Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Singapore as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday March 5.Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly weaker during Asian morning trading on Monday, with only nickel and tin prices managing to post slight gains. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.SHFE snapshot at 10.02am Shanghai timeMost-traded SH...Read More

In Records Were Made to Be Broken, we provided our outlook that the bull market run and US economic expansion would likely continue, perhaps even to win the Olympic gold medal for longest ever in length. In today's piece, we provide our view on three key themes in the current market environment and how these relate to our late-cycle investing game plan.Theme # 1 - Rising VolatilityInvest...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news over the weekend and what is expected today.Last Friday nightThe US dollar slid following the country’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. LME zinc dropped over 1% and tin edged down slightly, while SHFE tin inched up.Germany’s retail sales in January dropped 0.7% month on month a...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news over the weekend and what is expected today.Last Friday nightThe US dollar slid following the country’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. LME zinc dropped over 1% and tin edged down slightly, while SHFE tin inched up.Germany’s retail sales in January dropped 0.7% month on month a...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) - Copper: As SHFE copper stayed firm with support at the 52,000 yuan/mt level, we expect the 1805 contract to trade at 52,000-52,600 yuan/mt today, with LME copper at $6,880-6,950/mt. Spot discounts are seen slightly smaller at 180-130 yuan/mt today with the recovery of downstream consumption.Aluminium: With the US dollar index falling below the 90 level, LME aluminium i...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) - Copper: As SHFE copper stayed firm with support at the 52,000 yuan/mt level, we expect the 1805 contract to trade at 52,000-52,600 yuan/mt today, with LME copper at $6,880-6,950/mt. Spot discounts are seen slightly smaller at 180-130 yuan/mt today with the recovery of downstream consumption.Aluminium: With the US dollar index falling below the 90 level, LME aluminium i...Read More

The Buyer WinsTrump understands that, in a world of surpluses, the buyer, not the seller, has the upper hand. And the U.S. is the absorber of the world's excess goods and services for which there are no other major markets. Add in Trump's zeal for deals and you have the foreign trade dust-up he's promoting.We doubt, however, that all-out global trade wars will result. When they flourished back in...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) - Copper: As SHFE copper stayed firm with support at the 52,000 yuan/mt level, we expect the 1805 contract to trade at 52,000-52,600 yuan/mt today, with LME copper at $6,880-6,950/mt. Spot discounts are seen slightly smaller at 180-130 yuan/mt today with the recovery of downstream consumption.Aluminium: With the US dollar index falling below the 90 level, LME aluminium i...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part weaker this morning, Monday March 5, with the complex down by an average of 0.4%.Nickel leads on the downside with a 1.1% fall, copper prices are down by 0.4% at $6,887 per tonne and tin is the only metal where prices are higher, up by 0.2% at $21,595 per tonne.Volume has been high with 10,045 lots traded as of 07.30am London ti...Read More

March 5, 2018 - ATAC Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ATC) ("ATAC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce receipt of a joint Decision Document from the Yukon Government (YG) and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun (NND) stating that the Company's proposed 65-km, private, all-season tote road to the Tiger Gold Deposit will be allowed to proceed.This represents completion of the Yukon Environmental and Socio...Read More

The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years has swung zinc's London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread into contango for the first time in 2018. Some 78,950 tonnes were delivered into LME-approved warehouses in New Orleans on Monday March 5 - the largest inflow since July 2013, increasing on-warrant stock levels by 94%. And it is not just the LME which has seen stocks rising; Shanghai Futur...Read More

The Atlantic alumina market will swing back to a premium over the Pacific as a result of a 50% cut to output, and subsequent force majeure announcement, from Hydro's Alunorte refinery in Brazil, according to market participants spoken to by Metal Bulletin. The tightness resultant from the cut to Hydro's production will be sufficient to see alumina trade at a premium in the Atlantic, while absolute...Read More

Lead and zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange both closed lower on Monday March 5, reflecting recent stock increases. Zinc hit a two-month low of $3,273.50 per tonne today after a massive 78,950-tonne delivery into LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans. The metal was still $59 per tonne lower at $3,296 at the 5pm London close.The metal's cash/three-month spread briefly swung back into contango...Read More

The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years has swung zinc's London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread into contango for the first time in 2018. Some 78,950 tonnes were delivered into LME-approved warehouses in New Orleans on Monday March 5 - the largest inflow since July 2013, increasing on-warrant stock levels by 94%. And it is not just the LME which has seen stocks rising; Shanghai Futur...Read More

Iron ore prices fell on Monday March 5 after China's ferrous futures weakened across the board.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $77.03 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $1.31 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $78.25 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $60.78 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.89 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $61.50 per tonneMetal....Read More

So President Trump confirmed, last week, that from later this week, he will formally introduce a blanket tariff on steel imports, at 25%, and aluminium, at 10%.Both tariffs are in fact higher than those recommended by the DOC (Dept. of Commerce). In return, he stated to a number of metal manufacturers Thursday (March 1) "You'll have to regrow your industries; that's all I'm asking". To be fair to...Read More

Peter KrauthTwo events last week pulled gold prices in different directions, but U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of steel and aluminum tariffs helped end gold's recent slump…First was Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress. Although the newly installed Powell said the economy was strengthening, he also alluded to the possibility of more aggressive rate hikes.T...Read More

Growth in the Chinese manufacturing sector slowed significantly in the first two months of 2018, and coupled with falling figures for car and house sales the outlook would appear to be far from positive.With a large portion of the year so far having been taken up by official holidays, however, the overall health of China's economy is clearly distorted right now, so it is difficult to draw any clea...Read More

The Turkish steel mills have continued their April scrap bookings at comparatively higher prices, sources said on Monday March 5.A steel mill in the Izmir region was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $372 per tonne and bonus at $382 per tonne cfr. The breakdown of the cargo was not clear at...Read More

European aluminium premiums have dipped below $100 per tonne in recent days due to a prolonged tightness in London Metal Exchange spreads, but could rebound now that the market is back in contango, despite the prospect of US import duties, market participants said. The benchmark Rotterdam P1020a duty-unpaid premium dropped to $95-105 per tonne on Friday March 2 from $100-107 per tonne the day...Read More