US aluminium company Alcoa attributed a loss for the fourth quarter of 2017 to the closure of some operations and higher costs.The company reported a net loss of $196 million, primarily due to the shuttering of its Rockdale Operations site in Texas and the divestment of its Portovesme aluminium smelter in Italy. The quarterly results include $391 million worth of special items, which include both...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has appointed Robin Martin as its new head of market development, the exchange said. Robin is currently managing director for market infrastructure at the World Gold Council (WGC). He joined the organisation in November 2012. In July 2017, the LME and the WGC teamed up to launch LMEprecious which introduced...Read More
Swiss special and stainless steel producer Schmolz + Bickenbach (S+B) has increased the value of its bid to acquire a substantial part of French speciality steelmaker Asco Industries (Ascometal), it said late on Thursday January 18.S+B's has bid a total of ?,?195 million ($238.61 million) for Ascometal, including an ?,?82 million investment in the production facilities over the next four years, it...Read More
Robust nickel prices appear to be providing some support to East Asia's stainless steel market amid persistently weak demand.Chinese producers are raising their offers for both stainless cold-rolled coil and hot-rolled sheet due to higher prices for nickel this month, despite soft demand and low bids from buyers.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange is averaging at $12,649 p...Read More
Mexico's Ministry of Economy has removed definitive countervailing duties on certain imports of graphite electrodes from China and the United Kingdom, according to the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas).Effective immediately, Mexico will not apply duties to graphite electrode imports from China or the UK, Irepas said on Wednesday January 17. Mexico imposed duties as hig...Read More
Healthy profit margins sent China's crude steel output to a new high in 2017 after dropping closer to the 800-million-tonne mark in the two preceding years. The world's second-largest economy produced a total of 831.73 million tonnes of crude steel last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday January 18. This is up 5.7% from a year earlier, the burea...Read More
Gold trading began on a positive note today with prices fractionally higher to trade up $2 to $3 on the day. This trend would continue for the better part of the trading session. Toward the end of the trading session, the dollar index began to strengthen and move out of negative territory. After trading for four consecutive days of higher highs, traders have bid the precious yellow metal lower to...Read More
(Kitco News) - Selling pressure in gold picked up late in Wednesday’s trading session as the U.S. dollar found some new momentum and equities see its best day in more than a month.Within a 30-minute period, more than 2 million ounces were sold, pushing Comex gold futures prices to session lows. However, the market continues to hold critical support levels, according to some analysts.Februar...Read More
(Kitco News) - Goldman Sachs’ much talked about commodities-trading team surprised the markets this week as it reported the worst annual performance in the company’s history in 2017, down 75% in net revenue. This coincided with Goldman’s bearish gold forecasts that never came to be.Commodities trading revenues dropped from $1.1 billion in 2016 to below $300 million last year, Blo...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices were modestly up in early afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday. Some minor profit-taking early saw gold traders then step in to buy the dip when the U.S. dollar index could not hold its early gains and dropped to a 3.5-year low. February Comex gold was last up $3.70 an ounce at $1,340.80. March Comex silver was last up $0.016 at $17.20 an ounce.Gold and silver market bulls a...Read More
(Kitco News) - Kitco aficionados, it is now time to have your say in where you think gold prices are heading in the short-term.Will gold prices go higher, lower or remain unchanged next week? Kitco readers will have until 9 a.m. EDT, Friday to cast their vote. The results will be tabulated and released after noon (12 PM EDT) along with the results from our market professional survey.Readers can al...Read More
(Kitco News) - While gold faces a lot of headwinds at the start of a new year, analysts at Scotiabank said that this could be the market’s biggest strength.In a recent report, the analysts explained that gold remains an attractive diversifier as global equity markets continue to hit record levels.“Perhaps it is because of the strength in other markets and the apparent complacency regar...Read More
(Kitco News) - Despite reaching all-time highs this week, one famed investor says that any long-term rallies in the market won’t hold. Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and his latest book “Why The Rich Are Getting Richer,” said that a market crash is imminent within the next two to three years. The S&P 500 Index has sustained its second-...Read More
(Kitco News) - Those heady Bitcoin-U.S. dollar traders who climbed on board the bullish bandwagon after prices pushed above $10,000 a few weeks ago are now under water--after many had doubled their money in just a short time. Bitcoin-U.S. Dollar prices have careened lower in late-morning trading Wednesday and hit a six-week low. The weak-handed longs are bailing out of their big losing positions,...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday January 17.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday January 17.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower for the second day in a row at the close on Wednesday January 17, while metals continue to retreat from earlier highs. Copper prices continue to fall, dropping a further $44 per tonne from Tuesday's close price, coming under pressure from profit-taking and concerns of Chinese demand."Copper pulls back to a 3.5-week low after strong...Read More
Red Kite is undergoing a restructuring process "to consolidate regulatory oversight" but day-to-day operations were not affected, with all funds and the physical copper business performing "well in line with expectations," it confirmed on Wednesday January 17. Metal Bulletin reported earlier this month that London-based RK Capital Management LLP had entered into a restructuring review that "m...Read More
The primary aluminium market was in a deficit of 1.57 million tonnes for the first 11 months of last year, driven mainly by soaring demand, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said on Wednesday January 17. This represents a substantial increase from the 770,000 tonne deficit recorded for the whole of 2016, according to the release. Global demand growth, at 2.6%, in January-November 2017 outpaced...Read More
South African manganese ore producers face delays of up to two weeks to ship material after derailments disrupted deliveries to the country's Saldana port. "Derailments caused severe delays; shipments have been pushed back by two weeks," one miner told Metal Bulletin. A second supplier source said he was unable to book material because shipping slots had not been confirmed. South African state tra...Read More