French engineering group Assystem is to conduct site characterisation and impact studies for Saudi Arabia's first nuclear power plant under a contract from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE). The contract was awarded recently following an international call for tenders launched by KA-CARE.Assystem said the services to be provided under the contract include site charac...Read More

Zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 3% at the close of trading on Wednesday July 4, with the absence of US trading expediting a broad downtick in metals prices. The continuation of growing trade concerns has facilitated market inactivity, and in turn, a broad decline in the complex, while a pullback in global equity markets and a fall in the Chinese yuan has added to bearish...Read More

If gold reaches more than US$1,377.50 per ounce, seasonal analyst Don Vialoux says: "Every analyst on the street is going to be yelling: 'We're finally reaching the next secular cycle for gold!'" How should you take advantage of the coming gold and gold stocks' season in the sun?The sun is shining hot, long and bright lately (for the most part) and for analyst Don Vialoux, it signals the imminent...Read More

Jonathan Berchole has joined BNP Paribas to develop a physical metals trading book and help expand the bank's existing financing business, Metal Bulletin learned on Wednesday July 4. Berchole joined the bank in London this month as head of physical trading, having left Mercuria Energy...Read More

New Century Resources has cut its third-quarter forecast for the Century Mine zinc tailing project in Queensland, Australia, but said it remains on track for first production in August. At an investor roadshow the company said the expected output for August to September 2018 was now 4,000 tonnes of zinc metal, rather than the 13,000 tonnes it forecast late last y...Read More

"WAR is a racket...It always has been.A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortune." - US Marine General Smedley Butler. General ButlerMy friend and occasional...Read More

New Century Resources has cut its third-quarter forecast for the Century Mine zinc tailing project in Queensland, Australia, but said it remains on track for first production in August. At an investor roadshow the company said the expected output for August to September 2018 was now 4,000 tonnes of zinc metal, rather than the 13,000 tonnes it forecast late last y...Read More

Turkish steel producers have stayed away from the deep-sea scrap market, amid limited domestic and export demand for finished steel products, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday July 4.Steel mills in Turkey have already finished their deep-sea bookings for July and expected to start booking for August. But it seems they are happy to wait as long as they can because of the weak finished s...Read More

Drilling operations at Nickel Creek Platinum's 100%-owned Nickel Shaw Project in the Yukon Territory. Source: Nickel Creek Platinum Ltd.Nickel Creek Platinum Ltd. [NCP-TSX; NCPCF-OTCQX], a company previously known as Wellgreen Platinum, is hitching itself onto the electric vehicle revolution in a bid to improve the economic viability of its Yukon project, attract more investors interest, and move...Read More

New Century Resources has cut its third-quarter forecast for the Century Mine zinc tailing project in Queensland, Australia, but said it remains on track for first production in August. At an investor roadshow the company said the expected output for August to September 2018 was now 4,000 tonnes of zinc metal, rather than the 13,000 tonnes it forecast late last y...Read More

Prices for hot rolled coil (HRC) in the EU have been largely stable over the past week with buyers holding back from deals, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday July 4.The market was expected to remain in wait-and-see mode until the announcement of a preliminary decision in a regional safeguard investigation.The European Commission opened an investigation into 26 steel products in late March,...Read More

Italian re-rollers have increased domestic plate offers again this week after the previous price rise was reflected in a handful of transactions, sources told Metal Bulletin.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel plate in Southern Europe was ?,?570-580 ($664-676) per tonne ex-works on July 4, up from ?,?560-570 per tonne ex-works a week earlier. The price rose ?,?1...Read More

The Chinese yuan's recent losses against the US dollar has pressured steel prices in Asia to move down, with continual drops for both flat and long steel products across the region.Traders in the region have dropped prices in a bold move to sell more cargoes before the currency further loses value. Some market participants are betting on more price drops, entering into bigger short-selling positio...Read More

Italian steelmaker Feralpi increased its crude steel production in January-June 2018 by 3.5% year-on-year, it said this week.Crude steel production was 1.29 million tonnes in the first half of 2018, Feralpi said, compared with 1.24 million tonnes in the corresponding period in 2017.Production of cold-rolled steel products in January-June was largely stable year-on-year at 489,000 tonnes.But hot-ro...Read More

Domestic prices for mesh-quality wire rod produced and delivered in Southern Europe have risen by ?,?5-10 per tonne over the past week amid supply concerns ahead of an expected preliminary decision in an EU import safeguard case, sources said on Wednesday July 4.Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic price assessment for mesh-quality wire rod in Southern Europe was ?,?530-540 ($617-629) per tonne delive...Read More

Prices for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe rose sharply by ?,?15-25 per tonne over the past week as mills pushed through price increases, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday July 4.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in southern Europe was ?,?500-515 ($583-600) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, up from ?,?475-500 per tonne one week earlier. The assessme...Read More

Turkish steel producers have stayed away from the deep-sea scrap market, amid limited domestic and export demand for finished steel products, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday July 4.Steel mills in Turkey have already finished their deep-sea bookings for July and expected to start booking for August. But it seems they are happy to wait as long as they can because of the weak finished s...Read More

Brazilian products continued to command a big premium over Australian materials in the seaborne iron ore market on Wednesday July 4.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $64.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.35 per tonne Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines Index: $62.97 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.49 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $51.66 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.29 pe...Read More

China's ferrous futures picked up across the board during morning trading on Wednesday July 4.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,812 yuan ($572) per tonne, up 47 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,917 yuan per tonne, up 51 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange September iron ore: 464.50 yuan per tonne, up 3.50 yuan per tonne September coki...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices experienced a mild recovery on Wednesday July 4 on higher sales following gains in the futures market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,950-4,000 yuan ($593-600) per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,920 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Rebar futures surged during the first hour of trading, which boosted buying intere...Read More