Shanghai copper cathode premiums dropped to a six-month low in the week ended Tuesday 17, while in Europe spot interest was muted as market participants eyed lower annual premiums for 2020 and in the Unites States the market remained flat amid poor demand.Shanghai deliverable premium assessments at six-month low EQ premiums trading lower in Shanghai Some sellers start to offer annual premiums in E...Read More

"Although global coal demand continues its decade of stagnation at an average growth of 0.Read More

While current leaders in surface and underground mining equipment, and rock milling, are facing "the potential challenge of a structurally shrinking aftermarket" that is vital to all major players,Read More

Pueblo Viejo entered into a 10-year supply agreement with AES Andrés DR, SA, in May 2018, to provide natural gas and build a gas pipeline from the AES gas terminal to the Quisqueya I power plant for the mine. This was also expected to benefit the San Pedro region which had not previously had access to this cleaner fuel alternative, the company said.Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said it and 40% p...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More

By: Avi Gilburt, ElliottWaveTraderI know that many investors follow correlations as if they were gospel. But, do they really understand what a correlation represents?You see, markets are not linear in nature. While two different markets may be traveling in the same direction for a period of time, unless you understand each chart on its own, how will you ever know when a seeming correlation will...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold bias remains still to the downside. Daily gold chart shows drifting sideways for a very long time:Read More

Gold will break free from $1470-$1490 trading range and form a new range. Silver will break free from $1660-$1750 and form a new range. Copper and crude oil need to trade over current price to be in bullish zone. Trump and his impeachment related news and the US political drama needs to be closely watched. Do not ignore economics. 2019 will go down as the year where voters have given a larger th...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 18.Key driversThe price range of alloy has narrowed over the past week, with the low end moving up as sources reported deals done towards the upper end and with previous lows disappearing.Producers and traders are preparing for renewed demand in January in expectation of consumers in the steel sector and other usage areas.T...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 18.Key driversThe price range of alloy has narrowed over the past week, with the low end moving up as sources reported deals done towards the upper end and with previous lows disappearing.Producers and traders are preparing for renewed demand in January in expectation of consumers in the steel sector and other usage areas.T...Read More

Indonesian ferrous scrap demand should continue to grow in 2020 despite the new rules imposed by authorities."The new regulations should be smoothed out over the next couple of months and containerized scrap shipments should resume within the first half of the year," Hoffman Iron & Steel chief executive Phil Hoffman told Fastmarkets.He was referring to the new regulations enacted by the Indonesian...Read More

Broader markets are generally weaker this morning, Wednesday December 18, with equities in Asia mainly lower, metals mixed and havens little changed.In Europe, fear that a hard Brexit has not vanished is weighing on sentiment, especially in sterling, while a lack of detail on the United States-China trade deal has made it difficult for markets to see further follow-through buying. Equities in Asia...Read More

Consumers of batteries are seeking more price transparency in the lithium market, Albemarle said, while predicting the market will move to undersupply by the middle of the next decade. Lithium producer Albemarle said part of its customer base is "pressing for more visibility" on pricing and is looking to move away from fixed long-term contract pricing. "Auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)...Read More

European producers of heavy steel plate have increased domestic prices further this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 18.Transaction prices are expected to rise, supported by combination of higher slab costs for re-rollers, some recovery in demand due to re-stocking activity and a positive mood in the EU coil market, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for&nbs...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept their offers high on Wednesday December 18 despite sliding domestic prices amid a limited supply of cheaper goods from other parts of the world in the international market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,880 yuan ($553-554) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices...Read More

Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil rose over the past week with steelmakers increasing their offers in response to a strengthening domestic market.Sources told Fastmarkets that a stronger Chinese yuan had also encouraged exporters to raise their offers to make up for any shortfall from selling in dollars. The exchange rate was 6.9969 yuan to $1 on Wednesday D...Read More

Domestic wire rod prices in the United States have continued on a slow and steady climb following recent mill increases, although activity remains muted headed into the end of the year, sources said. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US rose to $29.25-30.25 per hundredweight ($585-605 per short ton) on Tuesday December 17, up by 0.8% from $2...Read More

European distributors of flat steel products reported a 3.6% year-on-year drop in shipment volumes in January-October 2019, Eurometal said this week.And multi-product distributor shipments in the region fell by 4.8% year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year, Eurometal said, with declines reported for most products and only rebar registering an...Read More

Gary ChristensonThe official US national debt in 1913 was $2.91 billion. In 1971, when President Nixon lied about temporarily disconnecting gold from the dollar, the official national debt was $398 billion.By 2019 the official national debt has grown to $23,000 billion.Politicians borrow and spend to reward cronies and buy votes. They also increase their personal wealth. Human nature changes slo...Read More

By: Robert LambourneTuesday, December 17, 2019In the past two months the Bank for International Settlements, which represents most central banks in the world, has nearly doubled its gold swaps and derivatives position, the bank's October and November statements of account show.The BIS uses gold swaps and other gold derivatives to gain access to gold held by commercial banks. As of November 30 th...Read More