China will become a net exporter of refined lead in 2020 as a result of higher forecasted production and unimproved domestic consumption next year, a senior analyst said at the 2019 Lead & Zinc Week gathering in Kunming, China, on Thursday October 17. Chinese lead smelters are likely to increase production to take advantage of good profits for lead smelting due to higher treatment charges (TCs) fo...Read More

Canadian investment firm BMO said KGHM's copper sales figure of 167 kt - which was down 1% year on year - was 10% lower than expected, which it said was possibly due to the timing of deliveries.Read More

Golden Mile goes back to the futureSPONSOREDgolden mile resources"Anglo American has reported Q3/19 production and sales that were better than expected overall," said BMO analyst Edward Sterck.Read More

CIS rebar and wire rod producers increased offers for foreign customers in the second half of October following the recovery of scrap and billet prices globally.But buying activity remained limited as customers waited to see more evidence of market stabilization and improvement of demand from end-users.Early last week, offers for Russian wire rod were reported at $425 per tonne fob Black Sea, with...Read More

Golden Mile goes back to the futureSPONSOREDgolden mile resourcesTaseko's operations team have over the past nine months commissioned the 24-hole test wellfield, with injection, recovery and monitoring wells, and ramped up a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant to design capacity. The company said the project complied with all environmental guidelines during the process.CEO Russell Hallbau...Read More

Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil fell during the week to Tuesday October 22 on weak demand in the export market and aggressive pricing strategies adopted by suppliers in other regions, market sources said.Despite facing stiff competition for export sales, Chinese producers are reluctant to slash prices much further because of stable prices in the domestic m...Read More

Macro factors still the dominant force To some extent the base metals are able to trade their own fundamentals, but macro headwinds remain the dominant force overall. This makes a sideways-to-lower grind the default for most metals unless supply disruption threats emerge and are deemed severe enough to change the underlying narrative for a while. Aluminium: Technically getting more bullish Based o...Read More

China's domestic prices for rebar held steady for a second day on Tuesday October 22 despite gains in the futures market, with participants taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding whether to engage in arbitrage trading.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($505-510) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,550-3,590 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures went from a low of 3,28...Read More

Chinese production continued to shrink in September Production of primary aluminium in China continued to decline on a year-on-year basis in September. Total output dipped by 1.6% year-on-year to 2.90 million tonnes last month, according to the latest data from China’s NBS. This follows year-on-year declines of 0.3% in August and 2% in July of 2019. Still, total output for the first nine mont...Read More

Chinese mills lowered export offers for hot-rolled coil on Tuesday October 22 despite a stable domestic market amid pressure from cheaper products offered by suppliers in other regions.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,510 yuan ($495-496) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,480 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading was moderate during the day maid steady demand, which kept spot pri...Read More

Aluminium The LME three-month aluminium price remained in low ground on Tuesday October 22, after being turned back by resistance at $1,745 per tonne, an area of previous support. Momentum indicators lack clear direction. The 20 DMA continues to trend lower, but the stochastics are converging in mid-ground. The RSI has also rolled lower and currently stands at 43. Further support is seen ahea...Read More

Copper boosted by dollar weakness In the current environment, copper prices are driven more by macro flows than fundamental flows. In this regard, last week, the LME copper price came under pressure most of the week despite rising supply disruption risks, including at Las Bambas, before rebounding strongly on Friday. That rebound was caused by an abrupt depreciation in the dollar following an agre...Read More

LME lead prices up 25% since May low, but SHFE prices up only 8% Chinese auto sales were down 5.2% in September and were down 10.3% in the first nine months of the year, and Friday’s release of GDP data showed growth dropping to 6% in Q3, from 6.2% in Q2. This was the lowest growth since 1992. These are reasons enough to explain why lead prices are underperforming in China compared with the r...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, plate, sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transaction: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More

Indonesia leading global mine supply surge... The latest data from the International Nickel Study Group (INSG) showed strong growth of 8.1% in global nickel mine output in the first eight months of 2019 compared with the same period of last year. Indonesian nickel miners continued to boost output aggressively, with 28.6% growth in the country over the reporting period. ...and will likely only acce...Read More

Prices outperform so far in October... The LME tin price has gained roughly 6% since the start of October, in contrast with a much more subdued performance for the broader LMEX (+1% over the corresponding period). This compares with a sell-off of 19% in the first three quarters of the year, when tin underperformed the LMEX. ...as supply cuts start to be priced in The emergence of fresh buying in f...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, beams and other long steel products. Latest transaction: rebar, wire rodRebar East China, domestic, grade III 16-25mm...Read More

Overhead resistance emerges LME zinc prices have remained supported over the past week by the 100-day moving average. However, for the time being at least, prices remains capped ahead of $2,500 per tonne, particularly after the latest Chinese economic data stoked concerns about weaker demand. GDP grew 6% in Q3, slowing from 6.2% in Q2, and below the 6.1% forecast. That said industrial production r...Read More

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Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of  market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More