Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Raw materials A cargo of premium hard coking coal fetched a significantly higher price on Thursday, though market participants have dismissed the transaction as one-off.China's coke prices have peaked, sources said this week, with downside concerns arising over the decline in export activity and th...Read More
Coated coil prices in Turkey increased in the week ended Friday June 29 but demand was moderate in the local market. Domestic prices One northern producer in Turkey increased its coated coil prices by $10-15 per tonne effective from Monday June 25. The producer is now offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $775 per tonne ex-works, up from $760 per tonne ex-works last week. Another nor...Read More
Domestic beam prices have risen in the United States after early June price hikes from Nucor and Gerdau, while import prices remain flat on a lack of market activity following the implementation of Section 232 tariffs against steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.Prices for domestic W8-x8-inch beams are now $43.50 per hundredweight fob mill ($870 per ton), up 3.6% from...Read More
Export prices for CIS-origin billet remain under pressure from slow trading conditions in the country's key markets of Turkey and the wider Middle East, sources told Metal Bulletin, although bids are steady for now.Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index was $519 per tonne fob Black Sea on Friday June 29 compared with $518 per tonne fob Black Sea on the...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday June 29:Noble alloys Molybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $10.60-10.70 per lb from $10.80-10.90 Molybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib $10.90-11.00 per Ib from $11.20-11.40 Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $26.40-26.50 per kg from $26.60-26.90 Ferro-molybdenum US 6...Read More
China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices fell further on Thursday June 28 on a negative short-term outlook due to sporadic buying and while carbonate prices were unchanged this week, they were still under pressure with downstream buyers starting to receive lower offers. Lithium hydroxide prices continue to fall on negative sentiment. Lithium carbonate prices still under d...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
Today's modest price increase has had little effect on the weekly tally. As of 3:30 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures (August 2018 Comex contract) are trading $1.80 higher on the day, and currently fixed at $1252.80. Considering gold opened on Monday at approximately $1,272 per ounce, this week's activity resulted in a decline of $20. Today's modest advance is not based in any part on buyers...Read More
(Kitco News) - Analysts are struggling to pinpoint gold’s future direction after prices hit a 12-month low earlier this week, yet many agree that the yellow metal is oversold and is due for a rebound.Gold prices continue to trade under heavy pressure on Friday, closing down what was a very tough week, where gold saw all of its year-to-date gains erased while ignoring escalating trade tension...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States has quieted again after several bookings were heard a week earlier.In the week ended Friday June 29 no new bookings were heard. Metal Bulletin's price for US pig iron imports was $410-415 per tonne cfr on Friday June 29, softening from $415-420 per tonne cfr a week ago after word came of bookings below offer levels....Read More
Brad Thrall, president of Alexco Resource shows the entrance to the silver company's Flame & Moth underground project. The company expects production to start by the start of 2019 (Kitco News) - The silver market is struggling to gain traction as prices are at the bottom of their range near a six-month low, but there is growing optimism in Canada’s largest historic silver district. In a...Read More
(Kitco News) - While the gold market has been pretty uneventful since the start of summer, you wouldn’t know it in Canada’s Yukon Territory.Our editor Neils Christensen just returned from a week packed with mine tours and interviews from Canada’s great white North. Highlights include his interview with Ranj Pillai, the Minister of Energy & Mines for the Yukon government, who...Read More
Pig iron exporters from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have resumed sales after market silence over four weeks, although activity was slow on moderate demand. "United States buyers purchased a lot last month, this is why they won't buy a lot in July," one supplier told Metal Bulletin. "Meanwhile, Italy is still not ready to pay the same as the US price," he added. Metal Bulletin's ex...Read More
(Kitco News) - Sentiment in the precious metals market is clearly bearish in the near-term as Wall Street and Main Street both look for gold to slide further in the next week, based on the Kitco News weekly survey.In fact, this is the first week that Wall Street and Main Street both have been bearish at the same time since March 9.Fifteen market professionals took part in the survey. There were ei...Read More
(Kitco News) - TD Securities says gold may suffer more in the near term, but the Canadian bank looks for the precious metal to eventually recover as the U.S. dollar loses momentum and investors look for a hedge amid geopolitical and trade issues. In fact, the late-Thursday report from TDS strategists Bart Melek, Ryan McKay and Daniel Ghali forecast that gold will average $1,375 an ounce in the fin...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are slightly higher in early U.S. trading Friday. Gold prices did poke to a nearly 12-month low overnight, before rebounding a bit. The precious metals are getting a bit of a lift as the U.S. dollar index is trading solidly lower today on a corrective pullback after hitting a 12-month high on Thursday. August gold futures were last up $1.70 an ounce at $1,252....Read More
Global prices moved down in the week ended Friday June 29, with Turkish scrap import prices falling following cargoes booked at lower prices, Indian prices dipping while demand falters and US scrap prices slipping. Taiwanese scrap prices remained flat but demand was also down.Turkey importsThe Turkish deep-sea scrap market began the week quiet following continued uncertainty after general election...Read More
I have just returned from the annual Yukon Mining Alliance (YMA) Investment & Media Tour with a deeper understanding of the geologic history in the westernmost of Canada's three federal territories. Each year the YMA invites a select group of both industry professionals and resource investors on a 6-day whirlwind tour of numerous mine site camps throughout the region. The schedule and logistic...Read More
There have been some ugly periods in history for gold and silver, but this is one of the ugliest. Neither goldnor silver can catch a bid as they both continue to take the elevator down, making new lows almost every day. Sellers meet every rally attempt, whether it's the commercials or the banks; there is a 1,000-pound gorilla sitting on top of the market. The situation is starting to appear hopele...Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India slipped this week following a halt in buying, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday June 29.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India slipped $0.61 per tonne to $381.38 cfr Nhava Sheva on June 29, from $381.99 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on June 22.There were no deals heard this week, but off...Read More