SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures fell across the board on Friday March 2 with SHFE nickel down over 2% and lead fell close to 1%. The ferrous complex also closed lower except for a small rise in hot-rolled coil.Copper: The SHFE 1804 contract rallied twice during the day and hit a high at 52,700 yuan/mt. With support at 52,000 yuan/mt, SHFE copper is expected to be rangebound...Read More
Story by Jeff DesjardinsCourtesy of: Visual CapitalistChina's staggering demand for commodities>50% of all steel, cement, nickel, and copper goes thereThe Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.It's said that in China, a new skyscraper is built every five days.China is building often, and they are building higher. In fact, just last year, China completed 77 of the wor...Read More
The European Steel Association, Eurofer, has welcomed the European Commission's pledge of "appropriate and swift measures" after the United States finally announced Section 232 trade tariffs.US president Donald Trump announced the imposition of import duties of 25% on steel and 10% aluminium on March 1. "We welcome the [EC] announcement [that] appropriate and swift measures will be taken...Read More
(Bloomberg) - The union representative on Codelco's board of directors fears a proposal by Chile's incoming government to split the giant copper producer in two is a first step toward privatization.Chile's incoming government is working on a plan to break up Codelco into northern and southern divisions, Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica told La Tercera newspaper last week. The new cabinet led by P...Read More
Colin Bird, chief executive at Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR), caught up with Proactive's Andrew Scott to discuss the recently released drill results from three of their first four holes at the Star Zinc project in Zambia, which he says showed very high value zinc intersections.There were also high values found of silver and germanium (Ge), a metal used in microscopes, cameras and as an alloying...Read More
** Shares of gun makers rebounding for a second day on Fri, evenafter Smith & Wesson-owner American Outdoor Brands gives weak qtrly outlook** AOBC up 1.9 pct, and rival Sturm Ruger & Company jumping 5 pct** Blackrock Inc said it has started asking gunmakers tough questions about use of their firearms in massshootings; Index fund operator BLK is largest shareholder inAOBC and RGR ** Blackro...Read More
Chile, the world's No. 1 copper producer and one of the top lithium suppliers, is expected to attract about $60 billion in new mines and expansions over the next 20 years, the country's minister of mining says.According to Aurora Williams, miners with operations in the country currently spend $15 billion on support services a year, so the government has set an ambitious goal of helping locals to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index edged down slightly from a six-week high to 90.2 following the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the US economy was not overheating and President Donald Trump’s announcement of imposing global tariffs on steel and aluminium...Read More
* Trump's tariffs announcement poses headache for Fed* Markets still betting on U.S. interest rate hike in MarchBy Howard Schneider and Ann SaphirWASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve digestedthe Trump administration's massive tax cuts and plan to boostspending with barely a hiccup, but Washington's sudden push forsteep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports could saddle theU.S. centr...Read More
Cobus Loots, chief executive of Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF), tells Proactive they've begun to increase production again at the Barberton mine complex in South Africa after reaching a new high-grade gold zone.Barberton, which comprises the Fairview, Sheba and Consort mines, has seen a rise in average grades to 11.5g/t in February from 8.7g/t during July - December. Meet Scancell Holdi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) -Copper: LME copper fell to a low of $6,858.5/mt last night while SHFE copper closed at 52,520 yuan/mt. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,850-6,920/mt today with the SHFE 1805 contract at 52,300-52,800 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are seen widening to 210-130 yuan/mt as sellers were keen to destock.Aluminium: LME aluminium rebounded and hit a high at $2,164.5/mt as US President...Read More
Turkish steel exports to the United States will not be seriously affected by trade sanctions under Section 232 as long as the 25% tariff is applied equally to all countries, the Turkish Steel Exporters Assn (??IB) said on Friday March 2.US President Donald Trump announced his much-anticipated decision on whether to impose trade sanctions under Section 232 before the deadline of April 11, bowing to...Read More
Cameron Reynolds, chief executive of VolitionRx Ltd (NYSE:VNRX), discusses with Proactive's Andrew Scott the positive interim results from their trial in Denmark concerning colorectal cancer (CRC), which point to being able to detect early signs of the disease.The ongoing study is in collaboration with Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and involves 680 subjects from the Danish N...Read More
FRANKFURT, March 2 (Reuters) - Swiss investor Martin Ebneris in talks to buy Swiss-German United Grinding, as otherbidders have dropped out of the race for the machine tool maker,two people close to the matter said. China Jianyin Investment (JIC), which had been keen to buyBern-based UGG, is no longer in the running, one of them said.Switzerland's Oerlikon has also dropped out of theauction for th...Read More
Major steel producer Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) expects demand and profit margins for steel to remain high in Japan for the next three years, a senior official has told Metal Bulletin.The forecast is based on tight market fundamentals and healthy demand from downstream industries, as well as indirect demand for infrastructure projects associated with the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020...Read More
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola has offered investors diamond exploration licenses that previously belonged to Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the former president, according to a video clip of a closed-door meeting with mining companies seen by Reuters.During the meeting at a mining conference in Cape Town last month, president of state diamond company Endiama, Jos?(C) Manuel Ganga J??nior, said the lic...Read More
(Repeats without change)By Davide ScigliuzzoNEW YORK, March 2 (IFR) - Banks that helped the firearmsindustry to raise billions of dollars have been hesitant to stepinto the public debate on gun violence following the latestschool shooting in Florida.Their silence stands in contrast to the US names - including retailers, airlines and car rental companies - thathave either sought to distance themsel...Read More
The Mexican steel association, Canacero, has called on the federal government to take "reciprocal measures" against the United States if it imposes a 25% duty on steel imports from Mexico. "Canacero expresses concern and it expects immediate reciprocal measures from our government if our country is included in the [232] measures," the association said late on Thursday March 1.The US recorded a ste...Read More
FTSE 100 down 106 points at 7,069GKN tumbles as it considers Dana Inc offer for its Driveline unitPM May's Brexit speech offers nothing newThe Footsie suffered a triple-digit fall as investors fretted over the prospect of a trade war sParked by president Trump.The FTSE 100 closed at 7,069, down 106 points on the day.Miners were out in the cold after Trump's bombshell, with Rio Tinto PLC,...Read More