(Kitco News) - Gold have dropped to their session lows in morning trading Friday. The down-move in the yellow metal came as the U.S. dollar index pushed to its daily high. Some profit-taking from the shorter-term futures traders is also featured heading into the weekend. Sell stop orders were also triggered in the futures market, when chart support levels were breached on the move lower. June go...Read More
(Kitco News) - A rise in photovoltaic demand should improve silver’s supply/demand fundamental picture in the coming years, said BMO Capital Markets. Analysts described silver as a “frustrating commodity” for investors lately, with prospects for outperformance that do not yield results. In a report late Thursday, the bank said it sees the gold/silver ratio eventually falling to 6...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday April 20.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower at the close of trading on Thursday April 19 despite aluminium volumes reaching a record-high of 41,000 lots. Read more in our live futures report. Here are how prices looked at Thursday's close:Novelis has said it is no longer purchasing fresh aluminium produced by U...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday April 20.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower at the close of trading on Thursday April 19 despite aluminium volumes reaching a record-high of 41,000 lots. Read more in our live futures report. Here are how prices looked at Thursday's close:Novelis has said it is no longer purchasing fresh aluminium produced by U...Read More
Global aluminium billet premiums were mostly higher this month, with US Treasury Department sanctions against Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal impacting the billet market. European premiums were most affected, with Germany and Italy billet premiums climbing by more than 40%. Brazil's import premium climbed to its highest level since December 2015, and the US upcharge hit its all-time high.Rusal...Read More
Glencore-owned Access World has delisted 12 of its 20 London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Vlissingen in The Netherlands amid outflows of aluminium stocks after sanctions were imposed by the United States on Russian producer UC Rusal.The LME announced the delisting in a notice to members on Friday April 20. This leaves Access World with just eight LME-listed warehouses in Vlissingen, whi...Read More
After a week of strong rallies, nickel and aluminium closed the week lower on the London Metal Exchange, with the rest of the complex steady.Nickel's three-month price fell 1.6% to below the $15,000 per tonne mark, with volumes traded at 8,761 lots - much lower than the mid-week figure of 23,000 lots. The metal climbed to a high of $16,690 per tonne but struggled to find support after specula...Read More
High manganese ore prices and price dislocation between ore and alloy will cause further alloy market uncertainty, benefitting integrated producers, mining group OM Holdings (OMH) said in its annual report. Manganese ore markets soared in late 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, prompting a backlash among manganese alloy smelters in China when prices breached $8.00 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu)...Read More
OM Holdings (OMH) expects continued volatility in manganese ore prices amid active silico-manganese futures trading and predicts a constrained market for high-grade ore, the company said on Thursday April 19. Describing manganese ore inventories in Chinese ports as "healthy" and "far from excessive," despite record import levels in 2017, the miner noted a significant drop in Chinese domestic produ...Read More
Vedanta Resources subsidiary Sterlite Copper must wait a further two weeks to find out if it can restart its 400,000 tonne per year Tuticorin copper cathode smelter in Tamil Nadu, meaning copper concentrate scheduled for the smelter will continue to flow into the spot market. The smelter was closed at the same time as protests against its planned doubling of capacity reached fever pitch towar...Read More
The alumina supply landscape has transformed over the past three years, but has been brought into focus of late as a result of a severe shortage of prompt and conveniently-located units. Prices have soared in recent weeks, sending Metal Bulletin's daily fob Australia alumina index to fresh highs every few days. The benchmark index was last calculated at $672.50 per tonne on Thursday April 20, 2018...Read More
An overview of China's minor metals markets in the week of April 16-20 and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Compagnie de Tifnout Tiranimine (CTT) has resumed cobalt production at its plant after operational difficulties resulted in a one-week closure. Operations restarted at the plant in Morocco this week and production is ramping up to normal levels, a source close to...Read More
The light iron scrap market in the UK was unchanged for a second week in a row in the seven days to Friday April 20, with steady domestic demand counteracting a drop in export prices to key destinations such as the Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.The market has been stable for two weeks after price losses on the European export market in late March and early April.Metal Bulletin's weekly price...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the bulk sector dipped during the working week ended Friday April 20 due to downward pressure from Turkish import prices, which fell midweek in several trades for material from the United States and the Baltic Sea.But this downward trend was not seen in the containerized scrap import market. Taiwanese scrap import prices remained flat on sparse trading this week, while the...Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India edged up this week, with the market seeking a correction following a series of recent falls, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday April 20.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $385.44 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on April 20, up by $4.17 per tonne week-on-week, compared with $381.27...Read More
Comex copper prices experienced a modest gain Friday April 20 morning the US, with a surging dollar capping the potential upside. Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.25 cents or 0.1% to $3.1345 per lb. "While supply should remain tight, we expect a pick-up in seasonal demand...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange have come under downward pressure this morning, Friday April 20, with the complex posting an average loss of 1.1% amid healthy trading volumes.Nickel (-2.9%) and aluminium (-1.1%) have been hit the most, which is not surprising after the substantial gains both metals made earlier this week. They remain the star performers in the week to date, with al...Read More
Compagnie de Tifnout Tiranimine (CTT) has resumed cobalt production at its plant after operational difficulties resulted in a one-week closure. Operations restarted at the plant in Morocco this week and production is ramping up to normal levels, a source close to...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) imported into India from South Korea have fallen by about $30 per tonne in the past month, with a southern India-based end-user booking a large shipment at $660-665 per tonne cfr Chennai port this week.Importers based in the northern port of Mumbai were unsuccessful in booking the South Korean shipment, which comprised about 25,000 tonnes of HRC, although it was fi...Read More