Christopher Lewis7 hours ago (Nov 08, 2019 5:23 PM GMT)Gold markets have broken down rather significantly during the week, slicing well below the $1500 level. This is a very negative sign, but when you look at the weekly chart, you can see that we are still technically and a bullish flag. Quite frankly, this market needs to save itself rather quickly or it’s going to be serious trouble. The...Read More
BAR has remained resilient since the Fed pushed the "easing pause" button on October 30.This is principally because the market was not convinced that this rate cut would be the last. Our "buy on the dips" strategy was therefore not deployed.Although we contend that gold's spec positioning looks stretched on the long side, there are other offsetting buying forces in the gold market, which should pu...Read More
Earnings season has kicked off for the gold miners, with about one third of the index reporting thus far.Early results aren't terribly encouraging, with mixed results across most of the group.Most of the big names are still left to report, but investors will want to see more traction from the majors.It's been a busy couple of weeks for investors in the metals markets, with the second last Fed...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange staged a modest recovery at the close of trading on Friday November 8, settling back above nearby resistance after slipping below key resistance levels, while tin futures topped the gains with a 1% climb.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16.190 per tonne on Friday afternoon, climbing more than 2% from an intraday low of $15,845...Read More
The fob Australia alumina price retreated to $280 per tonne on Friday November 8 because of reduced liquidity and continued poor downstream demand.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $280.80 per tonne on Friday, down from $282.12 per tonne on the previous day. The index hit a four-week high of $285.42 per tonne on October 31.Key drivers A deal for 30,000 tonn...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices regained some losses on Friday November 8, narrowing the weekly pace of decline slightly.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.24 per tonne, up $0.67 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $146.12 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.70 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134 per tonne, unchangedLow-vol PC...Read More
SD Friday Wrap: Is it Black Friday already? Because silver's really looking like it's having an epic doorbuster sale today...Last Friday I said the world was descending into madness.The world is descending into madness:Nothing has changed.In the markets, however?Newfound optimism.Total Euphoria.But don't take 'Ol Half Dollar's word for it, see for yourself:That's eight Trump Tweets about the recor...Read More
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSCoins, bars & rounds, oh my! Investing in gold & silver is very rewarding, but sometimes it's hard to know what kind of gold or silver to invest in...(Silver Doctors Editors) Coins, bars & rounds, oh my! Investing in gold & silver is rewarding in so many ways, but sometimes it's hard to know what kind...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK moved up by ?5 ($6) per tonne in the week ended Friday November 8, repeating the increase by a similar amount the week before, on steady domestic demand and higher European export prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?70-90 ($90-116) per tonne on F...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange staged a modest recovery at the close of trading on Friday November 8, settling back above nearby resistance after slipping below key resistance levels, while tin futures topped the gains with a 1% climb.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16.190 per tonne on Friday afternoon, climbing more than 2% from an intraday low of $15,845...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Due to a reporter error, Fastmarkets' copper concentrates TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific was published incorrectly on Friday November 8. The index was incorrectly published as $55.20 per tonne / 5.52 cents per lb. It should have been $55 per tonne / 5.5 cents per lb. Fastmarkets' price book and database have been updated to reflect this correction. For details of copper concentrate index and o...Read More
The fob Australia alumina price retreated to $280 per tonne on Friday November 8 because of reduced liquidity and continued poor downstream demand.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $280.80 per tonne on Friday, down from $282.12 per tonne on the previous day. The index hit a four-week high of $285.42 per tonne on October 31.Key drivers A deal for 30,000 tonn...Read More
Noranda Income Fund (NIF) is assessing the impact of a decline in the quality of global zinc concentrates on its facilities and what capital investments might be required to deal with it, the company said. NIF, which owns the Canadian Electrolytic Zinc (CEZ) facility in the Canadian province of Quebec, said a rise in the level of impurities contained in zinc concentrates increased the level of res...Read More
ICBC Standard Bank plans to close down its base metals trading unit in the first half of 2020 amid unfavorable market conditions, the bank said on Friday November 8. "Like any prudent business, we are addressing our cost base and are taking measures against a backdrop of continuing unfavorable market conditions to ensure a position of long-term, sustainable strength," a spokesperson for ICBC Stand...Read More
Lead stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were the biggest gainer in percentage terms in the week to Friday November 8. Lead inventory rose by 34.7% week on week to 28,850 tonnes. Warehouses operated by Zhejiang Tianchuan in Zhejiang province and Zhongchu Lutong in Tianjin registered the largest inflows, increasing by 3,876 tonnes...Read More
Indian producers of hot-rolled coil increased their export prices for the commodity by $10-15 per tonne in the week ended Friday November 8, with some mills claiming to have their order books full for the current calendar year.The price of steel HRC (commodity), export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $415-425 per tonne on Friday, an increase of $10-15 per tonne compared with l...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), increased in the week to Friday November 8, despite demand remaining weak, sources told Fastmarkets.The rise in raw materials prices is the reason for the higher steel prices, they added.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cf...Read More
CIS billet producers continued to insist on the prices that were offered to foreign customers earlier this month for December-rolling material, despite the lack of trading activity this week, Fastmarkets learnt on Friday November 8.The material was available mainly from Russian mills for around $380 per tonne fob.Meanwhile, most Ukrainian mills were absent from the market. Three mills - Dneprovski...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely stable over the past seven days, but mills expect to increase their offer prices next week in response to rising scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 8.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 1,950-1,970 zloty ($506-511) per tonne on November 8, compared with 1,950-1,970...Read More