Deliverable zinc stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE)-approved warehouses rose by 6,841 tonnes or 7.6% to 96,957 tonnes as of Friday June 15 from a week earlier.The biggest inflow this week was into SIPG Logistics sheds at 5,439 tonnes of the metal.Sluggish consumption triggered the second consecutive weekly rise in zinc stocks."Supply from zinc refineries is OK but downstream consumers' buy...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 10 points in pre-opening trade. Traders are responding to President Trump's approval of $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goodsToday is Quadruple Witching Day on U.S. markets, the last trade date for June index and equity futures and options.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the June Empire S...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part lower on the morning of Friday June 15, led by a 0.6% fall in zinc prices to $3,161 per tonne.While nickel gained 0.3%, the rest are off between 0.1% and 0.2%. Copper prices were recently quoted at $7,153 per tonne.Volumes have been average with 5,356 lots traded as of 0707 London time. This follows a day of we...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were largely flat on Friday June 15, with traders and buyers in wait-and-see mode before the country's upcoming three-day public holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,310-4,320 yuan ($674-675) per tonne, narrowed by 10 yuan per tonne at both ends of the range.Northern China (Tianjin): 4,240-4,250 yuan per tonne, narrowed down by 10 yuan per t...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower again during morning trading on Friday June 15, despite nickel recouping some of its losses.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower again during morning trading on Friday June 15, despite nickel recouping some of its losses.After falling over $300 per tonne on Thursday, nickel is the only base metal to be t...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Friday June 15, pressured by a strengthening US dollar.The US dollar index stood at 94.95 on Thursday' close, up 0.13% from Wednesday's close, supported by the US Federal Open Market Committee announcement of a 25-basis-point-rise in interest rates at its meeting on Wednesday and hintin...Read More

A Bloomberg article recently joined the chorus of stock market naysayers with a specious claim that the current record optimism displayed by Small Business surveys signaled that a market correction was due. Panics can occur almost anytime, but this theory lacks real evidence as have most clarion calls for a bear market the past several years.Contrarianism has a place in forecasting,...Read More

China's ferrous futures were mixed in the morning trading session on Friday June 15, with coke futures up, HRC futures down, and those of rebar, iron ore and coking coal largely flat. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,877 yuan ($606) per tonne, down 2 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,954 yuan per tonne, down 13 yuan per tonne Dalian Commod...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

You can find some incredible profit opportunities when people invest with their hearts instead of their heads. And one of easiest - and most lucrative - emotions to exploit is unnecessary pessimism.Folks can turn against companies for flimsy reasons. Then the boycotts start, nervous investors sell their shares, and some traders may even actively bet on the company to fail.In my experience, this ca...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Friday June 15:Minor metals Antimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $8,050-8,300 per tonne from $8,150-8,400 Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $8,000-8,250 per tonne from $8,100-8,350 Cobalt MB free market high grade, $/lb: $40.60-41.75 per lb from $41.00-42.15 Cobalt MB free market low...Read More

The Fed raised rates yesterday, as I predicted months ago. I don't say this to pat myself on the back.The point is, I use a rigorous scientific method to analyze and predict markets. I don't guess or take positions just to get attention. I constantly apply new data to test my original hypothesis. If the data confirms my hypothesis, I stick with it. If the data conflicts with it, I step back and re...Read More

Jerome Powell has the situation in hand."The economy is doing very well," the Federal Reserve chairman assured reporters after yesterday's 0.25% rate hike.There was more:Most people who want to find jobs are finding them, and unemployment and inflation are low... We think that gradually returning interest rates to a more normal level as the economy strengthens is the best way the Fed can help sust...Read More

European base prices for flat and long stainless steel products were unchanged this week amid generally balanced and stable market conditions, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday June 15.Demand is healthy, both domestically and for export, with one distributor noting particularly high interest from the UK and Eastern Europe, although buying from Turkey has slowed, possibly as a result of the wea...Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices moved down over the past week on decreased demand.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,500-15,900 yuan ($2,422-2,485) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday June 14, down 200-300 yuan per tonne from a week earlier. Environmental inspections resulted in the supp...Read More

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp expects to more than triple its cobalt consumption in five years' time, industry sources said, even as the company aims to develop cobalt-free automotive batteries in the near future.Panasonic is the exclusive battery cell supplier for all new Tesla vehicles, including the mass-market Model 3 electric car. Sources say cobalt-free batteries are many years...Read More

All MB non-ferrous European scrap prices were unchanged on Friday June 15.Read More

A deep space gateway near the moon could one day serve as a staging point for spacecraft carrying humans to Mars and beyond.NASA proposed the concept last year and two student teams with ties to Colorado School of Mines are now working to develop the best conceptual mission to help NASA take advantage of that future gateway and deep space transport systems.Project POSEIDON (Polar Sample Extraction...Read More

Big mining blastedMining and metals investors were offloading the sector's big names on Friday over fears of the impact of a trade war between the US and China, which is responsible for nearly half the world's industrial metal demand and two-thirds of the world's seaborne trade in steelmaking raw materials.Copper fell nearly 3% to $3.13 a pound or $6,900 a tonne, pushing the bellwether metal back...Read More

...the last 4 hours have seen around 260,000 contracts dumped through Gold futures or around $34 billion notional!Read full newsRead More