WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has not decided whether he will sign legislation that would allow U.S. officials to travel to Taiwan to meet with their Taiwanese counterparts, the White House said on Thursday.“A final decision hasn’t been made. We’ll keep you guys posted,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters during a briefing.The legislation,...Read More
Japan's Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation will expand its global presence in special steels markets by acquiring Swedish special steels maker Ovako and making Japanese steel maker Sanyo Special Steel its subsidiary.The major Japanese steel producer intends to acquire Ovako from private equity fund Triton in the first half of the 2018 fiscal year subject to approval from the competition a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals slid across the board today as zinc led losses with a drop of more than 1%. Nickel fell 0.8%, tin dipped 0.7% and copper edged down.The ferrous complex saw some gains today as coking coal rose 1.6%. Rebar, hot-rolled coil, and iron ore gained over 1%, and coke inched up.Copper: The SHFE 1805 contract slumped after it reached a high of 52,400 yuan/mt...Read More
DAKAR, March 15 (Reuters) - In an ornate room in Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential palace last week, some of global mining's most powerful men faced off against government officials over proposed changes to the country's mining code.Facing the officials, including President Joseph Kabila, the executives at times threatened to pursue arbitration or close mines if the government went ahead...Read More
(Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) was sued on Thursday by a former executive who accused the largest U.S. retailer of ignoring problems he uncovered in its e-commerce business, amid growing pressure from Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), and firing him in retaliation for his complaints.The plaintiff, Tri Huynh of Washington state, is seeking a variety of damages in his whistleblower lawsuit with the U.S. Dis...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightAs the euro dipped, the US dollar index rebounded and hovered around 89.7 overnight while most base metals climbed up. The growing number of cancelled warrants drove LME nickel to hit a two-week high. LME and SHFE zinc dropped about 2% as inventories grew.China’s tota...Read More
Tlou Energy Ltd's (LON:TLOU) Tony Gilby updates Proactive's Andrew Scott on the re-tendering process with the government in Botswana.Gilby adds the company is 'critical' to the development of greener energy and energy security in the country.He mentions the company is also looking toward combining some solar energy generation in addition to its gas operations in the country. Meet AusCann Gro...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawmaker behind a landmark congressional torture report on Thursday demanded the release of classified documents on past CIA interrogations before the U.S. Senate considers President Donald Trump’s nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the spy agency.Trump nominated Haspel, the Central Intelligence Agency’s deputy director, on Tuesday to become director. The anno...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) –Copper: After it gained support at the five- and 10-day moving averages, LME copper is expected to hit and test the 20-day moving average in the short term. Prices are seen at $6,980-7,030/mt today. SHFE copper is set to test support at the five-day moving average and trade at 52,580-53,000 yuan/mt today. We see spot prices at a premium of 50-100 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We...Read More
The number of new passenger car sales in the EU increased by 4.33% year-on-year in February 2018, making it the second month of consecutive growth.New car sales in Europe totaled 1,125,397 units in February, compared with 1,078,721 vehicles sold in the corresponding month of 2017, the...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to sustained labor strength even as economic growth appears to have slowed early in the first quarter.Other data on Thursday showed a rise in the prices of imported goods in February amid U.S. dollar weakness, bolstering expectations that inflation will pick up this year. Labor market strength...Read More
Polished trading slower than expected afterHong Kong show. Shortages supporting prices as manufacturers ramp up polishedproduction. Good demand for dossiers. Lower colors hot in carat sizes. Chinaoutlook positive, but Jan.-Feb. retail sales +9.7%, slightly belowexpectations. Signet Jewelers investing in online and off-mall to restoregrowth, as shares tumble -20% after FY2018 sales -2% to $6.3B, pr...Read More
(Bloomberg) - RioZim Ltd., a Zimbabwean diamond, nickel and gold miner, wants to more than double output of gemstones at its Murowa mine. The problem is the expansion depends on attracting $125 million in investment against a backdrop of high royalties and ownership laws that scare investors.President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced President Robert Mugabe after military intervention in November...Read More
Amryt Pharma PLC's (LON:AMYT) Joe Wiley catches up with Proactive to discuss the company's 'major' new licensing deal with University College Dublin for a gene therapy asset.He says the company is seeing encouraging early data and is planning to conduct pre-clinical studies in the coming months. Meet AusCann Group Holdings Ltd, Pacific American Coal Ltd, Kasbah Resources, Hazer Group Ltd and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) brought a delegation of its members to do business with the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) members on the DDC's brand new trading floor at 50 West 47th Street this week. "We are honored to welcome our colleagues from Shanghai to the DDC trading floor," said DDC president Reuven Kaufman. "This marks the beginning of a new era and we are proud t...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump in coming weeks will get recommendations to address China’s “theft and forced transfer” of American intellectual property, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Thursday.“This will be one of the steps - one of the many steps - that the president is courageously going to take in order to address unfair trade practi...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The so-called 'South Africa discount' that has dogged and diminished the share prices of mining companies operating in South Africa for decades, has been declared "unwarranted" by Goldman Sachs Europe Metals & Mining Equity Research analysts, against the backdrop of the winds of political change bringing with them lower operational risk...Read More
At the end of February Morgan Stanley sent shares of lithium producers and explorers tumbling after the investment bank forecast a huge surplus in the market for the battery raw material in 2022, resulting in forecast prices nearly halving from today's levels.The negative assessment raised eyebrows in the industry with executives criticizing Morgan Stanley for vastly underestimating the rise in de...Read More
Global crude stainless steel production totaled 48.08 million tonnes in 2017, according to figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) on Thursday March 15.This was up 5.79% from the revised figure of 45.45 million tonnes produced in 2016.Production in China was 25.77 million tonnes in 2017, up 4.74% from 24.61 million tonnes in 2016.Output in Asia -...Read More