Improving commodity prices and upward trends in global demand, especially from major South African trading partners, are expected toreinvigorate the mining industry,enabling it to perform relatively well throughout 2018, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) states. The DMR notes that, with regard to the disputes pertaining to the Mining Charter and the extended legislative process for the Min...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets in the week from Monday January 22 to Friday January 26.Base metalsSingaporean trading house Kyen Resources is opening a London office to expand its operations into Europe and will trade base metals, starting with aluminium and concentrates.Freeport-McMoRan reported a strong finish to 2017, with net incom...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are mixed this morning, Friday January 26, with the complex up by an average of 0.2%.Three-month nickel prices ($13,800 per tonne) are strongest with a 0.6% gain, lead prices ($2,599 per tonne) and copper prices ($7,143 per tonne) are up by 0.5% and 0.4% respectively, while aluminium, zinc and tin are down between 0.1% and 0.2%. This week has seen co...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous futures retreated today for the most part, except for a 2% rise in nickel prices. SHFE lead and aluminium dropped about 1%. Tin, copper and zinc all edged down slightly.The ferrous complex was mixed with coke registering a small rise. Hot-rolled coil finished flat while iron ore dropped 1.5% and coking coal slipped 0.5%. Rebar also closed lower.Copper: SHFE...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous futures retreated today for the most part, except for a 2% rise in nickel prices. SHFE lead and aluminium dropped about 1%. Tin, copper and zinc all edged down slightly.The ferrous complex was mixed with coke registering a small rise. Hot-rolled coil finished flat while iron ore dropped 1.5% and coking coal slipped 0.5%. Rebar also closed lower.Copper: SHFE...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous futures retreated today for the most part, except for a 2% rise in nickel prices. SHFE lead and aluminium dropped about 1%. Tin, copper and zinc all edged down slightly.The ferrous complex was mixed with coke registering a small rise. Hot-rolled coil finished flat while iron ore dropped 1.5% and coking coal slipped 0.5%. Rebar also closed lower.Copper: SHFE...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 9 points in pre-opening trade. U.S. equity indices were virtually unchanged following release of U.S. economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for fourth quarter real GDP was annual growth at 2.9%. Actual was 2.6%. Consensus for December Durable Goods Orders was an increase of 0.8% versus a gain of 1.3% in November. Act...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM) – The likely rebound of US dollar poses the biggest downside risk for commodities in the short term, according to Xu Maili, commodities research director at Guangda Futures.“Funds are currently holding quite a lot of long bets, I think the need to cover their positions once the US dollar becomes stronger would be intense,” Xu said in an interview with SMM.W...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM) – The likely rebound of US dollar poses the biggest downside risk for commodities in the short term, according to Xu Maili, commodities research director at Guangda Futures.“Funds are currently holding quite a lot of long bets, I think the need to cover their positions once the US dollar becomes stronger would be intense,” Xu said in an interview with SMM.W...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM) – The likely rebound of US dollar poses the biggest downside risk for commodities in the short term, according to Xu Maili, commodities research director at Guangda Futures.“Funds are currently holding quite a lot of long bets, I think the need to cover their positions once the US dollar becomes stronger would be intense,” Xu said in an interview with SMM.W...Read More
First of all, we want to thank our clients for the privilege of managing their assets and we wish all of you a healthy and prosperous 2018!They say records are made to be broken and, so far, the US economy is on track to do just that. The current economic expansion is now the third longest in US history going back to 1854. If it can survive through May 2018, it will be the second longest and, if a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM)? 1/4 ?China’s nickel ore port inventory continued its decline to 7.62 million wet mt, as at January 26, down 430,000 mt on a weekly basis. This is about 62,300 mt for metal content, down 3,100 mt on a weekly basis.For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on how to access our research reports, please emai...Read More
Listen to this podcast on our site airing Saturday by clicking here or subscribe on iTunes here.Stocks, commodities, and gold are having a good start to the year. However, with a pickup in inflation and the dollar's recent woes, gold may start to take the lead.This time on Financial Sense, we spoke with Frank Holmes from U.S. Global Investors about his take on gold and where he...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 26 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Treatment charges (TC) of zinc concentrate were low in January and is expected to remain low in February due to a shorter supply of zinc ores, according to SMM research.In Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi provinces, TC stood at 3,500 yuan/mt of metal content while it was below 3,500 yuan/mt of metal content in Guangxi and Yunnan.SMM predicts TC will remain low...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have climbed 10% since the start of 2018 - with the dollar the main supporting factor of the rise, the spotlight is being shone on the nickel price's extreme volatility. On Thursday January 25, nickel closed on the LME in positive territory for the sixth consecutive trading day and was trading at a two-and-a-half-year high of $13,915 per tonne. The last t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed the week on divergent paths, with most metals on a strong footing after a week of intense rallies.The three-month tin price hit its highest since November 2016 after it hit a high of $21,895 per tonne - record low stocks and restocking ahead of Lunar New Year (mid-February) have kept tin prices well supported."With barely 1,800 tonnes of LME s...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have climbed 10% since the start of 2018 - with the dollar the main supporting factor of the rise, the spotlight is being shone on the nickel price's extreme volatility. On Thursday January 25, nickel closed on the LME in positive territory for the sixth consecutive trading day and was trading at a two-and-a-half-year high of $13,915 per tonne. The last t...Read More
Iron ore prices retreated on Friday January 26 on China's declining steel and futures markets.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $74.40 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.64 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $76.21 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $61.03 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.82 per...Read More
When Bitcoin prices plummeted 23% on Jan. 16, 2018, investors poured back into the best store of value on the planet – gold. Precious metal dealer CoinInvest sold $1.2 million in gold while crypto prices dipped.And we weren't surprised…Look, everyone knows gold is one of the best investments you can make during times of economic uncertainty. It's so valuable because there's only a fini...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed the week on divergent paths, with most metals on a strong footing after a week of intense rallies.The three-month tin price hit its highest since November 2016 after it hit a high of $21,895 per tonne - record low stocks and restocking ahead of Lunar New Year (mid-February) have kept tin prices well supported."With barely 1,800 tonnes of LME s...Read More