Alloy-grade cobalt prices maintained their premium over standard-grade during the first half of this week amid a limited supply of cut cathode for spot market inquiries. Fastmarkets assessed the standard-grade cobalt price at $15.90-16.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Wednesday April 24, up 1.5% from the previous week's assessment. Alloy-grade metal continued to trade at a premium but saw sli...Read More
China National Corporation for Overseas Economic Cooperation (CCOEC) won 34.64 tonnes of indium in Fanya Metal Exchange's second auction - ended at 10am Beijing time on Thursday April 25 - Fastmarkets understands from the official auction result posted on the Alibaba judicial online platform.As the only bidder at the auction, CCOEC took the indium at a price of 37.4112 million yuan ($5.57 million)...Read More
Fastmarkets has amended the minimum tonnage of its Chinese domestic indium price assessment to 100 kilograms to better reflect the dynamics of the market. The adjustment, effective Wednesday April 24, was made based on both market feedback and the internal data analysis during the consultation period.The goal of a minimum tonnage is to exclude any deal that, because of its small size or high price...Read More
Chinese cobalt sulfate prices were unchanged mid-week after their retreat on Friday April 19, but waning buyer interest and concerns over the surplus dynamics of key raw material cobalt hydroxide will continue to weigh on cobalt sulfate prices, market participants told Fastmarkets MB.Fastmarkets MB assessed the Chinese cobalt sulfate price at 51,000-54,000 yuan ($7,587- 8,033) per tonne on April 2...Read More
Capacity expansions among silicon producers in China's Xinjiang province and soft demand from the downstream secondary aluminium sector have combined to put the Chinese silicon market under pressure, Fastmarkets heard at Antaike's 2019 China Industry Silicon Conference on Wednesday April 24."Since the beginning of the year, prices for grade-553 silicon have been weakening - this despite southern C...Read More
Falling UG2 chrome ore prices in April have been partly caused by ferro-chrome smelters in China selling their raw material back to the market, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' UG2 chrome ore index, cif China, has dropped every week so far in April and stands at $169 per tonne as of Tuesday April 23, down from $186 per tonne on March 29. The smelters are understood to have bought too much ma...Read More
China's stainless steel prices dropped slightly over the past week as sellers focused on destocking amid weak demand.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,000-14,500 yuan ($2,083-2,157) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday April 24, widening downward 100 yuan per tonne from 14,100-14,50...Read More
China will continue to increase its ferrous scrap utilization rates as part of its "Blue Sky" environmental protection policies from 2019, Ma Hongchang, advisor at the Bureau of International Recycling said at the 12th China International Metal Recycling Conference 2019 in Zhuhai, China, this week."China will continue to promote the use of ferrous scrap in the coming years, especially through incr...Read More
In August 2017, Canada's federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for mining called for a Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP) to support industry competitiveness, solidify Canada's position as a global mining leader, and to lay the foundation for lasting success at home and abroad.The CMMP was unveiled at the annual convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Ca...Read More
With Canada's economy stalling and the possibility the country may soon enter another recession, it is only natural for investors to seek out a safe haven for their hard-earned capital. Typically, gold is one of the favourite investments, as it is acyclical and acts as a great place to store capital during times of fear and panic.Gold also protects investors from inflation, which is a risk during...Read More
From oil and gas to metals and healthcare, there are some solid choices for a long-term investor looking to stack shares in dividend-paying companies on TSX index. These are some of the most defensive areas of investment, operating in sectors that are likely to outrun even a deep and widespread market downturn. Let's take a look at some representative stocks.Enbridge (TSX:ENB)(NYSE:ENB)This ubiqui...Read More
As cannabis becomes more of a mainstream investment, should stocks like Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC) join outperforming tech in a capital gains portfolio? Let's review the stats for the TSX index's breakout marijuana stock and compare them against some of the tech growth stocks it most closely resembles, plus one mining stock that makes a feasible tech proxyCanopy Growth could be the front-l...Read More
Bob Moriarty ArchivesApr 26, 2019TheRound Mountain Gold Mine is on the west side of the Toquima caldera in south-central Nevada. What Rover Metals (Rover) (ROVR-V) calls the Toquima precious metals property is on the other side of the caldera. On April 10Rover announced a Letter of Intent to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Centennial Mining, owner of the Toquima gold and silve...Read More
Construction activities at the Lindero gold project in Argentina. Source: Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. [FVI-TSX; FSM-NYSE] has published its first video, documenting its construction progress at the Lindero gold project in Argentina.The company now says it expects to publish a new episode every month until the company declares commercial production at the project in the first...Read More
Benchmark Metals Lawyers coreBenchmark Metals Inc. [BNCH-TSXV, CYRTF-OTCQB, 87CA-FSE] said it is proceeding with a flow-through shares offering that is expected to raise $2 million to fund exploration at the company's Lawyers property in northwest British Columbia.The proposed non-brokered private placement consists of about 9.0 million flow-through shares at an offering price of 22 cents per shar...Read More
The Moa Bay joint venture nickel-cobalt operation in eastern Cuba. Source: Sherritt International Inc.Sherritt International Inc. [S-TSX] says an increase in global cobalt prices in April is likely to be sustained through the balance of 2019.Consumer demand helped to boost cobalt prices by about 15% in April, Sherritt said in a press release containing details of the company's first quarter financ...Read More
For the past several decades, energy consumption in the United States has been rapidly increasing. And in 2007, American energy demand hit an all-time high.That was before pulling back a bit and leveling off for a decade. But last year was a turning point for U.S. energy demand.In a recent report, the EIA says the U.S. consumed 101.3 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2018.That was 0.3% hi...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 176,691139,29659,299154,403211,799390,393410,394 Change from Prior Reporting Period -6,52212,3568558,701-12,3333,034878 Traders 17490775752267184 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 49,65529,654440,048 -3,567-1,411-533 non reportable positionsChange...Read More
Gold has failed to gain traction over the past couple months, normally a seasonally-strong time. That has really weighed on sentiment, leaving traders increasingly bearish. Gold investment demand has flagged dramatically with lofty stock markets spewing great euphoria. That's given gold-futures speculators the run of the market, where they have sold aggressively including extreme shortin...Read More
By: Avi GilburtI am not sure how much more I can add to what has been said over the last two weeks in the metals complex.At this point in time, it is quite clear that the metals are testing support. As specifically noted about silver, the 14.60 support region is what I want to see holding as support here. While I can accept a spike and reversal of that level, a sustained break of that level...Read More