A few weeks ago we noted the bullish setup for 2020. Macro developments, one way or another will tend to favor Gold. There isn’t a realistic scenario that isn’t Gold bullish. Note the comments from various Fed-heads last week. They are laying the groundwork to target higher than 2% inflation and won’t consider raising rates anytime soon. And if they have to resume cutting rates G...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday December 19 that are worth another look.What's in store for the steel and scrap markets in 2020?Most copper scrap discounts in the United States increased as the Comex copper price continued to strengthen week on week.Spot market prices for alloy-grade and standard-grade cobalt diverged in the first half of the week.Two weeks o...Read More
You may think (or hope) that in your daily life you don’t need to worry about unknowingly eating or otherwise ingesting crude oil or any of its many, many petrochemical byproducts. But you would be wrong. And not just a little wrong--very, very wrong. Petroleum-based substances are in all kinds of innocuous-seeming things that we willingly put into our bodies. Even though petrochemicals are...Read More
Gold prices pushed sharply higher on Tuesday but have stalled ever since. Has the recovery rally completed? I think it has.Leave it to Trump to go and say something that causes the equity markets to print a two-day drop that wipes out more than a week of gains. But the tone in the markets might be changing.The US president went from saying that the trade deal might get delayed until after the elec...Read More
I can remember there were times during the PM complex bull market before 2011 that sometimes the PM metals would rally but the PM stocks were very weak. Then there were times when the PM stock would rise while the PM metals moved very little. At the time of those occurrences it was bewildering as common sense suggested they should all move together and the stronger the metals moved so should the P...Read More
Through the first half of 2019, silver significantlyunderperformed gold. Put another way, gold gained relative to silver –culminating in the gold:silver ratio registering a 27-year high of 95:1. That market signal was received by the mining industry. Sincethere are few primary silver producers, and those that do mine silver alsotypically mine gold and some base metals, precious metals miners...Read More
The European steel industry has welcomed the European Commission's recently launched European Green Deal although further policy and support are required to ensure competitiveness.The European Union plans to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 through key policies to cut emissions and invest in research and innovation for green technologies. The decarbonization and modernization of ener...Read More
Base metals prices other than lead closed higher on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday December 19, bolstered by an injection of liquidity into China's open markets, while a weaker US dollar index also proved supportive.Three-month prices trading mixed this morning but ultimately gathered upward momentum after the People's Bank of China (PBoC) injected 30 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) into financ...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices experienced a slight uptick on Thursday December 19 amid ferrous futures gains in China.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.77 per tonne, up $0.57 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.86 per tonne, up $0.57 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.66 per tonne, up $0.54 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More
Nickel broke above $14,000 per tonne again in the morning trading session on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday December 19 despite further stock inflows.The three-month nickel price has traded at an intraday peak of $14,115 per tonne, up around 1.6% on the previous day's close despite stocks in LME-listed warehouses rising by a net 3,324 tonnes to 136,770 tonnes - they have more than doubled t...Read More
Base metals prices other than lead closed higher on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday December 19, bolstered by an injection of liquidity into China's open markets, while a weaker US dollar index also proved supportive.Three-month prices trading mixed this morning but ultimately gathered upward momentum after the People's Bank of China (PBoC) injected 30 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) into financ...Read More
All Fastmarkets prices and premiums due to be published at 4pm London time on Thursday December 19 were delayed due to a technical error. The prices were published six minutes late; the Fastmarkets pricing database, MInD, for all prices has now been updated. The prices affected by the delay include: Aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam, $/tonne Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonne ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday December 19 that are worth another look.What's in store for the steel and scrap markets in 2020?Most copper scrap discounts in the United States increased as the Comex copper price continued to strengthen week on week.Spot market prices for alloy-grade and standard-grade cobalt diverged in the first half of the week.Two weeks o...Read More
Nickel broke above $14,000 per tonne again in the morning trading session on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday December 19 despite further stock inflows.The three-month nickel price has traded at an intraday peak of $14,115 per tonne, up around 1.6% on the previous day's close despite stocks in LME-listed warehouses rising by a net 3,324 tonnes to 136,770 tonnes - they have more than doubled t...Read More
China's stainless steel market strengthened over the past week amid higher nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange, though a pick-up in trading activity eased selling pressure among steelmakers. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended Wednesday's trading session at $13,895-13,900 per tonne, up $260-265 per tonne from $13,630-13,640 per tonne a week earlier. DomesticFa...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly in positive territory at the end of the morning trading session on Thursday December 19, with the complex buoyed by news earlier today that China's central bank had injected another round of cash into the country's financial system.The People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday injected 30 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) into the market vi...Read More
Activity downsince US and European buyers completed their orders for the season. Focus nowon China for Jan. 25 Lunar New Year. Caution still surrounds Hong Kong market.Manufacturers raising production but careful not to build up too muchinventory. Shortages supporting prices, as new polished has not yet come tomarket in large quantities. RoundRead More
Positive sentiment in finalweek before Christmas. Retail emphasis on omni-channel and improving in-storeshopping experience. Brands using pop-up stores to boost customer interaction, testinnovations and showcase new products. Strong online sales. Chinese demanddriving polished market ahead of Jan. 25 lunar festival as US and China edgetoward trade deal. Alrosa positions itself in China with WeChat...Read More
RAPAPORT... Martin Siegel, the chairman of Hamilton Jewelers who wasinstrumental in growing the US retailer's brand, died on December 17, thecompany announced. He was 86. Born in New Jersey, Siegel joined his father'sfine-jewelry business on leaving the army in the 1950s. He became president in1968, and served as chairman from 1994 until his death. The company now hasstores in Princeton, New Jerse...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. achieved higher sales than itexpected at its final tender of the year as market stabilization drove anincrease in rough prices. The owner of the Karowe mine in Botswana brought in $52.9million, 16% above its prediction, capping off a year of revenue growth, itsaid in a statement Wednesday. "Though it is too early to call a trend, prices achievedin our final sale of...Read More