From Ninemsn.com.au: Copper rose to a four-month high on Thursday as optimism about Chinese demand buoyed the industrial metals markets amid tightening physical supplies. [more]

From Metalmarkets.org.uk: The price of copper was up Thursday after the National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales were unexpectedly higher in July, adding 5.2 percent to give a boost to the metal that is used extensively in construction. [more]

From Mineweb.co.za: Ernst & Young’s Global Mining & Metals Leader, Mike Elliott, says the volume of completed deals in the mining and metals sector during first half of 2010 is up 20% to 544 on the same period last year, while deal value is up 46% to US$40.6 billion. [more]

From Reuters: Up to five JPMorgan proprietary metals traders in London left the company this week, including former Sempra trader Tim Jones, industry sources said on Thursday. [more]

From Resourceinvestor.com: China, and to a lesser extent India and other developing nations, are responsible for the largest and longest base metals bull market the world has ever experienced. Many fear the bull market for natural resources is over when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. [more]

From Mineweb.co.za: China, and to a lesser extent India and other developing nations, are responsible for the largest and longest base metals bull market the world has ever experienced. Many fear the bull market for natural resources is over when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. [more]

From Resourceinvestor.com: There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs). They have names like lanthanum, europium and yttrium. And they’re critical to a variety of high-tech products and manufacturing processes, including catalytic converters, petroleum refining, color TV and flat panel displays, permanent magnets, batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, medical devices, and various defense systems like missiles, jet engines, and satellite components. [more]

From Mineweb.co.za: By the start of the 2000s, China embarked on a new path of industrialisation and development that demanded a reconfiguration of its supply of natural resources. By the end of the decade, the China Factor had become a synonym for an irrepressible engine of growth that was singularly driving global demand for natural resources. How did this happen? [more]

From Commodityonline.com: Copper and other base metal prices rose up to 5 per kg in the non-ferrous metal market on Thursday on continued buying by stockists on industrial demand amid firming trend at the London Metal Exchange. [more]

From Bloomberg: Physical copper demand is being driven by consumers replenishing inventories amid a mixed outlook for commodities in the “short term”, BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said today. [more]

From Khaleejtimes.com: Bargain hunters helped steady copper on Wednesday, but concern about economic and demand prospects were expected to limit gains ahead of data from the United States, the world’s largest economy. [more]

From Commodityonline.com: It seems there is no end to China’s appetite for metals. China’s economic health is robust and it is continuing with the metal buying spree. China’s imports of all metals rose in July with imports of refined lead in particular jumping by over 80 per cent compared with June, while refined zinc and nickel imports both surged by over 50 per cent. [more]

From WSJ: A slump in prices of natural-gas futures is having a knock-on effect in the U.S. coal market. Gas prices have fallen so far, trading Wednesday at a five-month low of less than $4 a million British thermal units, that gas-powered plants are able to capture a bigger share of the market. [more]

From Etfdb.com: Commodities have been one of the hottest corners of the ETF market, exploding on to the scene in recent years as investors have rushed to gain access to a suddenly democratized asset class that has been shown to add valuable diversification benefits to traditional stock-and-bond portfolios. [more]

From UPI: Global coal demand and consumption is set to continue rising over the next two decades despite parallel moves to switch to green and renewable energies. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: It is the time for mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector. After the recent copper miner Vedanta’s takeover of Cairn India, now two gold mining majors in Australia announced their merger on Tuesday. [more]

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From Bloomberg: Almost every day brings news of another mega-deal in the mining and resources industry. BHP Billiton Ltd. makes a $40 billion bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. Vedanta Resources Plc pays $8.4 billion for a controlling stake in the oil driller Cairn India Ltd., while Korea National Oil Corp. offers 1.87 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) for U.K. exploration company Dana Petroleum Plc. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 115 million metric tons (mmt) in July. This is 9.6% higher than July 2009. China’s crude steel production for July 2010 was 51.7 mmt, an increase of 2.2% compared to July 2009. [more]

From Hardassetsinvestor.com: When I last wrote about aluminum back in September 2009, quite a few things were up in the air for the metal. Price prognosticators called for prices anywhere from $1,700 per metric ton all the way up to $3,000. There was even talk of a physically backed aluminum ETF. [more]

From Guardian: BHP Billiton’s £28bn hostile bid for Canada’s Potash Corporation sets the scene for one of mining’s biggest takeover battles. But this is more than a clash between multinationals intent on self-aggrandisement. [more]

From Mineweb.co.za: Going back a year or so, who would have predicted a jump in the copper price from a little below $3,000 a tonne to the current $7,440 a tonne - or from $1.35/lb to $3.30/lb for those who think in these terms - in a matter of 20 months (a rise of around 150%)? [more]

From Indiatimes.com: Prices of base metals and steel have been increasing for quite some time now. However, there is a sharp surge in these metal prices in the current quarter compared with the June 2010 quarter. At 22.5%, zinc prices have increased the fastest on LME (London Metal Exchange). Prices of copper, aluminium, and steel have risen by 16%, 12% and 15.4%, respectively.
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From Marketoracle.co.uk: I want to introduce you to one of the most overlooked metals in the commodity complex. On a price basis, it’s been a star performer. Yet it hasn’t attracted much attention. [more]

