Comex copper prices traded in negative territory on Thursday June 21 morning in the United States, with threats of an impending trade war between the US and China hanging over the market.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down 0.70 cents or 0.3% to $3.0330 per lb. The contract is now on a six-day losing streak."Copper has started to consolid...Read More

Bullion was trading at US$1,262 an ounce on the spot market at the time of writing, about $13/oz lower than this time yesterday.Australian investors were undaunted, with gold miners in the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index all in positive territory in midday trade.Producer Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX: SAR) was up 6.05% earlier and trading around a 52-week high.In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jun 21 (SMM) –Copper: An increase of 14,000 mt in LME inventory suppressed LME copper to a low of $6,774/mt overnight after it hit a high of $6,867/mt. It rebounded slightly to the $6,800/mt level before it closed. The SHFE 1808 contract touched a low of 51,470 yuan/mt but found support at the 60-day moving average and closed at 51,680 yuan/mt. LME copper sees support at the $6,800...Read More

Metal Bulletin is seeking market feedback on a proposal to publish an all-in price assessment for Chinese cobalt sulfate alongside its existing price assessment for cobalt sulfate, 20.5% min Co, ex-works China. The discount/premium structure of the existing price assessment published as a $ per lb adjustment to the low end of Metal Bulletin's benchmark low-grade cobalt price assessment, launched o...Read More

Australian-Chinese miner MMG will sell its Sepon copper mining asset in Laos to a Chinese gold miner for $275 million, the company said on Thursday. MMG will offload its 90% stake in Lane Xang Minerals, owner of the Sepon mine, to Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining, according to the statement. The Sepon mine, which started operations in 2005, has produced over...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has decided to delist Worldwide Warehouse Solutions after a careful monitoring of the company's financial situation, Metal Bulletin has learned.Warehousing company Worldwide Warehouse Solutions (WWS) will be removed from the LME's metal warehousing network and all warranted metal there will be suspended, with the exchange citing concerns the company would "likely" become...Read More

Uncertainties in the Chinese stainless steel market, caused by environmental inspections in the downstream supply chain, were the focus of discussions on nickel's price in the second half at the Shanghai nickel forum held by COFCO Futures on Wednesday June 20. Nickel prices volatile in short term, bullish long term Panelists at the Shanghai forum were mainly positive about nickel prices in the lon...Read More

Nickel and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange resisted a continuously surging dollar index during morning trading on Thursday June 21, recovering from recent sell-offs amid renewed trade tension rhetoric. Climbing back above $15,000 per tonne, nickel's three-month price surged more than 3% since Thursday's low of $14,700 per tonne. Equally, copper's three-month price ticked 0.8% higher ove...Read More

UC Rusal has restarted its Friguia alumina refinery in Guinea more than six years after production was halted, the company said on Thursday June 21. Friguia has an annual nameplate capacity is 650,000 tonnes of alumina and 2.1 million tonnes of bauxite. Rusal reached agreements with the Republic of Guinea, which provide for the ramp up of production up to 550,000-600,000 tonnes of alumina per year...Read More

Hong Kong show opens with rising expectations forChinese demand after Las Vegas demonstrates positive US market. Polished pricesfirm for RapSpec A2+ diamonds, and buyers shifting to lower price points forlower-quality goods. Limited inventory supporting prices for 3 ct. and larger diamonds.Rough trading steady during De Beers sight, despite tight manufacturing profitmargins. Consolidation among cu...Read More

Export prices for Turkish rebar dipped slightly for the week ended Thursday June 21 amid fresh bookings.Rebar offers varied within a range of $550-560 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, unchanged week on week.A total of 50,000 tonnes was reported sold to...Read More

Small manufacturersstruggling to source rough at current price levels. Weaker rupee (INR 68 = $1)negatively impacting suppliers to the local market, but helping exporters.Large manufacturers raising polished production to fill shortages. Newavailable output garners stronger prices than existing stock. Jewelry retailsales stagnant. RoundRead More

"Mineral development will lead economic development and infrastructure development in the north," Natural Resources Canada assistant deputy minister Glenn Mason told this week's Resources for Future Generations conference in Vancouver.Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa has lowered the production outlook for itsInternational mine from next year due to enhanced safety precautions following the Mir accident. "In our decision to reduce pace and output we were guided bynew, stricter rules governing health-and-safety system[s]," Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanovsaid Wednesday. "Our employees' health and safety are an absolute priority forus." The miner has s...Read More

The first longstop date was originally April 20 and was the date all conditions precedent to completing a strategic agreement were to be satisfied.Under the September deal, Centerra was to pay close to US$60 million into government-administered environmental and health funds, in return for an end to existing arbitration, and guarantees of no future blocks on money transfers plus free movement...Read More

Turkey's ferrous scrap import market was idle on Thursday June 21, with consumers in Turkey moving to the sidelines ahead of the Turkish general election on Sunday - the result of which has the potential to influence currency moves and interest rates, industry sources told Metal Bulletin.Moreover, Turkish steel producers are being cautious for the time being, with one trader source citing&nbs...Read More

RAPAPORT... Cryptocurrency transactions have grown to 20% of sales at a California-based retailer in the past year, enhancing the company's ability to clinch high-value deals, its CEO said.Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry, which implemented the system in 2014, claimsto be the first jeweler to accept cryptocurrency."Cryptocurrency has surpassed the volume of retail credit-cardpurchases in the company in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelers of America (JA) says it applauds the decision by the United States Supreme Court to uphold South Dakota's sales tax fairness law and overturn the 1992 decision in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota.   By a vote of 5-4, the Court struck down the earlier judgment which established the current system under which states are prohibited from collecting sales and use taxes from se...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers has renamed its retail chain De Beers Jewellers "toreflect the public brand identity already in use," a company spokespersonconfirmed to Rapaport News Wednesday. The London-headquartered retailer announced the change in a filinglast week with Companies House, a UK government agency holding information onbusinesses. De Beers bought out the brand, formerly known as De Beers Dia...Read More

US domestic rebar prices remained flat in the wake of the Section 232 tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union on June 1, with supply said to be tightening on certain sizes.American Metal Market's June 20 price assessment for domestic rebar remained at $35-36 per hundredweight ($700-720 per ton), where it has been since Apr...Read More