening against the dollar.The Chinese currency was trading at 6.87 yuan to $1 on Tuesday January 21, down by 1.6% from a month earlier, and down by 3.8% from a peak reached in September 2019.The strength of the yuan against the dollar has been a barometer for US-China tr...Read More
RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds reported the first annual profit in its history, as sales grew amid increased production and a higher average price, the miner said Tuesday.The improvement was the result of a new initiative the miner implemented at its Kareevlei deposit in South Africa to stabilize production and offset the impact of the rainy season, during which operations are difficult.Revenu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa's unusual diamond-within-a-diamond formed when material partially dissolved over millions or billions of years, according to a report by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).The GIA's team, which examined the stone at its New York lab, found that over time, approximately 0.11 carats of diamond disappeared through two small channels that extended from the surface of th...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales increased 4.1% during the recent holiday season amid steady consumer confidence, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.Total sales for the November-to-December period were $730.2 billion, according to the NRF, which bases its numbers on figures from the US Census Bureau. That total came in at the higher end of the NRF's forecast of $727.9 billion to $730.7...Read More
RAPAPORT... Luk Fook plans to scale back its Hong Kong store network and expand in mainland China and Macau, as events in the region have influenced consumer spending.The retailer expects a "single-digit" decrease in the number of rental leases it renews in Hong Kong in the current financial year ending March 31, and a "double-digit" drop the following year, it said Thursday. That comes after...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Holiday retail sales grew 4.1 percent year-over-year to $730.2 billion, reported the National Retail Federation (NRF). This result is in line with the NRF's October forecast that sales would rise between 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent for a total of between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion.That forecast also called for online sales to increase between 11 percent and 14 percent t...Read More