Following a flip in global steel and ferrous trade flow trends last year caused by economic jitters in Turkey, trade defenses by the United States and production cuts in China, this year it is steel prices that are turning upside down. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices are now below rebar prices in a phenomenon rarely seen outside of the Chinese domestic markets. HRC import prices in Vietnam have...Read More

Backwardation is a phenomenon in the futures market where spot prices are higher than for future delivery. Usually futures are in contango, where futures sell at a premium to spot.Backwardation happens when there is a shortage of a commodity, usually from seasonal factors like prior to a harvest. It is quickly resolved through arbitrage or an increase in supply.But what if backwardation happens no...Read More

The VC PMI identified the average price for September as $1502.With the market trading above the average price at $1529.40 as of the close on Friday, it appears that we are entering this month with a bullish trend momentum.This target for the month above the average price is $1592 (Sell 1 or S1 level) and the Sell 2 (S2) level is at $1655.If the market moves in the other direction, the Buy 1 (B1)...Read More

Argonaut Gold has revised its prior cost guidance and is now guiding for all-in sustaining cost guidance of $1,075/oz vs. $1,025/oz previously.The company is a laggard among the mid-tier producer space with high costs and also operates out of B grade jurisdictions.I see the stock as an avoid in favor of lower-cost producers in better jurisdictions.Argonaut Gold (OTCPK:ARNGF) has not seen an impres...Read More

Market participants have kept a close eye on the softening European selenium price over the summer for clues on how the market will perform from September when activity usually starts to pick up. Fastmarkets assessed the price of selenium in-whs Rotterdam at $7.50-9.50 per lb on Friday August 30, unchanged from the previous assessment but still under pressure with several offers pending at th...Read More

Following a flip in global steel and ferrous trade flow trends last year caused by economic jitters in Turkey, trade defenses by the United States and production cuts in China, this year it is steel prices that are turning upside down. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices are now below rebar prices in a phenomenon rarely seen outside of the Chinese domestic markets. HRC import prices in Vietnam have...Read More

The ample availability of stock and poor demand for aluminium in Asia have led market participants to expect a downtrend for fourth quarter main Japan ports (MJP) premiums, Fastmarkets heard on Monday September 2.Widely considered Asia's main benchmark price level, Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A MJP spot premium, cif Japan at $85-95 per tonne on Friday August 30, flat for the third cons...Read More

The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange showed the greatest losses at the close of trading on Tuesday September 3, falling by some 1.6% to close at its lowest level since August 6.Meanwhile, a steady downturn in nickel's outright price saw it close below $18,000 per tonne.Lead futures began their decent during late in the morning, dipping below the support level at $2,000 per tonne...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices remained steady on Tuesday September 3, although Australian rail freight operator Aurizon reported service cancellations due to a train derailment in Queensland.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.01 per tonne, unchanged Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.01 per ton...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters lowered their offers on Tuesday September 3 despite domestic prices edging up further.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,670 yuan ($509-512) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640-3,650 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonnePrices continued to rise, with trading activity being described as stronger than previous days, according to a S...Read More

The battered silver miners' stocks surged in recent months, staging a strong rebound. Let's find out what's going on...by Adam Hamiton via Zeal LLCThe battered silver miners' stocks surged in recent months, staging a strong rebound rally. That overdue turnaround was fueled by silver mean reverting higher on improving sentiment after gold's decisive bull-market breakout. But silver miners still...Read More

Whether the $38 breather is the beginning of a larger pullback before consolidation takes place will be determined by the September news cycle...by TraderStef via CrushTheStreet (connect with TraderStef via Twitter or at TraderStef's website)On Aug. 26, the troll farm questioned the legitimacy of a $21.49 Fibonacci as the only number that mattered. Whether you are stacking silver or trading the pa...Read More

Silver is on the move again this week, and we've just taken out the $19 U.S. dollar price! Here are the details...*****UPDATE:Silver did not stop at $19.00:We have since moved as high as $19.24.With a gold price of $1,555 and a silver price of $19.20, I'm calculating a real-time gold to silver ratio at 80.9!In my opinion, the GSR has a long-way to fall even to revert to the mean of just the last f...Read More

Ferro-chrome prices continue to weaken in Europe due to producers' competition for sparse consumer interest. Alloy prices in Europe still weakening at lowest levels since 2009Ore and alloy prices hold in ChinaAlloy prices tick up in South Korea on potential Indian supply disruption US FeCr prices remain flat on thin tradingThe European ferro-chrome price softened slightly to a fresh ten-year low o...Read More

Prices for steel rebar and billet imported into the United Arab Emirates have decreased over the past week, with demand remaining poor, sources said on Tuesday September 3.Market participants believed that demand would improve after the price falls stopped, because buyers did not want to book while prices were still on their way downward.Domestic rebarEmirates Steel is the UAE's largest producer,...Read More

A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday September 3. Please click...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month price nickel price held gains above $18,000 per tonne during morning trading on Tuesday September 3, while a fresh cancellation of around 22,725 tonnes of copper inventory did little to raise the red metal's stagnant price. The nickel price was the standout performer this morning, with trading volumes of just under 6,000 lots exchanged as of 9.30am London time...Read More

Nickel remains in the spotlight because the market now has concrete news to adjust to and tin seems to be rising on nickel's coattails, with Indonesia being the second largest producer of tin in the world.The other metals and markets in general are now waiting for further news on when United States-China trade talks will resume - given generally poor manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI)...Read More

Nickel once again outperformed the other base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange during morning trading on Tuesday September 3, with the alloying metal continuing to benefit from expectations of tightening supply following news that Indonesia will expedite a ban on nickel ore exports.The most-traded November nickel contract climbed to 147,110 yuan ($20,519) per tonne as at 10.27am Shan...Read More

Chinese aluminium producer Xinfa Group is planning to restart operations at its Jiaokou alumina refinery in Shanxi province by mid-September, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 2."I heard they are going to resume production on September 15 and they have started raw material preparation for that," an alumina trader in Northern China said.Xinfa was ordered to halt operations at its...Read More