The threat of Section 232 tariffs on aluminium imports from Canada into the United States has, like the great white shark following the Brody family in the universally panned film, 'Jaws: The Revenge,' returned - akin to a truly awful horror movie franchise. And that's how Neil Herrington, senior vice president for the Americas, US Chamber of Commerce, views reports that the US administration is c...Read More

Is it India? The United States? Canada? Or how about...by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportOver the past decade, these top five countries were the leading silver investors in the world. From 2010 to 2019, citizens in these countries invested over two billion ounces of silver bars and coins. Which country was the largest investor of silver? Actually, I was surprised by the data.Since 2010, i...Read More

All things, both good and evil, come to an end. So it will be with the great silver price manipulation...by Ted Butler of Butler Research via Silver SeekAll things, both good and evil, come to an end. So it will be with the great silver price manipulation, which I date as having existed, in its COMEX-orchestrated version from 1983. Before that, of course, silver prices were never truly free,...Read More

The LME three-month aluminium price was the standout performer on Friday June 26, breaching nearby resistance despite limited turnover, while a steady rise in LME copper futures prompted a tightening of the red metal's forward curve.Aluminium's outright price on the LME closed at $1,601.50 per tonne on Friday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $1,571 per tonne, while turnover was lower th...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Friday June 26, topping gains across the complex despite thin turnover, while the ongoing drawdown of LME lead stocks saw the heavy metal's underlying price stay elevated.Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $12,665 per tonne, more than 1.5% higher than Thursday's closing price of $12,...Read More

Markets were mainly firmer this morning, Friday June 26, with the base metals up across the board and most Asian-Pacific equities indices showing gains, while gold prices were consolidating - all of which suggesting a slight risk-on sentiment.Pre-market major European equity index futures were up by around 0.7%, following gains in the United States on Thursday.Global trade dropped by 12.1% in Apri...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Poised for a technical breakoutFears over a second wave of Covid-19 continue to grow, forcing prices of aluminium and the other base metals to take a pause. Our base-case scenario is that countries will respond more efficiently to contain the virus spread, so economic activity and metal demand should continue to r...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Depending on which market one looks at, prices of coated steels have either risen, fallen or remained roughly the same since mid-May. One crucial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept the world this year is the decoupling it appears to have created between global steel markets.In China, prices of most steel products...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent announcement about Vale's resumption of operations in Brazil, along with new concerns about a slump in demand because of heavy rainfall in China, has resulted in the end of the iron ore price rally. There has also been pressure from tight steel spreads, with the operating margins for Chinese steel mills shrinking...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More

Indian local secondary billet prices increased by 300 rupees per tonne week-on-week on Friday June 26 on improved demand from sustained buying by makers of finished steel products.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on June 26 up by 300 rupees per tonne to 27,600-27,800 rupees ($366-369) per tonne, compared with last week's assessment at 27,300-27,500 r...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States during the week ending Friday June 26. China The domestic market was propelled higher by continued tight availability, with increased spot demand from mill restocking ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on June 25-27.Export prices followed the domestic market up, despite major suppliers admitting...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

The spot market for copper concentrate remained quiet in the week ended Friday June 26 due to Chinese market participants away for the national Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index fell to $46.80 per tonne / 4.68 cents per lb on Friday from $47.30 per tonne / 4.73 cents per lb a week earlier. ...Read More

En+ Group is working to develop technology that will fundamentally change the aluminium smelting process with the goal of further reducing emissions and potentially becoming carbon negative, the company's chairman said in a digital interview with Fastmarkets. According to Lord Gregory Barker, the move is part of a drive to not just produce aluminium using clean energy sources but to find innovativ...Read More

The closure of the Chuquicamata copper smelter in Chile could last up to two weeks, Fastmarkets learned on Friday June 26. The exact duration of the closure will "depend on the number of [Covid-19] cases found," with tests being carried out on staff, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets. Meanwhile, the refinery continues to operate at one third of capacity to process exist...Read More

A growth in investing based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is rapidly advancing a widespread market appreciation of low-carbon products, including aluminium, the chairman of En+ Group said. Lord Gregory Barker said that while mainstream investors previously did not turn their attention to so-called "green investing," there is now an increasing recognition that a large, geopol...Read More

Carbon pricing will be a key driver in the transition to a decarbonized economy and will form a central part of the cost of aluminium in the future, according to the chairman of En+ Group.Gregory, Lord Barker, told Fastmarkets during a webinar interview this week that levying a tax on the carbon content of fuels would make it more expensive to produce or consume fossil fuels and products with a hi...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Friday June 26, topping gains across the complex despite thin turnover, while the ongoing drawdown of LME lead stocks saw the heavy metal's underlying price stay elevated.Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $12,665 per tonne, more than 1.5% higher than Thursday's closing price of $12,...Read More

Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States ended the week mostly steady, but more sources expressed concerns over surging Covid-19 cases across the country, saying the rising number of infections may further hurt the steel industry and the economy as a whole.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24 per hundredweight ($480 per short ton) on Fr...Read More