Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Wednesday January 3. Zinc prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) were well supported by falling overseas stock levels in Asian morning trading on Wednesday January 3, while copper pared overnight gains. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 0202 London timeLatest 3M&nb...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday January 3:Aluminium scrap Group 1 pure 99% & litho:...Read More
Indonesia's government has extended Freeport-McMoRan's special mining license (IUPK) for the Grasberg copper mine to June 30, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 3. "The agreement to extend the export permit in Indonesia is done. The official permit will take some days," a source said. The IUPK issued to PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based Freeport-McMoRan, is valid betwee...Read More
Gold ended 2017 on a strong and solid note with consistent daily gains throughout the final trading days of last year. The rally, which began on December 11th of last year when gold prices hit an intraday low of $1238 per ounce, continues into the New Year. Trading to just over $1300 per ounce on the final trading day of 2017, gold traders continue to have favorable sentiment to the safe haven ass...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices continued to rally during after-hours trading on Tuesday, while palladium surged to a record high, as weaker U.S. dollar provided additional support for the precious metals.Spot gold on Kitco.com was last trading at $1,317.20 per ounce, up 1.13% on the day. Spot palladium was at $1,086.00 per ounce, up 3.13% on the day, after almost hitting $1,090 earlier in the session....Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately up and hit a more-than-three-month high Tuesday. Silver made slight gains and hit a five-week high. A slumping U.S. dollar index that hit a better-than-three-month low today is a bullish element for the precious metals. Gold and silver markets also saw safe-haven demand come from heightened geopolitical risks. February Comex gold was...Read More
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News) - Known as a fan favorite, the Expert Series brings together well-known investors and Kitco regulars to find out where they will be putting their money in 2018.This year, in a new twist to the feature, Kitco News has asked some of the most influential mining sector newsletter writers how they would invest $100K in the mining s...Read More
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage(Kitco News) - It was a tale of two markets for gold in 2017, as prices made their biggest gains since 2010, but U.S. Mint coin sales were the weakest in a decade.The U.S. Mint said that sales of American Eagle gold and silver coins were the lowest since 2007 and American Buffalo coins had the worst year on record.The majority of analysts b...Read More
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage(Kitco News) - SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE Arca: GLD), the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted a modest inflow of roughly 15 metric tons during 2017.The figure might look better than it is since the inflow came from a low level of overall holdings, pointed out Ryan McKay, commodity strategist with TD Securities. Howeve...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold continues to find buying interest on the back of continued dollar weakness and growing geopolitical rhetoric from North Korea and Iran. An uptick in manufacturing demand out of China continues to help the industrial metals, and the current cold snap in the U.S. Northeast has helped maintain oil above $60. Technically, gold looks healthy and a break to the $1,322 level is possib...Read More
The short squeeze in metals continues and it appears the shorts are starting to panic. The rally, as good as it looks, is not very healthy and before it ends, gold could see $1,325 and silver could see $17.20. That's the funny thing about short covering rallies; they look so good right before they collapse. Helping the rally has been the pressure in the cryptocurrencies, especially the Bitcoin, wh...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums across the globe for the week to Tuesday January 2.Read More
Base metals prices were on divergent paths at the close on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday January 2 while most prices tried to consolidate recent gains. Zinc was one of the strongest performers today, hitting a high of $3,352 per tonne - the highest since August 2007. Lead followed its sister metal higher, closing up 2%. "Zinc has opened 2018 in a bullish mood; still, falling LME stocks sugg...Read More
Comex copper prices consolidated in the US morning on Tuesday January 2 after trading around a four-year high at the end of 2017. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.20 cents or 0.4% to $3.2885 per lb. Earlier today, prices were in positive territory after Chinese manufacturing data surprised to the upside. But after closer inspection and...Read More
High-grade manganese ore prices edged lower on Friday December 29 as fresh customs data showed rising imports to China and silico-manganese futures prices looked weaker. Metal Bulletin's 44% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin dropped 5 cents to $6.88 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu). Metal Bulletin's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth rolled over at $5.79 per dmtu, equivalent to $...Read More
All members of the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) have agreed to adopt $82.25 per tonne and 8.225 cents per lb as the benchmark for copper treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) in 2018, the CSPT told Metal Bulletin on Friday December 29.2018 annual TC/RCs were settled between Tongling Nonferrous and Freeport-McMoRan on Wednesday December 27.This was the first time that Tongling No...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market remained silent on Tuesday January 2, as suppliers remained out of the market, sources told Metal Bulletin.Steel mills in the country paused their deep-sea bookings two weeks ago, but are expected to book more cargoes for February.However, suppliers have stayed away during the New...Read More
The Indian imported ferrous scrap market spent much of 2017 under pressure from new government regulations and the ability of Pakistani counterparts to pay higher prices.The Indian import ferrous scrap market spent much of 2017 under pressure from new government regulations and the ability of Pakistani counterparts to pay higher prices.The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July,&...Read More
China's ferrous futures rose during morning trading on Tuesday January 2 as sentiment improved in the new year, leading to the recovery of trading appetite. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,871 yuan ($594) per tonne, up 70 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,920 yuan per tonne, up 69 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 543.50 yuan...Read More