The US-China trade war has become a reality, but gold remains in the red. The absence of safe-haven bids makes the yellow metal more vulnerable to strong US non-farm payrolls report. The US-China trade war has become a reality after multiple rounds of failed talks, still, gold, a classic safe-haven asset, is reporting marginal losses at the time of writing. The US President Trump's initial r...Read More
SD Friday Wrap: Everyone is asking it so keeping in line with the question of the week, "Is the bottom in?". Here's some insight...Editor's Note: As a reminder, last week we changed posting of the SD Metals & Markets podcast to Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. EST. Elijah said it's going to be a good one this week, so be sure to tune in!*****Every once in a while I like to summarize my feelings in two words...Read More
After a two-year period of super-fast growth, the expansion of London Metal Exchange warehouses in Asia slowed significantly over the past year. But what lies behind the change - especially as LME storage space in Europe has also continued to dwindle? Warehouse space at the nine LME delivery locations in Asia grew by just 3% to 1,608,813 sq m in the year to June 2018, largely due t...Read More
As steel markets grow in maturity and look towards the use of derivatives and hedging tools, it is probably a good time to consider how hedging can increase the transparency of steel pricing and reducing the risks of volatile price trends. Steel trading has traditionally been based on fixed spot prices, with no long-term contracts between buyers and sellers to ensure stability of supply. And trade...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange fell by 1.7% at the close of trading on Friday July 6, ending the week more than 4% lower while ongoing macroeconomic pressure continues to hinder the complex. Closing below $14,000 per tonne for the first time since April 13, nickel prices continued to suffer against a backdrop of falling LME inventory. Total LME nickel stocks are at their lowest si...Read More
Katoen Natie Singapore (Jurong) Pte Ltd has withdrawn from London Metal Exchange warehouse services with immediate effect, with the operator and name of the shed switching to Henry Bath Singapore, the LME said on Friday July 6. The Belgian-based logistics provider had listed Singapore as an LME-approved warehouse in November 2016 and had only 75 tonnes of stock in May, according to the latest inve...Read More
Low-alumina Brazilian iron ore remained strongly priced on Friday July 6 while higher-alumina Australian products were traded at wider discounts.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $63.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.70 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines Index: $62.22 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.31 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $51.52 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down...Read More
By Amrith Ramkumar and Ben St. Clair Gold prices were slightly lower Friday after the latest jobs report showed the economy added more jobs than expected last month, while the unemployment rate edged slightly higher. Gold for August delivery was down 0.2% on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have edged higher since hitting a 2018 low earlier this week, though some an...Read More
By Ben St. Clair LONDON--Gold prices ticked down Friday, as risk appetite failed to materialize despite an escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The precious metal was down 0.26% at $12,54.51 a troy ounce in late morning trade, threatening the metal's modest gains this week. Copper, meanwhile, also edged down by 0.36% to $6,301 a metric ton. U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Ch...Read More
This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 6, 2018). By Scott Patterson and Rebecca Davis O'Brien American authorities are probing ties between Glencore PLC and an Israeli diamond merchant, according to people familiar with the matter, embroiling the mining giant in foreign a...Read More
SANTIAGO, July 6 (Reuters) - Labor negotiations at BHP Billiton Plc Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest, are entering into the final three weeks before a 30-month contract expires at the end of July.The closely watched talks come little more than one year after failure to reach a labor deal at the sprawling deposit led to a 44-day strike that jolted the global copper market.How are...Read More
(Bloomberg) - Zambia is shelving projects that aren't almost complete and will renegotiate loans as it seeks to contain ballooning debt and entice the International Monetary Fund to restart talks on a support package.The IMF has warned the southern African nation is at high risk of debt distress, while investors have grown skeptical about the amount of external loans the country claims it has inc...Read More
LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Private equity-backed Chilean miner Mantos Copper is looking to find a buyer to help finance the expansion of mines it bought from Anglo American in 2015, it said.The company's owner, a consortium led by British investment company Audley Capital Advisors and Orion Mine Finance Group, bought the Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde copper mines from Anglo for $300 million plus $...Read More
The twelve key talks coming up in Chile that will keep copper enthusiasts on their toes. (Data: Chile's Gov't. | Graph: MINING.com.)Copper forecasters are keeping a close eye on Chile these days, as the top-producing country prepares for another busy six months of labour talks.From the 32 contracts set to expire in 2018 at the country's mines, there are still a dozen to be negotiated before year-e...Read More
Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), Tanzania's No.1 gold producer, said Friday production fell sharply again in the second quarter of the year as a long-dragged row with the East African nation's government over taxes continues to hit the miner's bottom line.The company, majority owned by Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), said gold production for the three months to June dropped 36% to 133,778 ounces as operat...Read More
(Updates with early afternoon trading)By David RandallNEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - World stock markets rose and the euro climbed to a three-week peak on Friday as the threat of tariffs by the United States and China on billions of dollars of trade became a reality, though concerns about the conflict escalating capped the appetite for risk.MSCI's measure of world equities markets .MIWD00000PUS rose...Read More
Investing.com - Gold prices remained lower on Friday as the U.S. dollar weakened and U.S. trade tariffs against China went into effect.Comex gold futures for August delivery decreased 0.16% to $1,256.80 a troy ounce as of 10:24 AM ET (14:24 GMT).Trade conflict between the two biggest economies in the world began in force on Friday, when U.S. tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods went into...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 6 (SMM) – SHFE base metals closed mixed on Friday July 6 after the US launched the opening salvo in the trade war with China at noon. Copper fell over 1%, nickel, lead and tin dipped while zinc and aluminium inched up.The ferrous complex rose across the board except for hot-rolled coil. Iron ore and coking coal rose over 0.7%, rebar and coke nudged up.Copper: The 1809 contract...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 6 (SMM) – This is a roundup of China’s base metals output in June. SMM surveyed major producers in the market to obtain first-hand information for calculation.CopperChina's output of refined copper in June dipped 3.3% on the month but rose 10.5% on the year and came in at 722,500 mt, SMM survey showed. Output during the first half of the year stood at 4.33 million mt,...Read More