Sumitomo Metal Mining Co and Sumitomo Corp have agreed to buy a 30% indirect stake in the company that owns the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) copper project in northern Chile, according to its majority owner Teck Resources Ltd. The Teck board has also approved the QB2 project for full construction, with first production targeted for the second half of 2021. Teck will receive $1.2 billion for the s...Read More

Lithium-focused Wealth Minerals has signed letters of intent to acquire stakes in two Chilean copper projects, which will be held by newly formed subsidiary Wealth Copper.Canada-registered Wealth intends to spin-out Wealth Copper to shareholders of Wealth, with the intention of listing the new unit on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto. Wealth itself will continue to focus on its Chilean lithium...Read More

Larry LaBordePosted Dec 5, 2018To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1Last month Bill Bonner wrote an interesting article about trading the Dow/gold ratio.He recommended selling the Dow and buying gold when the ratio was above 15 (the Dow is too high compared to gold) and selling gold and buying the Dow when the ration was below 5 (the Dow i...Read More

Indian ferro-chrome producers will continue to target the European market in 2019 and beyond despite a recent softening in prices, according to an Indian exporter who is establishing trading connections to European destinations. "We are looking into setting up [delivered duty-paid ferro-chrome] delivery into Europe and how to make that profitable," said the source, who anticipated starting exports...Read More

Brazilian miner Vale will invest an additional $500 million in its Vale New Caledonia (VNC) nickel operations in the South Pacific due to expectations of increased demand from rising electric vehicle (EV) output, chief executive officer Fabio Schvartsman said on Tuesday December 4."We will need all of the capacity of VNC to meet this demand," Schvartsman said.In two years, nickel output from VNC w...Read More

Rio Tinto has reached another milestone in the development of its Amrun project in Queensland, Australia, shipping its first bauxite cargo six weeks ahead of schedule, the company announced on Monday December 3.Rio Tinto estimated the shipment of over 80,000 tonnes of bauxite will arrive at the company's Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone next week.The US$1.9 billion-invested Amrun project was p...Read More

China Molybdenum Co will take direct control of metals trader IXM in a $495-million buyout of a fund it set up to originally purchase the firm from Louis Dreyfus, according to a notice issued on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday December 4.The deal exceeds the $466 million paid by the China Molybdenum-backed NCCL Natural Resources Investment Fund in May after initial agreements were signed l...Read More

Fastmarkets MB proposes to launch two new manganese ore China port indices on a free-on-truck (fot) basis.The two new indices will be based on ores with manganese ore content of 37% and of 44%. China is the world's biggest consumer of manganese ores, accounting for 60-70% of all seaborne trades. Demand for manganese ores has been steadily growing over recent years due to anticipated new projects i...Read More

An uptick in the usage of tellurium in key downstream industry, such as thin-film solar photovoltaic and infrared detection, will continue to lend support to the international and domestic Chinese tellurium markets, speakers told delegates at the 2018 Chinese Minor Metals Forum in Kunming.Global production of solar photovoltaics is estimated at 98 gigawatts in 2017, of which 2.3 gigawatts came fro...Read More

Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings as soon as they received lower prices from a European supplier, sources said on Wednesday December 5.Mills in Turkey were looking for prices at around $300-305 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) while the offers for the material were firm at $310-320 per tonne cfr from suppliers in the United States and the Baltic Sea.But a steel mill in...Read More

European government bond yields fell to multi-month lows Wednesday, following yesterday's moves in U.S. Treasuries that have ignited concerns over the prospect of recession in the world's largest economy, as investors continue to pull away from risk markets and test the Federal Reserve's resolve on future interest rate hikes. Benchmark 10-year German bund yields, a proxy for risk-free borrowing...Read More

Comex copper prices staged a modest recovery during morning trading on Wednesday morning in the US amid calmer market conditions after yesterday's major equity sell-off. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.30 cents to $2.7620 per lb. Despite optimism from the recent Group of Nations (G20) meeting in Argentina over the weeken...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed in the morning of Wednesday December 5, with zinc and copper up by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, while the rest of the complex was little changed or weaker. This follows a volatile day in markets on Tuesday, when the base metals were mixed, but when US equity markets were hit hard by nervousness over the flattening of the yield c...Read More

Brazilian miner Vale will be investing an additional $500 million in VNC, its nickel operations in the South Pacific country of New Caledonia on expectations of increased demand from rising electric vehicle (EV) output, chief executive officer Fabio Schvartsman said on Tuesday December 4. The executive also announced during the annual investor presentation in the New York Stock Exchange an ag...Read More

 The Wednesday Market Minute Global stocks slide following last night's sharp selloff on Wall Street amid increasing question over the fate of U.S. China trade talks.Bond markets steady after flashing recession signals Tuesday, with the spread between 2-year and 10-year yields rising to 10.5 basis points.Global oil prices drift lower after a stronger-than-expected buildup in U.S. crude supp...Read More

Trading activity in China's domestic hot-rolled coil market picked up on Wednesday December 5 on concerns among buyers that prices would increase further in the days to come, sources told Fastmarkets MB.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,730-3,770 yuan ($545-551) per tonne, up 40-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,630-3,650 yuan per tonne, up 50 yuan per tonneWhile prices in Shanghai we...Read More

China's ferrous futures moved up during morning trading on Wednesday December 5, with the hot-rolled coil contract taking the lead in the uptrend.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,407 yuan ($498) per tonne, up 27 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,329 yuan per tonne, up 32 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 472.50 yuan per tonne, u...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat week on week on Wednesday December 5, with consumers unlikely to make further purchases before the new year.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at $540-560 ($614-637) per tonne delivered on Wednesday. Offers were expected to remain above the range for the rest of December and i...Read More

Hollow steel sections prices in Europe were stable this week but lower feedstock costs and a reduced import quota limit could bring about a significant change, market participants said.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe was an unchanged ?,?635-650 ($722-739) per tonne delivered on Wednesday December 5.The hollow...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe was flat on Wednesday December 5, with market participants pulling back in anticipation of the year-end holidays.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe stayed at ?,?530-540 ($603-614) per tonne delivered for the third consecutive week on Wednesday, with no new business expected before the new...Read More