Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
Anglo American has raised the 2019 iron ore production guidance for its Minas Rio operations in Brazil while maintaining that for its Kumba operations in South Africa.The miner now expects Minas Rio to produce 20-22 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material, compared with 19-21 million tonnes previously, it said in its third-quarter production report published on Tuesday October 22.The miner...Read More
Brazilian import volumes of flat steel products dipped by 22.51% in September 2019 while long steel imports almost doubled, soaring by 96.86%, according to figures from the country's economy ministry.Imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China were only 619 tonnes last month, compared with 15,589 tonnes a year before.Meanwhile, China exported only 2,827 tonnes of cold-rolled coil (CRC) to Brazil,...Read More
Some readers have commented that the Gold ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 over its existence.That analysis erroneously takes into account only the price change of the two instruments, and does not take into account the dividend yield of the stock index.Gold can be thought of as a negative yielding asset that is bid up in times of stress. Gold prices have correlated highly with the stock of ne...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe have been stable over the past week, while prices in the south declined by ?,?5 per tonne over the period, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 23.Although the prices have not changed significantly, the market remains under downward pressure from poor demand.Northern EuropeDomestic prices for HRC in the north of Europe have been stab...Read More
The price of steel rebar in the Southern European domestic market has been stable this week but participants were closely watching the ferrous scrap markets to see how prices there would develop, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday October 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?445-465 ($496-518) per tonne on Wednesday, unc...Read More
CIS billet producers continued to increase their export offer prices, this week, amid reduced availability of the material in the market.Offers from Ukraine were limited because three mills- Dneprovskiy Dzerzhinsky Metallurgical Plant (DMKD), Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMP) and Elektrostal have idled parts of their facilities because of this year's unfavorable pricing environment.U...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 23 that are worth another look.Taseko Mines Limited is in the process of seeking a listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with approval anticipated prior to the end of 2019.Chilean iron ore and long steel producer Compa???-a de Acero de Pac?-fico (CAP) was forced to reduce production from some o...Read More
Trade unions representing workers for Chile's state-run miner Codelco have called on their members to mobilize in support of protests against the government.Union No1 for Codelco's Chuquicamata has joined Sindicato No1 for BHP's Escondida in backing protestors, whose opposition to inequality in the country has escalated into alleged looting and arson, and to violent confrontations with the militar...Read More
Three of the largest silver producers in the world saw their combined mine supply continue to weaken in the first seven months of 2019...by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportThree of the largest silver producers in the world saw their combined mine supply continue to weaken in the first seven months of 2019. While Mexico and Chile experienced declines in their silver production, Peru was by far...Read More
A combination of weak macroeconomics and an anticipated increase of global aluminium supply is prompting expectations that more participants will purchase metal with the intention of holding and financing it for long-term gain. The expected slowdown of the global economy, participants say, will lead to a decline in demand and metal consumption meaning more stock will be put on warrant on the Londo...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange rose to its highest level in more than a month at the close of trading on Wednesday October 23 amid positive forward spreads, while tin futures underperformed in a 2% decline over the afternoon. Copper's three-month price closed at $5,881 per tonne this afternoon, its highest level since September 13, with just over 16,000 lots of metal exc...Read More
A combination of weak macroeconomics and an anticipated increase of global aluminium supply is prompting expectations that more participants will purchase metal with the intention of holding and financing it for long-term gain. The expected slowdown of the global economy, participants say, will lead to a decline in demand and metal consumption meaning more stock will be put on warrant on the Londo...Read More
China continues to drive trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market, with hardly any interest emerging elsewhere.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.40 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.07 per tonne, down $0.63 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.92 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $142.29 per tonne, unchanged...Read More
Domestic prices for steel wire rod in Northern Europe have widened downward in the past seven days on weak market fundamentals, despite higher Turkish scrap prices this month, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday October 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?430-450 ($490-497) per tonne on October 23, widening downward by ?...Read More
Export billet and slab prices in Iran moved in different directions in the week ended Wednesday October 23 with trends in the global markets showing a similar divergence.The Iranian export billet price inched upward following price rises in Asia, the CIS and the Middle East. Large-volume billet sales to China and Southeast Asia in recent weeks supported the efforts of Iranian billet producers.A ca...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has takenfurther steps into the synthetics market, launching lab-grown diamonds at itsKay and Jared brands. The move has commenced witha trial in five Kay stores.In addition, Signet has started selling loose lab-grown diamonds at its upper-mid-market Jared brand. The stones will be available as part of Jared's Chosen program,David Bouffard, Signet's vice president...Read More
RAPAPORT... South Africa-based diamond miner Trans Hex has been forcedto liquidate its failing West Coast Resources (WCR) subsidiary after apotential sale of the business fell through. Takeover negotiations with Kernel Resources have terminated,leaving Trans Hex unable to run the unit, the miner reported last week. As aresult, "WCR is not in a position to meet its working capital requirements...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' revenue fell in the first fiscal quarteramid a drop in the average price and a weaker product mix at three of itsmines. Revenue dropped 23% year on year to $61.6 million for thethree months ending September 30, the miner reported Monday. Sales volumeslipped 4% to 603,626 carats, with the average selling price down 20% to $102per carat. The sales product mix was we...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 23 that are worth another look.Taseko Mines Limited is in the process of seeking a listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with approval anticipated prior to the end of 2019.Chilean iron ore and long steel producer Compa???-a de Acero de Pac?-fico (CAP) was forced to reduce production from some o...Read More