U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 2 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged following release of Canadian December Housing report. Starts at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was 211,000 versus 251,000 in November. Actual was 217,000.Target gained $2.40 to $69.58 after raising its fiscal fourth quarter profit and sales estimatesUnd...Read More

Nickel prices rallied well ahead of the fundamentals during LME Week when the market got carried away by the prospects for demand from the electric vehicle (EV) market. Having set a high of $13,030 per tonne, prices corrected to $10,740, which felt justified given increased ore shipments from Indonesia and the Philippines. Prices have since rebounded back above to $12,000 per tonne but this move i...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nickel ore exports from the Philippines to China were expected to be 720,000 wmt, or 6,600 mt in Ni content, according to SMM research. This is down 76% from volumes seen in November.The slump was mainly led by the raining season in Surigao region while shipments in Palawan and Zambales only rose slightly. Shipments from Tawi-Tawi region was stable.On quality breakdown...Read More

The following is a summary of our recent podcast interview with Gary Dorsch on Stocks, Commodities, which can be accessed on our site here or on iTunes here. We've witnessed remarkable stock market performance in the last year and a half, with the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 not experiencing a 3 percent or greater pullback during this parabolic rally. "This has never h...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ? The operating rates at zinc smelters in December dropped 4.16 percentage points from the previous month with companies of all sizes seeing declines.Even though some smelters have come out of their maintenance schedules and Hunan Kingstone Mining has resumed its production, overall output was down over 20,000 mt from November, according to SMM research.Shorter supply of...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More

Quiet start to 2018... Tin was fairly quiet on the LME during the first trading week of 2018 as industrial metals experienced some profit-taking after investors overextended their long positioning in final week of 2017. The global macroeconomic backdrop remains robust, however, and we believe the stronger tone to metal prices will continue. ...but tin has some catching up to do For tin specificall...Read More

Impressive Economic AccelerationOur theme for 2018 is for an even stronger economy accompanied by slowing stock market growth as compared to 2017. Much of the slow recovery since 2009 has been on the backs of the consumer without the normal contribution of Investment Spending and Exports. The new expansion cycle we entered in 2016 appears to have sparked a return of more normal...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More

Zinc has opened 2018 in a buoyant mood; LME 3-month zinc has set a fresh high of $3,390/tonne at the start of this week. The fundamentals point to a supply deficit, exchange stocks are falling and demand looks robust, driven by concerted global growth. At the same time higher prices are likely to attract more interest in forward selling and may attract more idle capacity restarts, but the outlook...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

Base metals prices trading on the London Metal Exchange are generally higher this morning, Tuesday January 9, with copper ($7,159 per tonne), aluminium, nickel and zinc up by between 0.2% and 0.5%, while tin prices are little changed and lead prices are bucking the trend with a 0.3% decline to $2,598 per tonne.Volume has been average, with 7,103 lots traded as of 07.23 am London time. This follows...Read More

January 9, 2018 - Brixton Metals Corporation (TSXV: BBB) (the "Company" or "Brixton") is pleased to announce that, following the completion of its $3 million private placement, the Company has commenced drilling at its Langis and Hudson Bay projects located in the Cobalt Camp of Ontario, Canada. Drilling is currently underway and is focusing on high grade cobalt and silver targets as extension of...Read More

Nils Tilton, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop a computational fluid dynamics model to improve efficient, low-energy options for wastewater treatment and desalination.Tilton's project, "Robust Numerical Modeling for Rational Design of Membrane Filtration Processes," will receive $547,364 ove...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued their February bookings of scrap imports from the Baltic Sea region on Tuesday January 9, with the United States market still quiet because of the heavy winter conditions.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 24,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $374 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $384 per tonne and 1,000 tonnes of...Read More

Brazilian exports of carbon steel slab and billet increased in 2017, according to the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC.Exports of carbon steel slab reached 7.3 million tonnes in 2017, up 23.49% from the 5.91 million tonnes exported in 2016, according to the figures released late last week.The US was the largest...Read More

Benchmark alumina prices fell on Tuesday January 9, with limited buying interest seen for spot cargoes in the Pacific market, despite a recovery in smelter margins.Metal Bulletin's daily fob Australia alumina index was calculated at $390.43 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $393.36 per tonne the previous day.Market participants foresaw a price floor for the raw material last week, citing stronger al...Read More

Metal Trade Comax Group of the Czech Republic announced on Tuesday January 9 that it has acquired all the shares in Germany's Oetinger Aluminium from private equity group Orlando Management.Details of the deal were not disclosed at the time of publication, but Metal Bulletin first reported on the deal last week.According to a letter sent to customers and seen by Metal Bulletin, Oetinger will conti...Read More