•  A goodish pickup in the USD demand prompts some fresh selling on Monday.   •  Positive US bond yields/fading safe-haven demand adds to the pressure. Gold held on to its weaker tone through the mid-European session and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range, around $1312 level.  The precious metal initially built on last we...Read More

"The fact that it's clever computer science doesn't mean it should be widely used, and that respectable people should encourage other people to speculate on it," Munger says. Munger went after the popular cryptocurrency at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, calling it a "turd," adding that trading cryptocurrencies is "just dementia." "Bitcoin is worthless, artificial gold," Munger...Read More

Gold and real interest rates have diverged substantially over the past year.We give an overview of the recent relationship between 5-year real interest rates and the value of gold.We solicit reader and contributor feedback on the question of whether or not this correlation has ended.Introduction U.S. real interest rates have historically had a high correlation to the price of gold. Specifically, t...Read More

Gold jumps higher on the US Dollar's short pause, falls back again as USD buying resumes. Gold's recovery is beginning to face challenges as the US DOllar keeps the precious metal under pressure. Gold is whipping on Monday, kicking off the week with a quick spike to 1,319.00 before sinking back into 1,315.00 ahead of the European market session. The US Dollar has temporarily paused its b...Read More

Both the European spot and Chinese export ammonium paratungstate (APT) markets saw a greater number of inquiries over the past week amid persistent worries about possible supply disruptions in China resulting from ongoing environmental inspections in the country's Jiangxi province - a major production hub for APT. Concerns over disruptions at APT smelters in Jiangxi province continued More inquiri...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday May 7 following falls in the billet market over the weekend. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,000-4,050 yuan ($629-637) per tonne, down 50-60 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,890-3,940 yuan per tonne, widened down 20 yuan per tonneBillet prices dropped sharply during the weekend on high selling interest, which prompted rebar traders to c...Read More

Exports of Brazilian copper ore rose 20.2% year on year in April, boosted by increased shipments from the region where Vale's Sossego mine is located.Copper ore exports from the country totaled 95,271 tonnes last month, up from 79,271 tonnes in April 2017 and a 12.7% increase from 84,555 tonnes in March of this year, according to data released by Brazilian foreign trade ministr...Read More

Brazil's bauxite export volumes dropped 30.6% year on year to 545,986 tonnes in April, according to data released by Brazilian foreign trade ministry MDIC late on Friday May 4, reflecting lower shipments from the city in which Minera????o Rio do Norte (MRN) operates.Last month's exports were down from 786,556 tonnes in April 2017 and also marked an 8.6% drop from the March 2018 tota...Read More

MMG's Dugald River zinc mine in Australia achieved commercial production on May 1, the company said on Monday May 7.Dugald River has been online since November 8, 2017, with its first shipment of approximately 10,500 wet metric tonnes (wmt) of zinc concentrate to China on December 16.MMG produced 47,138 tonnes of zinc in concentrate in this year's first quarter, up 45% from the previous quarter, i...Read More

South Korea's Public Procurement Service has floated a tender to procure 1,000 tonnes of special-high-grade zinc, the state agency announced in a tender on Friday May 4.The tender is for London Metal Exchange-registered brands with purity of more than 99.995% for delivery to Incheon port on a cif basis by August 3. The most recent zinc tender by...Read More

Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday May 7. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during Asian morning trading on Monday, with the complex benefiting from a slightly easier dollar. The London Metal Exchange is closed today due to national holidays.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report her...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during Asian morning trading on Monday May 7, with the complex benefiting from a slightly easier dollar. The dollar index was down by 0.1% at 92.47 as at 11am Shanghai time, this after it had spiked to a high of 92.91 last Friday despite disappointing US employment data for April - see data section below.Aluminium prices have foun...Read More

ED&F Man Capital Markets Ltd has appointed Fred Demler as the company's executive vice president and global head of metals, the first time the international financial brokerage firm has created such a role. Demler, who will be based in New York, will be responsible for ED&F Man's global sales and trading staff, working with them to help service and develop the firm's growing client base. It marks...Read More

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday May 8.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during Asian morning trading on Monday May 7, with the complex benefiting from a slight drop in the dollar index. There were no London Metal Exchange prices on Monday due to a bank holiday.The US Midwest aluminium premium was unchanged on May 4, with mark...Read More

Saudi Arabian flat steel re-roller and coater Unicoil has started to produce colored thin organic coating gold (CTOC-Gold), which is hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil tinted with gold-colored film, the company told Metal Bulletin on Monday May 7. CTOC-Gold is a special layer of coating that combines polymers and organic compounds tinted with gold color, thereby providing steel with clear advantages...Read More

Brazilian flat steel imports grew by 74.19% year on year in April, mostly due to an increase in shipments from China.Imports reached 131,265 tonnes against 75,358 tonnes in April 2017, according to figures released by foreign trade ministry MDIC on Friday May 4.China was the largest provider...Read More

Demand for flat steel in Turkey will remain moderate through May, and prices are expected to fall due to weak end-user demand, market participants told Metal Bulletin."Demand is very, very low, and there is no sign of improvement. Summer is coming, and things will get worse, I'm afraid," one market participant said on Friday May 4. "Prices [have] started to fall [and] will fall [further] for July...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore were up over the past week due to higher offers for China-origin materials.There were mainly only China-origin mill cargoes in the spot market, with about three Chinese mills offering export materials. This included a major Chinese mill offering rebar at $570 per tonne fob China, and two others which followed its lead.Singapore buyers said they were getting off...Read More

Import prices for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil sold into Vietnam increased over the past week, with support coming from higher offers for China-origin material.Metal Bulletin's assessment of HRC import prices in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $600-625 per tonne cfr for the week ended Friday May 4, up by $10-20 per...Read More

Chrome alloy prices in China weakened over the past week, taking ore lower with them, following monthly reductions in mills' tender prices. Alloy spot prices drop in line with tendersOre prices start to weaken Alloy prices in South Korea follow China lowerEuropean alloy prices edge higher Japan and US alloy markets hold Ferro-chrome prices dropped further in China on Friday May 4 after s...Read More