Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 25 that are worth another look.The United States' non-ferrous scrap export market was mixed through May, with year-to-date shipments of aluminium scrap rising while those of copper scrap fell versus the same period last year. Even after US President Donald Trump reduced the Section 232 tariff applied to US imports of Turki...Read More
Each asset class performs better than others only for a duration.It is timely to denominate all our financial assets in gold instead of currencies.Many reasons behind gold's ascent since last August are strengthening.Miners enjoy improved profitability because of rising gold prices.Hypothesis: Data processing can transform the complex data set to a format in charts that are easier to view and unde...Read More
The dream of building a new world-class copper-gold mine in Pakistan in an area bordering Afghanistan and Iran has been dashed, for now at least. The saga of Tethyan Copper Co's (TCC) efforts to develop the Reko Diq mine found resolution last week with an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruling in favor of TCC following a dispute that has rumbled on for years.TCC,...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has just finished its trial to calculate nickel prices using a volume weighted average price (VWAP) method on the exchange's electronic trading platform. If early indications are anything to go by, metals market participants did not embrace this method of price discovery in the way some had anticipated. For three months since Monday March 18, closing prices for nickel car...Read More
The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect. His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More
In June 2019, the HUI stood at 145 and since then has managed to regain some of its value by rallying to 210 for a gain of 45% in less than 2 months.The European Central Bank will 'talk' rate cuts and possibly implement one when they meet this Thursday, July 25, 2019.Keeping the bigger picture in mind, there is the constant shadow of yet another head fake which will deter some investors.Gold and S...Read More
Gold is threatening to break out out of its lateral trading range again.A rally while the dollar is strong is not ideal for gold's long-term health.Evidence shows that increased fear is the driving force behind gold.For the second time this year we're seeing a market condition in which the gold price is being driven almost exclusively by fear. And while this condition can be quite profitable f...Read More
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange continued its descent at the close of trading on Thursday July 25, falling by some 3.4% to close just above the $14,000 per tonne threshold, while lead futures climbed by 1.5% to breach nearby resistance levels.Three-month nickel futures closed at $14,075 per tonne in the afternoon, tumbling from an intraday high of $14,545 per tonne des...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has launched a consultation process on warehousing reforms that aims to attract higher stock levels, Matthew Chamberlain, LME chief executive, announced on Thursday July 25. The consultation began on Thursday and is open until September 2019. It includes changes to evergreen rent deals and the controversial queue-based rent capping (QBRC) rule as well as the introduction...Read More
Prices for seaborne cargoes of premium hard coking coal tumbled on Thursday July 25, with pervading pessimism taking hold of this segment of the market.An August-loading cargo of premium low-vol hard coking coal was traded at $185.50 per tonne cfr China during the day, sources said. This sent the Fastmarkets index for premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang to $184.16 per tonne, down $5.62 per tonn...Read More
Precious metals investors are once again excited about silver, but where is the silver price going? Here's where price could be going...by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportPrecious metals investors are once again excited about silver as the price has shot up 10% in the past month. Not only has silver experienced some nice gains in July, but it has also broken out above its multi-year Symmetrica...Read More
The global molybdenum market continued to move up in the first half of the week starting on July 22 amid increased spot activity in Asia, with the European market following it higher.Fastmarkets assessed the price of drummed molybdic oxide, in-warehouse Busan, at $11.90-12.10 per lb on Wednesday July 24, up from $11.75-11.85 per kg the previous week.Strong demand from the steel market in Asia incr...Read More
Canadian minor metals and specialty chemicals producer 5N Plus has "significantly" reduced the production of bismuth at its refining and recycling facilities and will increase procurement of the material due to low metal prices, the company said on Monday July 22. Until now, 5N Plus has relied on process technologies to extract bismuth from the various residues and secondary streams in its refinin...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 25 that are worth another look.The United States' non-ferrous scrap export market was mixed through May, with year-to-date shipments of aluminium scrap rising while those of copper scrap fell versus the same period last year. Even after US President Donald Trump reduced the Section 232 tariff applied to US imports of Turki...Read More
Warrant traders dealing in zinc have reported a steady uptick in the metal's warrant premium levels over July, while an easing in the metal's cash/three-month spread suggests that there are more supportive financing conditions, although market participants remain reluctant to commit to purchases.So far in July, Fastmarkets' assessment of the zinc SHG min 99.995% warrant premium, in-whs North Europ...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has launched a consultation process on warehousing reforms that aims to attract higher stock levels, Matthew Chamberlain, LME chief executive, announced on Thursday July 25. The consultation began on Thursday and is open until September 2019. It includes changes to evergreen rent deals and the controversial queue-based rent capping (QBRC) rule as well as the introduction...Read More
A summary of Teck's production results for the first half year ended June 30, 2019, as well as its production guidance for 2019. The company's second-quarter zinc production declined by 4,000 tonnes year on year to 184,000 tonnes in the second quarter due to lower zinc grades in Antamina, while the Red Dog mine performed well over the quarter with zinc production at 158,000 tonnes and lead product...Read More
A summary of Eramet's production results for the first half of 2019. In brief Eramet hit new production records for nickel ore, manganese ores and alloys during the first half of 2019 though the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) declined to ?,?307 million ($342 million) over the period, attributed to weak performance across the metals and mining...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday July 25, selling off by some 3.8% across European trading hours against weak economic data from the region. The metal's three-month price fell to an intra-morning low of $13,995 per tonne in this morning's session, down by just under 4% from Wednesday's closing price of $14,550 per tonne. The...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia picked up some strength over the past week after a fire broke out at the Indonesia subsidiary of Chinese stainless steelmaker Tsingshan Holding Group, which has been supplying cargoes - often at a discount - to the region.The weekly Fastmarkets import price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil, Asia grade 304 (2mm 2B), cif East Asian port w...Read More