A 10% month-on-month drop in Shanghai-bonded copper stocks in July has been more than offset by climbing exchange stocks, which have dampened any supportive effect on copper prices in China. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks fell to an eight-month low in July, reflecting much less refined copper imports so far this year. Nonetheless, increasing copper stocks in London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futur...Read More

Multi-year lows in smelting income have sharply reduced China's production of intermediate copper products, which are primary smelting products and feed to produce copper cathodes, forcing dozens of domestic refineries to search for these materials overseas. "I have got inquiries for blister copper from eight refineries in just a week. I haven't seen anything like that before. It's such a shame th...Read More

Zinc was lower at the close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday August 1, falling by some 1.3%, although nickel eked out some gains above $14,500 per tonne. Zinc and lead futures were the day's underperformers, closing at $2,404 per tonne while and below resistance at $2,000 per tonne respectively. The zinc-lead price differential, or switch, continues to narrow from earlier this y...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday August 1, tracking a downtrend in the futures market.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.68 per tonne, down $1.47 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $114.18 per tonne, down $1.47 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.88 per tonne, d...Read More

Stainless steel prices in East Asia declined over the past week with demand remaining sluggish after producers raised their offers in response to a strengthening nickel market.For instance, Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco) and Tang Eng Iron Works - two major mills in Taiwan - announced at the end of July that they would increase their offers for grade 304 stainless hot-rolled and cold-rolled product...Read More

Gold prices have traded sideways in recent days, driven by a "wait and see" approach among market participants.The risk of speculative profit-taking in Comex gold is elevated at this juncture.But central bank and ETF gold buying should remain buoyant in H2 2019.BAR: While weakness cannot be ruled out early in August, we think that BAR will post a monthly gain in August - our target is at $14.55 pe...Read More

Are we at increased risk for a short-term sell-off, or is a short squeeze coming? Here's the outlook for silver in the month of August...by Chris Marcus via Arcadia EconomicsDisclaimer: This report contains strategies that could be risky for certain investors and is presented as research for further investigation. As always, you are trading and committing capital at your own riskCurrent Silver Mar...Read More

This one simple reason may explain why silver was steadily "sold" overnight and into this morning...UPDATE: This post was originally titled "Opportunity Knocks: Smart Money Investors Look To 'Buy The Dip' As Silver Price Falls To $15".Is this post already out of date?Here are gold & silver's intra-day charts, at 2:24 p.m. EST:Why is this happening?In my opinion, the cartel knew the Tweet was comi...Read More

For central banks, gold is now equivalent to cash.European Central Banks end their gold selling agreements after 20 years, a bullish sign towards the acquisition of more gold.European financial regulators are also defining gold as equivalent to cash in their currency control framework.While they will never publicly admit it, their actions recognize gold as money. They just won't let the people...Read More

With today being the last trading day of July, it's a good time to consider seasonal trading ideas for August. Fortunately, traders don't have to veer into the unfamiliar in search of exchange traded funds with solid August track records. The SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +2.40%, the world's largest gold-backed exchange traded fund, is up 11.32% year to date and 1.34% this month, gains that could be exte...Read More

A summary of ArcelorMittal's financial results for the second quarter of 2019.In briefSecond-quarter earnings dropped due to combination of declining steel prices and higher raw material costs, the world's largest steelmaker said on Thursday August 1.Fastmarkets' price assessment of steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe averaged ?,?492.69 ($548.34) per tonne in the second quarter of 2019...Read More

A 10% month-on-month drop in Shanghai-bonded copper stocks in July has been more than offset by climbing exchange stocks, which have dampened any supportive effect on copper prices in China. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks fell to an eight-month low in July, reflecting much less refined copper imports so far this year. Nonetheless, increasing copper stocks in London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futur...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 1 that are worth another look.Multi-year lows in smelting income have sharply reduced China's production of intermediate copper products, which are primary smelting products and feed to produce copper cathodes, forcing dozens of domestic refineries to search for these materials overseas. Zinc was lower at the close...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has reintroduced its reciprocal membership arrangement (RMA) with Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX), waiving both annual subscriptions and processing fees for new applicants that already hold a membership in either of the exchanges.The scheme was first introduced in November 2014, intended to encourage participation across both exchanges. The RMA period initially last...Read More

Key data from the August 1 pricing session in London and Shanghai. Fastmarkets' benchmark alumina index, fob Australia, was little changed at $301.61 per tonne on Thursday August 1 from $301.69 the previous day. It is down 6% from the start of July 2019 when it was at $321.08 per tonne.Fastmarkets' alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China at 2,400-2,490 yuan ($348.50-361.50) per tonne on T...Read More

Canadian mineral exploration and development company Turquoise Hill Resources (THR) has announced its 2019 second-quarter financial results, reporting a $600 million impairment at its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver project in Southern Mongolia amid company losses amounting to $736.7 million. Oyu Tolgoi, the company's principal mining project located in the Gobi Desert, is 66% owned by THR and 34% b...Read More

Multi-year lows in smelting income have sharply reduced China's production of intermediate copper products, which are primary smelting products and feed to produce copper cathodes, forcing dozens of domestic refineries to search for these materials overseas. "I have got inquiries for blister copper from eight refineries in just a week. I haven't seen anything like that before. It's such a shame th...Read More

Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal showed a 68.65% year-on-year decrease in earnings by its European unit in the second quarter of 2019, the company said on Thursday August 1.ArcelorMittal Europe's quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) dropped to $359 million in April-June 2019, down from $1.15 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.The decrease was ma...Read More

Turkish billet prices have been stable over the past week while demand for material in the domestic, import and export markets has been poor, sources said on Thursday August 1.Buyers of steel billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were pessimistic have been over the past few days because of a lack of activity in the finished steel markets...Read More

Turkey exported 355,753 tonnes of flat steel products in June 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).This volume was down by 35.59% year-on-year from the 552,308 tonnes exported in June 2018, the institute said.The country exported 3,037,796 tonnes of flat steel in January-June 2019. This was 17.64% more than the 2,582,199 tonnes exported in the first six months of 2018.The re...Read More