Vale will buy Brazilian privately-owned Ferrous Resources Ltd as part of its "bolt-on acquisitions" strategy, it said on Thursday December 6. The world's largest iron ore producer will buy the small miner for $550 million, the company said. Ferrous Resources operates iron ore mines close to Vale's own assets in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, with sales volumes of 3 million tonnes in 2017...Read More

Iron ore producer Vale will use a 65% Fe iron ore index to price its pellets next year, moving away from using a 62% Fe iron ore index as the base price for such cargoes, executive director Peter Poppinga said this week.Speaking at the company's investor day at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday December 4, Poppinga said the decision made sense as the 65% Fe iron ore and pellet [pric...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower at the close of trading on Thursday December 6, with downward pressure emerging across global equity indices in addition to a sharp downturn in oil futures, which tricked through to metals prices. Prompting the sell-off, escalating concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China continued to deter investors, a...Read More

Iranian export billet and slab prices continued to fall this week, in line with the global downtrend and with sanctions pushing suppliers to lower their offers to try and attact customers.Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for Iranian export billet price was $405-410 per tonne fob on Wednesday October 5, down by $10 per tonne week on...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market was quiet on Thursday December 6, following a sharp price drop recorded the day before.A steel mill in the Marmara region on Wednesday booked a European cargo comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 12,500 tonnes of a mixture of plate and structural (P&S) and HMS 1, 5,000 tonnes of shredded and 2,500 tonnes...Read More

The European hot-rolled coil market has been under pressure from slow trading and prices are likely to reach the 'bottom' soon, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Demand has been low due to a combination of a seasonal slowdown and high stocks at European distributors. Interest in imported coil has been limited due to long lead times and uncertainty over the definitive decision in a...Read More

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday December 7.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower at the close of trading on Thursday December 6, with downward pressure emerging across global equity indices in addition to a sharp downturn in oil futures, which trickled through to metals. Read more in our live futures.Here are how prices looked...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday December 6.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading, with downward pressure across the complex stimulated by broad strength in the dollar index, which continues to trade in positive territory after last week's G20 summit.The three-month nickel price ha...Read More

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday December 6. Base metals prices, bar those for zinc, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with lingering concerns surrounding the trade tensions between the United States and China causing prices to soften.Check Fastmarkets MB's...Read More

(Kitco News) - 2019 will see the start of a new bull cycle for gold and push the metal up to $1,500 an ounce, said E.B. Tucker, director of Metalla Royalty & Streaming. "To make big money in this market, you have to see the cycles. Nothing changes. We've had three big cycles in gold since 2000 and we're about to have another one," Tucker told Kitco News. Tucker said that the next cycle peak c...Read More

Lower lithium prices than a year ago have led to differing price expectations between producers and consumers of lithium compounds in their negotiations for 2019 supply contracts. In light of lower spot prices in China, lithium consumers are seeking to lock in lower contract prices for 2019 by referencing the Chinese spot market price in their deals. But lithium producers are trying to keep prices...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower at the close of trading on Thursday December 6, with downward pressure emerging across global equity indices in addition to a sharp downturn in oil futures, which tricked through to metals prices. Prompting the sell-off, escalating concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China continued to deter investors, a...Read More

Comex copper prices sank to a multi-week low in the US morning on Thursday December 6 with the recent equity market downturn suppressing the entire base metals group. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 4.30 cents to $2.7310 per lb. Earlier, the contract touched an intraday low of $2.7130, the weakest point since November 14. US e...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading on Thursday December 6, with downward pressure across the complex stimulated by broad strength in the dollar index, which continues to trade in positive territory after last week's G20 summit. The three-month nickel price has fallen 1.6% and is now back below $11,000 per tonne after trading above the...Read More

* OPEC ends meeting with no output cuts announced* OPEC, Russia to discuss potential supply cut on Friday* GRAPHIC-OPEC, U.S. & Russia output: https://tmsnrt.rs/2E0xgTz* U.S. turns into net exporter of oil (Updates to settlement, details on Friday meeting)By Devika Krishna KumarNEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Oil fell nearly 3 percent in choppy trading on Thursday after OPEC and its allies ended a...Read More

(Corrects first paragraph to clarify timeframe is end, not middle, of 2019)NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings said on Thursday it expects the Indian currency to weaken to 75 rupees against the U.S. dollar by the end of next year on a widening current account deficit and tighter global financing conditions.Despite a few recent advances, the rupee is on track for its worst yearly performance...Read More

* NSE index end down 1.7 pct, BSE index close 1.6 pct lower* Only 2 stocks on NSE index, 1 on BSE index finish in the greenDec 6 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended lower on Thursday, marking their worst closing levels in two weeks, dragged down by index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS and Infosys Ltd INFY.NS .The broader NSE index .NSEI closed 1.69 percent lower at 10,601.15,...Read More

* FTSE 100 ends down 3.2 percent* Huawei arrest stirs trade tension worries* Oil, mining stocks lead fallers (Adds closing prices)By Josephine Mason and Julien PonthusLONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - UK shares plunged on Thursday and recorded losses not seen since the aftermath of the Brexit vote as a sell-off swept global markets following the arrest of a top Huawei executive that renewed worries about...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices were flat on Thursday after the arrest of a top executive at China-based Huawei Technologies sparked worries that it could reignite the U.S.-Sino trade dispute.Comex gold futures for February delivery inched up 0.04% to $1,243.05 a troy ounce as of 8:52 AM ET (13:52 GMT).Market sentiment was on edge after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer at smartphone company H...Read More

(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon news window)* FTSE 100 down 1.9 pct; midcaps down 1.5 pct* Huawei arrest stirs trade tension worries* Oil, mining stocks lead fallersLONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - UK shares were sharply lower on Thursday, hitting their weakest levels in two years as oil and mining stocks fell and investors shunned sectors they consider risky after the arrest...Read More