(Kitco News) - Platinum group metals should rise in the last five months of 2018, with platinum returning to around $900 an ounce by year-end and palladium $950, Commerzbank said in report released on WednesdayAround mid-morning on Tuesday, platinum was at $818 an ounce and palladium was at $915.The supply/demand fundamentals of platinum and palladium differ strongly, which has been reflected in t...Read More
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (TSX, NYSE: KL; ASX: KLA) reports higher second-quarter earnings and record cash flow, plus the company lists improved guidance for 2018. Production for the year is now targeted at over 635,000 ounces, up from 620,000 previously. Cash operating cash costs are now expected to average $400 to $425 per ounce sold, down from previous guidance of $425 to $450. Net earnings were...Read More
Tuesday saw gold make a nice rebound from yet another down day and close higher on the day. Today with the FOMC announcing a decision on interest rates, gold has found its way lower once again. Between today and Friday, there are two big news items that can change the course of the gold death spiral -- today's FOMC meeting and Friday's jobs report. The numbers by themselves are meaningless. The ke...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday August 1.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange moved higher at the close of trading on Tuesday July 31, supported by easing trade relations between the United States and China amid broad stock drawdowns and a seasonal summer slowdown. Read more here in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:C...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday August 1.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange moved higher at the close of trading on Tuesday July 31, supported by easing trade relations between the United States and China amid broad stock drawdowns and a seasonal summer slowdown. Read more here in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:C...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday August 1.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange moved higher at the close of trading on Tuesday July 31, supported by easing trade relations between the United States and China amid broad stock drawdowns and a seasonal summer slowdown. Read more here in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:C...Read More
Zinc and lead smelter Nyrstar is ambivalent over changing dynamics in the zinc concentrates market, playing down attempts by Teck Resources in the past month to lower its reliance on long-term smelter partners.Teck, the market's main seller of annually contracted zinc concentrates, imported 1,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates from its Red Dog mine to China for the first time.The company is taking ad...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) dropped at the end of July as labor negotiations soured at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine.The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates TC/RC index dropped by $3.10 per tonne/0.31 cents per lb to $83/8.3 cents per lb, breaking 3 1/2 months of gains.TC/RCs had risen sharply since May, when major smelter Sterlite Copper declared...Read More
Nickel closed more than 3% lower on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday August 1, with recent gains unraveling amid a fresh trade rift between the United States and China. The three-month nickel price had climbed to their highest in more than two weeks on July 31, closing above $14,000 per tonne, but they sank towards $13,500 per tonne in Wednesday afternoon trading.Despite robust demand from t...Read More
Zinc and lead smelter Nyrstar is ambivalent over changing dynamics in the zinc concentrates market, playing down attempts by Teck Resources in the past month to lower its reliance on long-term smelter partners.Teck, the market's main seller of annually contracted zinc concentrates, imported 1,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates from its Red Dog mine to China for the first time.The company is taking ad...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) dropped at the end of July as labor negotiations soured at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine.The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates TC/RC index dropped by $3.10 per tonne/0.31 cents per lb to $83/8.3 cents per lb, breaking 3 1/2 months of gains.TC/RCs had risen sharply since May, when major smelter Sterlite Copper declared...Read More
Zinc treatment charges (TCs) have risen to their highest in almost two years, with lower exchange prices for the metal making smelters in China lower output, while terms for lead concentrates fell with arbitrage trades exacerbating a market significantly short of supply.TCs, discounts on the zinc price paid to smelters for the costs of processing concentrates to metal, shot up to $65-75 per tonne,...Read More
As a result of a technical error, Metal Bulletin's low-grade cobalt price assessment for August 1 was published on the Metal Bulletin price book later than scheduled. Metal Bulletin's price book has been updated and the price is now appearing as normal. To provide feedback on the delayed publication of the low-grade cobalt price assessment, please contact Charlotte Radford by email at:pricing@meta...Read More
Turkish steel producers broke their silence in the deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday August 1 with news of a European cargo being booked, which led to prices falling.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 12,500 tonnes of bonus and 2,500 tonnes of new cuttings at an average price of $328.50 per tonne cfr.This was the...Read More
Comex copper prices tumbled to a one-week low in the US morning on Wednesday August 1 after investors exited the complex due to ongoing worries about trade issues and potential strikes in South America. Copper for September settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 7.70 cents or 2.7% to $2.7545 per lb. "While we think the summer sell-off in copper is not justifie...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board by an average of 1% on the morning of Wednesday August 1. Zinc led the decline with a 1.7% drop to $2,590 per tonne, while copper was down by 1.2% at $6,244 per tonne.The disappointing release of China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI) for July - easing to 50.8 from 51 and below the expecte...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Europe have moved up slightly over the past week despite slow market activity, and they are expected to rise further, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday August 1."The market is rather slow now, but the mills have good order books and they are not offering much at the moment because they feel no pressure to sell, and would prefer to wait until dem...Read More
Turkey imported 581,315 tonnes of flat steel in June 2018, down 14.12% from 676,906 tonnes in June 2017, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), on cheaper domestic prices.Demand for flat steel is weak in the country's domestic market, so import figures should not increase in the coming months. In addition, the import prices are not competitive compared to local prices. Metal Bullet...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe have been supported by a lack of competitive import offers in the market, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday August 1.Buyers had expected to see a rise in the number of deals done for overseas HRC after the European Commission (EC) set preliminary measures in a safeguard case investigating steel imports.This forecast, however, turned out to...Read More
Confusion at national customs authorities across Europe, created by the implementation of the safeguard measures on steel imports imposed by the European Commission (EC), has caused delays for steel importers, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.The EC's preliminary measures in the safeguard case came into effect on July 18, in the form of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on 23 product categorie...Read More