Standard Chartered says “the floor for prices has risen” in the gold market without requiring significant physical demand to cushion the downside. The precious metal remains range-bound - although at the lower end of the band - but price dips have not been deepened by a soft physical market, the bank says. “We continue to expect prices to test the downside in the lead-up to the J...Read More
Primero Mining Corp. (TSX: P) reports that the Comisi??n Federal de Competencia Econ??mica has provided antitrust clearance for a planned merger in which First Majestic Silver Corp. (TSX: FR; NYSE: AG) will acquire Primero. Officials say this was the final government agency approval required before closing. Primero says closing of the deal is expected on Thursday. The companies announced the...Read More
President Trump announced intentions to pull out of the Iran deal Tuesday, which caused some volatility in all markets. Equities whipped around only to close near the unchanged line. Oil got clobbered but cut most of the losses and is back on four-year highs, and gold failed at $1,318. It's obvious that gold has some issues to deal with and is headed lower. Throughout much of the recent uncertaint...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index broke the 93 level and registered a fresh four-month high of 93.29 overnight following the hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell. The US President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index broke the 93 level and registered a fresh four-month high of 93.29 overnight following the hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell. The US President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index broke the 93 level and registered a fresh four-month high of 93.29 overnight following the hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell. The US President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday May 9. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday May 8, with aluminium and zinc bucking the trend. Read more in our live futures report.Brazil's primary aluminium export volumes increased by 82.7% year on year in April due to increased shipments from Norsk Hydro's Al...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday May 9. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday May 8, with aluminium and zinc bucking the trend. Read more in our live futures report.Brazil's primary aluminium export volumes increased by 82.7% year on year in April due to increased shipments from Norsk Hydro's Al...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday May 9. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday May 8, with aluminium and zinc bucking the trend. Read more in our live futures report.Brazil's primary aluminium export volumes increased by 82.7% year on year in April due to increased shipments from Norsk Hydro's Al...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange kept firm at the close of trading on Wednesday May 9, with copper's 1% climb leading a positive afternoon surge across the complex. The three-month copper prices traded as low as $6,766 per tonne today, finding support throughout the afternoon and climbing back over the $6,800 per tonne support level at the close. The red metal dropped marginally aft...Read More
Peru's zinc mine production rose by 7.2% year-on-year in March, attributed to a recovery from last year's decline caused by the torrential rainfall that hit the country then. Production came to 117,753 tonnes, from 109,873 tonnes in March 2017, according to the latest figures from the country's energy and mines ministry, MEM. The increase mostly reflects the impact of weak output achieved in March...Read More
Tin premiums in Europe ticked higher again in the week to Tuesday May 8 on the back of a temporary supply crunch, which resulted from the halt in exports from Indonesia at the start of the quarter. Shipments have now resumed and material is already on its way to consuming regions including Europe and the United States, but it arrives later this month and supply is getting tighter meaning premiums...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Horizonte plc, which acquired the Vermelho project from Vale, is exploring whether the project can produce nickel and cobalt sulfate suitable for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, it said on Wednesday May 9. Mining company Horizonte acquired the Brazil-based nickel-cobalt project for $8 million in December 2017. "The Vermelho project also contains a large cobalt resource which Vale planned to...Read More
Turkish steel producers stayed out of the market on Wednesday May 9, with no deep-sea transactions reported amid holidays in Russia and Ukraine, sources told Metal Bulletin.The Ukrainian and Russian markets were closed for Victory Day holidays on Wednesday.Market participants nonetheless said that Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) will be about $357 per tonne and $360 per tonne cfr&...Read More
Ferrous scrap will increasingly replace natural resources as the main raw material to produce steel, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) head of raw materials, Dr Baris Bekir ??ift??i.This is mainly due to ferrous scrap's increasing availability globally, as well as structural reforms in major steelmaking countries to increase the usage of electric-arc furnaces in the steel produ...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on the morning of Wednesday May 9, with all the metals, except tin (+0.2%) and lead (+0.3%), down by an average of 0.3%. Copper prices were off 0.4% at $6,785 per tonne.Volume on the LME has been below average, with 5,734 lots traded as at 07.37 am London time. This follows on from what turned out to be a generally negative day on Tuesday,...Read More
Horizonte plc, which acquired the Vermelho project from Vale, is exploring whether the project can produce nickel and cobalt sulfate suitable for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, it said on Wednesday May 9. Mining company Horizonte acquired the Brazil-based nickel-cobalt project for $8 million in December 2017. "The Vermelho project also contains a large cobalt resource which Vale planned to...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) have gone unchanged in Northern Europe this week, but they have fallen in the South of the region, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday May 9.Demand for the material in Southern Europe has been slow, with buyers remaining in "wait-and-see" mode because they have sufficient stocks, according to market participants. As a result, domestic price...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Southern Europe fell this week due to slow trading activity, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday May 9.The Southern European market remained in 'wait-and-see' mode with participants waiting for a final decision from the United States about its Section 232 import tariffs and an expected announcement related to a safeguard case in the EU, sources sai...Read More