Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves from the past week in the world's metal markets. Base metals The persistent widening backwardation on the July/August spread has pushed aluminium premiums in Rotterdam to their lowest this year, with bearish sentiment sweeping the market. Premiums for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) for the third quarter of 2018 hav...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading on Friday June 29. SHFE nickel gained nearly 1.1%, while zinc and lead inched up. Copper lost 0.21%, aluminium fell 0.32%, and tin closed 0.39% lower. The ferrous complex rose across the board with coke leading the gains with a rise of nearly 3.1%. Rebar jumped 1.9%, iron ore grew 1.6%, hot-rolled coil at 1.4% higher,...Read More

Lower lows since April.A shift in the price pattern from 2016 and 2017.Trade issues dominate and threaten risk-off.Gold is oversold on the short- and medium-term charts.Silver finally follows - volatility ahead?Gold has a long history as an asset that thrives during periods of fear and uncertainty in markets. The yellow metal is a barometer for inflationary pressures, but it is also the longest-st...Read More

Gold fell to $1,245 yesterday - the lowest level since December 2017. Falling gold risk reversals show rising demand for gold puts. Gold (XAU/USD) fell to $1,245 - the lowest level since December 2017 and looks set to extend losses further towards $1,235 (50-month moving average). The sharp drop in gold prices has boosted demand for XAU puts (bearish bets on gold), as indicated by risk reversals...Read More

Governments around the world are keen to prove their green credentials by announcing target dates for the end of sales of vehicles powered by internal combustion engine vehicles and their total replacement by electric ones.The actual demands of different governments vary. Norway, at the forefront of EV take-up, originally believed it could phase out its subsidies by 2015: now, the target has moved...Read More

What's it going to take for gold market timers to throw in the towel and turn solidly bearish? I ask because, even though gold GCQ8, +0.26% has been performing dismally, the typical gold timer I monitor has become only mildly bearish. According to contrarian analysis, a low-risk buying opportunity won't come until gold timers are aggressively pessimistic and despondent. So far this month, for exa...Read More

Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have been volatile throughout June, with macroeconomic-driven price dips clouding investor sentiment. The three-month nickel price has fluctuated by $1,340 between a monthly low of $14,505 per tonne and the June high of $15,845 per tonne so far this month. Trade tensions and a strong dollar are weighing on nickel prices, while market participants are expe...Read More

Governments around the world are keen to prove their green credentials by announcing target dates for the end of sales of vehicles powered by internal combustion engine vehicles and their total replacement by electric ones.The actual demands of different governments vary. Norway, at the forefront of EV take-up, originally believed it could phase out its subsidies by 2015: now, the target has moved...Read More

Chinese steel prices have been rangebound in June despite plunging inventory levels, with trade war fears and economic jitters keeping market participants on the sidelines for most of the month.Lower steel stocks held by mills and traders typically cause jumps in futures and physical spot trading prices, but this has not happened recently because Chinese market participants are still assessing the...Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday June 29, ending the week on a slightly brighter note despite broad pressure from trade tensions and dollar strength. Continuing to struggle, zinc prices made a brief recovery during the day, moving back above $2,900 per tonne before drifting back toward $2,850 per tonne.The metal's three-month price made...Read More

Gold futures finish lower Thursday to suffer a fourth consecutive loss, as the precious metal continued to be walloped by recent momentum in the U.S. dollar. August gold GCQ8, +0.26% fell $5.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,251 an ounce-the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since Dec. 13. The four consecutive session losses also marked the lengthiest selloff since a four-day slide ended Feb...Read More

The persistent widening backwardation on the July/August spread has pushed aluminium premiums in Rotterdam to their lowest this year, with bearish sentiment sweeping the market.The benchmark Rotterdam duty-unpaid P1020 aluminium in-warehouse premium has fallen to $85-95 per tonne on Friday June 29 from $90-100 per tonne assessed on June 19, which held for 10 assessments. This is over 40% lower tha...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market remained quiet on Friday June 29 on subdued demand and sustained bearish sentiment. "Despite the lack of trades, premium materials should still be assessed at around $195-200 per tonne fob Australia. It would be challenging to get a premium cargo below this range," an Indian trader said. "There are too many uncertainties at the moment. The looming China-US trade war...Read More

Gold has been weak for the past several weeks. So what gives?Gold prices have been trading in a tightening wedge pattern (between its rising trendline and horizontal resistance - see point 1) for several months. Bouncing back and forth in a narrowing range.The latest test of horizontal resistance failed yet again, leading to a reversal that is trying to breakdown below the rising trend line (A).T...Read More

Mining-union leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, who fled to Canada more than a decade ago after being accused of embezzlement, is on the short list for a senate seat in Mexico with presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's party Morena.In an election cycle filled with colorful characters and some tough-talking, the nomination of the polemic union rep and ex-fugitive caused some head-scra...Read More

Chile's government is giving state-owned Codelco $1 billion in "extraordinary" capitalization to help it fund an ambitious plan aimed at upgrading its aging mines and dealing with dwindling ore grades.The country's mining minister, Baldo Prokurica, said the backing was essential for Codelco to keep up production numbers and so remain as the world's No.1 copper miner, Diario Financiero reports...Read More

Rio Tinto wants copper, and it's ready to pay top-dollar.The global miner would be willing to fork out a large premium over market value to secure a prime asset as it tries to reduce its reliance on iron ore, company and banking sources told Reuters.If it can't land a big copper project, it is weighing the cumulative power of a series of more modest acquisitions to increase its exposure to a metal...Read More

South Africa's Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), the precious metal miner target of several lawsuits over mounting deaths at its operations, said Friday it has inked an agreement with Canada's Regulus Resources (TSX-V: REG), and its newly formed subsidiary Aldebaran Resources, to jointly unlock value at the Altar copper-gold project, in Argentina.Under the terms of the deal, Sibanye's whol...Read More

China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is said to be ready to start building a battery factory in Germany, planting a flag on the grounds of car giants BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler AG as part of a plan to settle close to most European automakers.Plant expected to be at the German state of Thuringia.According to anonymous sources quoted by Reuters, an official signing ceremony will take plac...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – Copper inventory in Shanghai bonded area stood at 492,500 mt as of Friday June 29, compared with 494,000 mt last Friday. Customs clearance losses were still seen this week amid thin trading of imported copper, SMM learned. Read More