(Kitco News) - In this column a few weeks ago, I mentioned gold may continue to be under pressure until we see the rising U.S. dollar reach a technical target of 95 on the cash-settled index and I had assumed at the time, gold would be below $1280 when it was reached. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the safe haven metal trading back above $1300 when it hit 94.97 earlier this week. The 1...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are lower in early U.S. trading Friday, in the wake of a strong U.S. jobs report for May that boosted the U.S. dollar index and also hints at a more aggressive monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. August Comex gold futures were last down $8.80 an ounce at $1,295.90. July Comex silver was last down $0.098 at $16.365 an ounce. Friday morning’s U.S. jo...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices remain under pressure ahead of the weekend as the U.S. economy created more jobs than expected in May.Friday, The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 223,000 jobs were created last month. Economists were expecting to see job gains of 189,000.At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, beating expectations for a reading of 3.9%.Gold prices have pushed solidly below...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are under some selling pressure ahead of this morning's U.S. payroll data. The fact that that the President tweeted his anticipation of seeing the numbers, when he has already been briefed on the data release, suggests the job creation number may be on the high side. The Fed is no longer looking at the jobs number but their gauge is the average hourly earnings number, wh...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday June 1.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed mostly higher on Thursday May 31, ending the month broadly supported with most metals trading in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:The government in the United States has decided to implement Se...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday June 1.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed mostly higher on Thursday May 31, ending the month broadly supported with most metals trading in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:The government in the United States has decided to implement Se...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange finished 2.4% higher at the close of trading on Friday June 1, recording gains of 5% on the week amid a broadly stronger base metals complex. The metal has recorded 19 straight days of inventory decline following disruptions to Chinese stainless steel supply due to environmental concerns, leaving total stocks at 290,604 tonnes, their lowest since June 201...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
The volatility in global copper stocks this year has benefited trading volumes across both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange, while the London Metal Exchange's inventory has fluctuated widely and dropped to a four-month low this week.LME copper stocks fell to 283,375 tonnes on Wednesday May 30, the lowest since January 24. Stocks have rebounded sharply to 311,525...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
Key data from the pricing session in the week ending Friday June 1. China China's domestic ferro-chrome prices rose following higher June tender prices and production cuts in small plants based in Fujian, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Hunan regions. The market anticipates further disruption to...Read More
Blister copper refining charges (RCs) in China edged down in May as spot tonnages were sought following the recent shutdown of several domestic primary smelters and a continued fall in copper scrap imports. Metal Bulletin assessed RCs for 98-99% blister copper on a cif China basis at $210-230 per tonne on Thursday May 31, down $15 month on month, with several spot deals of African tonnages se...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose again at the end of May after the Tamil Nadu government ordered a permanent shutdown of Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin smelting and refining complex. Sterlite, which has been closed since late March, had been pursuing a permit through local courts to restart its smelter, but public demonstrations against the smelter and its planned expan...Read More
Silico-manganese production fell 8.1% globally and 10% in China in April compared with March, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI).World silico-manganese output stood at 1.26 million tonnes in April, representing an increase of 31% year on year. Global demand came in at 1.35 million tonnes, up 1% compared with March and 25.9% higher year on year, IMnI data...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Europe import prices for austenitic alloy steel scrap softened this week as the effect of high nickel prices was offset by sluggish demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday June 1. Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for 18/8 stainless steel solids imported into mainland Europe was ?,?1,180-1,200 ($1,379-1,402) per tonne cif main European ports on Friday, down from ?,?1,200-1,240 per ton...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices continued to soften during the week ended Friday June 1, with economic uncertainty in Turkey exerting downward pressure on spot trading values.The imposition by the United States of Section 232 import tariffs at 25% on steel from Canada, Mexico and the EU also damped market sentiment.Buyers in other parts of the world waited for better prices, causing negotiation activi...Read More
The UK light iron scrap market was stable over the past week, for the eighth week in a row, as market expectation of a downturn in prices failed to materialise ahead of monthly delivery settlements to consumers in June, industry sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday June 1. Market sentiment has also been cautious after the United States imposed tariffs of 25% on imports of steel from the European...Read More
Comex copper prices edged higher on Friday June 1, though the slight uptick is unimpressive compared with the gains seen in other base metals this week. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ticked up 0.8%, or 2.5 cents per lb, to $3.09 per lb. "LME copper has underperformed its complex notably this week. While copper is little changed since Monday, t...Read More