Sellers in the United States' ferrous scrap market will likely enjoy a third consecutive price increase in January, with domestic steel mills continuing to strike post-market deals above December levels in order to secure enough material to cover their programs."Fundamentally, business isn't really that much better but the mills beat the prices down so hard that scrap just dried up. They basically...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have continued to bounce around the $28-per-hundredweight ($560-per-short-ton) level in a quiet pre-holiday spot market.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.96 per cwt ($559.20 per ton) on Tuesday December 10, down by 0.6% from $28.14 per cwt on December 9 but...Read More
Gold closed down as much as 1.21 percent Friday on a blowout jobs report that seemed to alleviate investor fears of an impending economic slowdown. The U.S. added as many as 266,000 jobs in November, beating expectations of 180,000, while the unemployment rate ticked down to a 50-year low of 3.5 percent.The yellow metal remains on sound footing, though, and over the next 12 to 24 months, I see i...Read More
"Smoot and Hawley ginned up The Tariff Act of 1930 to get America back to work after the Stock Market Crash of '29. Instead, it destroyed trade so effectively that by 1932, American exports to Europe were just a third of what they had been in 1929. World trade fell two-thirds as other nations retaliated. Jobs evaporated." Elaine Chao, American politician, U.S. Secretary of Transportation 2017-,...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold is near a seasonal bump to the upside. $1,459.80 would be a negative turn in short-term picture. Downside bias but swingline just below..Read More
Traders just booked profit in short positions in gold and silver. They are sitting on cash at the moment. News will be the key. Trade deal with China is not signed yet. I will not rule out further escalation of trade war with China as US economic numbers have beaten Chinese in November. Trump is at an advantage (with China) on the trade war in the short term. Trade war will be pain for every nat...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday December 10.Please click...Read More
Copper ended the Tuesday December 10 trading session on the London Metal Exchange at an intraday high and seven-month peak of $6,100 per tonne.And the three-month nickel price recovered some lost ground after falling by 3.5% this morning.The three-month copper price closed at its highest since May, climbing from an intraday low of $6,057 per tonne. Total volumes at the close were some 15,600 lots....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 10 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil were mostly stable during the week to December 10 amid continued gains in the Chinese domestic market.Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Code...Read More
Christopher Lewis7 hours ago (Dec 10, 2019 5:34 PM GMT)Gold markets trying to rally a bit during the trading session on Tuesday but could not sustain any meaningful gains. At this point, the market looks very likely to continue to struggle in general, as we have seen a bit of a grind lower over the last several months. This has been a gentle move lower, so that is one thing the buyers can take a b...Read More
Despite lingering oversupply and high levels of ore inventories at major Chinese ports, the low-grade seaborne manganese ore price in China registered a weekly rise of 12.1% on Friday December 6 after many Chinese buyers placed orders at higher-than-expected prices. Fastmarkets' manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin climbed by 40 cents week on week to $3.70 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu)...Read More
Copper ended the Tuesday December 10 trading session on the London Metal Exchange at an intraday high and seven-month peak of $6,100 per tonne.And the three-month nickel price recovered some lost ground after falling by 3.5% this morning.The three-month copper price closed at its highest since May, climbing from an intraday low of $6,057 per tonne. Total volumes at the close were some 15,600 lots....Read More
Iron ore seaborne prices eased a little on Tuesday December 10, but some market participants remained optimistic that steel mills' restocking will likely lend some support.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.57 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.66 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.48 per tonn...Read More
James Hyerczyk12 hours ago (Dec 10, 2019 12:40 PM GMT)Gold futures are edging higher on Tuesday, boosted by lower demand for risky assets. Treasury yields are also trading lower which is pushing down the U.S. Dollar, driving up demand for dollar-denominated gold. Worries over the looming U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that are supposed to kick in on December 15 is one catalyst underpinning gold. Th...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices edged up on Tuesday December 10 amid a strengthening market for the steelmaking raw material as well as that for coke in China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.25 per tonne, up $0.04 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $150.34 per tonne, up $1.34 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, up $1 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe edged higher on Tuesday December 10, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?433.08 ($479.14) per tonne on December 10, compared with ?,?432.75 per tonne on Monday.The index is based on deals for the material heard at ?,?430-435 per tonne ex-works, and workable prices...Read More
The approval of ?,?3.2 billion in subsidies by seven European Union members could generate a major mineral supply and processing chain to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in Europe. The decision, announced on Monday December 9 by the European Commission, effectively greenlights a major collaborative project designed to strengthen European battery production.This "Important Project of Common Europ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 10 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil were mostly stable during the week to December 10 amid continued gains in the Chinese domestic market.Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Code...Read More
The price for secondary aluminium alloy A380.1 rose on Monday December 9 following a month-long stasis, boosted by gains in the London Metal Exchange's North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) and firming scrap prices.Fastmarkets assessed the price for aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest, at 62-64 cents per lb on December 9, up from 61-63 cents per lb previously - a range tha...Read More
Certain smelter-grade aluminium scrap prices continued to see upward momentum at the start of the week amid spot buying activity - possibly driven by the upcoming holiday period - and supply-side tightness, but some sources said the increases may be short-lived."We continue to buy various items - not huge quantities, but loads from our regular suppliers... I heard there was a tightness in the scra...Read More