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From Mineweb.co.za: When Bear Stearns went bust in March of 2008, followed swiftly by a Chapter 11 filing from Lehman Brothers, few could imagine how the world would look at the end of the year, let alone almost two years later. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: As expected, spot uranium continued to demonstrate upward price movement, increasing $0.75 to $46.00 per pound this week. Over 1 million pounds uranium equivalent changed hands in seven transactions. [more]

From Bloomberg: Nickel may rise 14 percent in the fourth quarter as higher stainless-steel production in China drives a gain in usage, according to Societe Generale SA. [more]

From Resourceinvestor.com: Mild profit-taking became manifest this morning and thus gold prices and other precious metals prices turned slightly lower upon the New York session’s opening. Spot bullion opened unchanged-to-slightly-lower, very near the $1225.00 level it finished at, on Tuesday afternoon. [more]

From Independent: Isn’t mining just the most alluring industry in the investment landscape? It spins that simplest and most exciting of dreams, that of digging in the ground and striking it rich. [more]

From Hardassetsinvestor.com: Anyone with children is familiar with talcum powder—that loose, white powder used to prevent diaper rash. But talc itself isn’t just white. It can also be black, blue, brown, grey, pink, silver and violet. [more]

From Bloomberg: Brazil’s Bovespa stock index advanced for a fourth day as economic reports in China and the U.S. boosted the outlook for commodities. [more]

From Businessinsider.com: BHP Billiton’s (BHP) latest unsolicited bid for the leading fertilizer producer Potash (POT) says much about China’s next stage of development. BHP is already a leading producer of the commodities which feed China’s rapid infrastructure growth. [more]

From Stockhouse.com: According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China imported over 100 million tons of coal in 2009. That’s the first time in decades China became a net importer of coal. In 2006, the largest consumer of the dirty fuel was exporting about 25 million tons. [more]

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From Indiatimes.com: The preliminary copper import figures from China’s customs department came in pretty much as expected, which is something of a first so far this year. Aggregate imports of refined copper, anode copper, copper alloy and copper products rose by 4.5% month-on-month to 342,901 tonnes in July. [more]

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From Iii.co.uk: Growing unease over the outlook of the global economy sparked a gold rush in the first half of 2010 which made precious metals the best performing asset class during the period. [more]

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From Thestreet.com: Material and mining ETFs are attracting buyers on Monday morning as China is set to replace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: With the People’s Bank of China assuring that the bank would maintain moderate to loose monetary policy and enhance financial supports to sustain economic development, the metal markets across the globe heaved a sigh of relief. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: Copper demand may outstrip supply in 2011 for the first time in four years as China, the world’s biggest consumer, sustains purchases and as ore grades decline. The demand-supply gap will be the extent of 200,000 metric tons. [more]

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From Mineweb.co.za: Numbers from seven of the world’s biggest gold diggers show that Gold miners are in the money, but face headwinds in rising costs, and scarce “pure gold” opportunities. Over the past decade, the dollar gold bullion price has increased nearly fivefold, suggesting that gold diggers would by now be reporting stellar profits and cash flows. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: Copper market is set to be on fore following data from China which showed that China’s copper imports soared for the first time in four months. [more]

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From Telegraph: Precious metals such as gold were the best performing asset class of the first half of the year, according to research by Lloyds TSB. They rose in value by an average of 9.7pc, with gold turning in the best performance thanks to a rise of 13.5pc, the bank’s survey of asset classes found. International equities were the worst assets to hold over the period, falling by 6.8pc. [more]

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From Chinadaily.com.cn: Big Chinese steelmakers are likely to raise their product prices in September after a rebound in the steel market over the last several weeks, the China Securities Journal said on Monday. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: Problems at the mines in South Africa, increasing demand due to the rise in auto sales and emerging markets like India and China will ensure that platinum and palladium outperform gold in the coming years. [more]

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From Thefinancialexpress-bd.com: In order to penetrate further into retail segment of the commodities investors, National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) will launch copper and nickel contracts under its electronic spot trading E-series by the end of August, 2010. [more]

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From Cityam.com: The global economy is at an important crossroads; economic data from the US has been patchy and signs of a slowdown in China are causing bouts of volatility in risky assets. However, base metal prices have held up well. The question is, will they continue to do so? [more]

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From Proactiveinvestors.com.au: Tin prices hit a two-year high above $20,000 a tonne last week amid tight supplies across many base metals. Falling inventories have also pushed the metal higher, plummeting nearly 50 per cent this year on the London Metal Exchange. Tin is used in soldering in electronics. [more]

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From Bloomberg: Demand for steel and cement may falter should China’s property prices continue to slide, said Heng Kun, a Shanghai-based analyst at Essence Securities Co. [more]

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From Bloomberg: Chinese metals consumption may cool if government orders for stress tests on banks to gauge the impact of a property price slump of as much as 60 percent indicate the market has further to fall, analysts say. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: Silver fell despite firm bullion prices and base metals also closed higher yesterday. However, weaker equities may have sent negative cues to silver prices. [more]

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From Bloomberg: China’s order of additional stress tests for banks to determine the impact of residential property prices sliding by as much as 60 percent may have a “negative impact” on the metals market, said Fang Junfeng, an analyst at China International Futures (Shanghai) Co. [more]

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From Commodityonline.com: Gold prices were trading with gains throughout on Tuesday as technical support helped the metal reverse some of its earlier losses. Buying interest following the discounted price in the yellow metal have also helped accumulate gains on the second trading day of the week. [more]

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