At this year's LME Week, the tone was generally positive across all commodities and the view is that the good times are "a coming". Julian Kettle, Vice Chairman of Metals & Mining and Rory Townsend, Research Analyst for our Institutional Investor Service, discuss highlights and learnings from LME Week.Highs and lows from LME WeekWe are seeing some prices move due to the electric vehicle excite...Read More

UPDATE: 22 June 2018OPEC has delivered a compromise that shows the commitment to unity that Saudi Arabia - and Russia - hoped for. Both countries worked hard to address the various issues facing the group and its non-OPEC partners.Faced with an uncertain supply outlook for two key OPEC members - Iran and Venezuela - and pressure from the US government to address high prices, OPEC delivered an agre...Read More

Things are looking up for exploration as we start to see  a long overdue return to profitability - for those companies still in the game. From single digit returns just a couple of years ago, we're now headed back to double-digits. Many exploration costs have halved versus their 2014 peak, helped by quicker drilling of most wells.We should take stock of the great successes of late, with signi...Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended predominantly lower on Tuesday July 10 amid mounting trade tensions.After a small rebound at the close of trading yesterday, zinc prices fell 2.8% today while struggling against a tight fundamental backdrop. Zinc has fallen more than 17% in a month and is down nearly $1,000 per tonne from the 2018 high of $3,582 per tonne reached on February 15. "We e...Read More

LONDON/HOUSTON/SINGAPORE, June 22, 2018 - OPEC has delivered a compromise that shows the commitment to unity that Saudi Arabia - and Russia - hoped for.  Both countries worked hard to address the various issues facing the group and its non-OPEC partners. Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, macro oils, said: "Faced with an uncertain supply outlook for two key OPEC members - Iran and Venezu...Read More

This morning, Concho Resources Inc. announced it will acquire RSP Permian Inc. in a US$9.5 billion all-stock deal. The transaction is the largest US upstream M&A deal since 2012 and the largest purely Permian deal ever.Concho will acquire 92,000 net acres of top-tier Permian acreage, augmenting its existing 550,000 net acres. Each company's position spans both the Midland and Delaware basins....Read More

Despite the prolonged low-price oil market over the past year, North American refiners have largely remained in good financial health - but changes in the supply and demand landscape are creating uncertainties. OPEC production cuts, the lifted ban for US exports, and decarbonisation legislation are triggering push-me-pull-you scenarios making it more difficult to see how refiners' bottom lines wil...Read More

UPDATE: This week's OPEC meeting in Vienna culminated today in a smooth rollover of production cuts through 2018, with a potential escape clause set for their June meeting. OPEC and non-OPEC countries - notably Russia - agreed to keep the current production restraint in place through 2018, which matches the base case assumption for our price forecast from July 2017.With the rollover in place and t...Read More

Intek Group has announced that its copper producer subsidiary KME has reached an agreement to take over Germany's Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing (MKM), another major participant in the European copper industry.Italy-based copper group Intek released a statement on Friday July 6 announcing that its fully controlled subsidiary KME had reached an agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the indirect i...Read More

At the outset, 2018 seems to be a year full of opportunity for upstream companies.After three years of fighting to survive the price collapse, companies are ready to deliver and to continue rebuild in anticipation of a new era of lower prices. We identify five key strategic themes for the new year that point to a turning point in the evolution from 'survive' to 'thrive'.1. Building, bolstering, de...Read More

Oil and gas companies are set to enter 2018 in their best shape since oil prices collapsed. In its 2018 Upstream Outlook, released today, global natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie believes many will now focus on demonstrating they can thrive at low prices.Tom Ellacott, Senior Vice President, said: "Now that the belt-tightening is done, companies are looking to deliver profitable growth a...Read More

Mark Homer has returned to Gerald Metals as an exclusive consultant to the refined copper trading department, with a particular focus on Africa and the Middle East, Metal Bulletin has learned. Homer, who previously worked at Gerald Metals from August 1992 to June 2003 and was most recently at Cliveden Trading,...Read More

Which is the cart, which the horse? All economists know a strong US$ means weak commodity prices and vice versa, even if the precise mechanics are not wholly understood. The dollar is currently near record highs against major currencies, a situation at odds with similarly buoyant commodity prices. Is a reverse in the US$'s strength on the cards? What would it mean for commodity producers?Producers...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Tuesday July 10, led by a significant drop in zinc prices, while ongoing uncertainty around Sino-US trade relations hampers the complex.Falling more than 3% over the morning, zinc prices are trading at their lowest point since June 2017 as the metal continues to struggle against a tight fundamental backdrop....Read More

The old traders' adage 'better to travel than arrive' has proved true in 2017. Last year was the year to hitch a ride on oil, Brent near doubling to US$55/bbl from the Q1 lows. Investors piled into oil-leveraged equities through 2016, the MSCI Energy index surging 23% and outperforming the broader market by 18%.The nagging feeling though was that prices had already made the big move, by year end e...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has revealed thewinners of its 2018 Excellence Awards scholarships and grants. The group will award a total of $65,000 -raised through its Awards for Excellence Gala, individual member donations andsponsorships - to 45 women. Twelve of those recipients are students inprograms focused on jewelry making and design. "It is important that WJA encourag...Read More

If success is measured in averting another looming supply glut and bolstering OPEC budget deficits, then the nine month extension of production cuts to March 2018 is a triumph of pragmatism.However, the firmer oil price we expect can only embolden the already resurgent US tight oil industry which is on course to displace the 1 million b/d OPEC has cut within the year.Three main aspects of the deci...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales rose at Italian jeweler Damiani Group during the past fiscalyear as retail growth offset a decline in its wholesale business. Total revenue increased 1.6% to $192.6 million (EUR 164.1million) in the 12 months ending March 31, the company reported. Retail salesclimbed 13% to $101.4 million (EUR 86.4 million), accounting for 53% of totalsales, while wholesale revenue dropped 9% to...Read More

Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday July 10.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, with most of the complex oscillating either side of unchanged, while zinc was the early session's weakest performer with a drop of 1.7%.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures re...Read More

Are we in a new oil cycle? Or a different kind of cycle, or perhaps there's no longer a cycle at all? The advent of tight oil has already changed the supply side of oil markets; the threat to demand from climate change policy and technologies like electric vehicles also challenges the traditional view of oil market fundamentals.These secular shifts increase the risk that oil prices might be lower...Read More