The rally in metals is showing no signs of slowing down. The Bloomberg Industrial Metals sub-index posted the biggest five-day gain since 2011, as zinc touched a nine-year high. Prices rallied after China’s top economic commission approved a $36 billion plan on new rail links around Beijing, boosting demand for industrial raw materials.
Zinc for delivery in three months rose 2.9 percent to settle at $2 900 a metric ton at 5.50pm on the London Metal Exchange, after touching $2 985, the highest since October 2007………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Japan’s need for aluminum premium futures is limited, London Metal Exchange CEO Garry Jones told the LME Tokyo Gala event Tuesday. LME launched four physically settled regional aluminum premium contracts, including Northeast Asia premium contracts for delivery to Japan and South Korea, in November 2015.
“They were launched when the market was high. Premiums have since come down and there is less demand,” Jones said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched a cash-settled Japan premium contract, settled against S&P Global Platts CIF Japan spot premium assessment, in December 2015………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Industrial metals slumped, paring the biggest monthly rally in four years, on signs that China is taking steps to cool a trading frenzy in commodities. The Shanghai Futures Exchange and Dalian Commodity Exchange have raised margins and fees to ease a trading frenzy that’s fueled aggressive price gains this month, and further measures are expected, according to Citigroup Inc. analysts.
“Chinese investors trigger copper prices back to life, but not back to reality,” Citigroup analysts including David Wilson wrote in an e-mailed note. Prices may fall as China takes steps to “skim speculative froth on industrial commodity markets,” they said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Palladium seems to be the winner among precious metals for 2017 so far. As of November 21, 2017, palladium had a whopping rise of 32.5% year-to-date. That figure is far higher than the rises in gold, silver, and platinum. Platinum has the least year-to-date rise so far among the four precious metals.
There’s a lot of noise in the market about the possibility of a deficit in the palladium market. The demand for palladium looks like it’s clearly outpacing the supply. Palladium prices may be clearly reacting to this fundamental calling………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A bounce in the iron ore price to near two-year highs may deliver a short-term boost to the federal budget, but economists warn the benefit could be short-lived and only offset slower-than-expected wages and employment growth.
As Scott Morrison prepares the mid-year budget update for ­December 19, iron ore yesterday traded at $US79.20 a tonne, nudging $US80 for only the second time since October 2014. The May budget forecast an iron ore price of $US55 a tonne, up from a previous estimate of $US39, which Labor had said was an “heroic” assumption………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Remember when Barack Obama defeated republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain? Or Usain Bolt’s first appearance in the Olympic games? Well… that’s how far back you need to go if you want to see zinc prices as high as they are now.
Last week, zinc closed just short of $2,300 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, the highest level since early 2008. Zinc is the first industrial metal we can say that about (and possibly not the last one)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Metal’s price hits 17-month high as U.S. durable goods data jumps 4.8%. Copper prices hit a 17-month high on Thursday morning in London as bullish expectations for manufacturing spending outweighed the dollar hitting multiyear highs.
The three-month London Metal Exchange copper contract was up 1.27% at $5,842 a metric ton in midmorning trade in Europe, the highest price since mid-June 2015………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mood begins to turn on the metal as long-held assumptions are questioned. This year’s commodities slouch is playing catch up. Copper has suddenly burst into life, surging 14 per cent this month to above $5,500 a tonne as investors start to pick apart widely-held assumptions about the underlying dynamic for a metal used in everything from wiring to power grids.
The concern over a wall of supply from projects commissioned in the aftermath of the financial crisis is fading just as more optimistic views on demand in China and the US emerge………………………………….Full Article: Source

The money men are returning to the base metals markets. The speculative surges on China’s mainland commodity exchanges may be grabbing the headlines as the authorities tweak trading and margin rates to try and cool the animal spirits of the retail investment crowd.
However, outside of China, managed money is flooding into the likes of copper, nickel and aluminum. Some of it is “hot” money, computer trading programs reacting to rapidly changing chart pictures and riding the resulting momentum. That has been particularly true of copper, which earlier this month punched upwards out of the $4,320-5,130 range that had defined the London market for a year………………………………….Full Article: Source

A global economic slowdown, political uncertainty and low commodity prices are continuing to squeeze the mining and extraction sector. An analysis shows that M&A activity is significantly down on last year, despite an uptick in transaction volume in the second quarter. Capital raising remains relatively robust.
Commodity prices have tumbled in recent years on the back of a slowdown in China and increased global uncertainty and lacklustre economic growth. Oil prices and gas prices, in particular, have dropped – throwing the respective sectors into a period of acute stress. Copper prices too have seen significant falls, dropping from heights of around $4.5 to $2.2 per lb, while iron prices have halved over the past two year period………………………………….Full Article: Source

Iron ore futures in China rose for a third straight day, and at one point hit the highest level in almost three years, supported by firmer steel prices in the world’s top consumer. Both iron ore and steel came off the day’s peaks, but the recovery in futures from last week’s slide had lifted the price of spot iron ore by nearly 8 per cent in two days as physical buyers chased higher prices.
The most-traded January iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed up 2.4 per cent at 622 yuan ($90) a tonne, after rising as much as 8.4 per cent to 658.50 yuan, its loftiest since February 2014………………………………….Full Article: Source

The platinum/palladium discount is in focus this week, with palladium creeping closer to platinum in dollar-terms, although parity is unlikely near-term, according to sources. As of 1005 GMT Wednesday morning, palladium was spot bid at $742/oz with platinum at $938/oz.
This is the tightest the two prices have been in over five years. The last time they traded at parity was back in 2000. Palladium traded above platinum in 2000/2001 when it spiked to more than $1,000/oz after Russian exports were suspended…………………………………Full Article: Source

Copper posted its highest closing price since July 2015 amid a broad rally in commodities on expectations of a pick-up in global manufacturing and infrastructure spending. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Kenneth Hoffman reports.………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iron ore and steel are resuming their rally in China as investors return to the market to pick up commodities made cheaper after days of steep losses, but a shaky demand outlook suggests the gains will again be fleeting.
Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange have surged 6 per cent to their upside limit at 580.50 yuan ($114). Construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange has also jumped 6 per cent to hit its exchange-set ceiling at 2900 yuan a tonne………………………………………Full Article: Source

Copper’s recent turbo-charged rally has upended the market’s narrative of supply surplus. Too much supply was supposedly the reason why copper, until this month, was the worst performer among the base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
But right now the market is struggling to work out where all that extra copper actually is. LME stocks are low and falling. Stocks registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) are rising but still low………………………………………Full Article: Source

Copper futures resumed their climb on Tuesday, supported by predictions of greater demand from China and higher oil prices. Copper for December delivery was recently up 1% at $2.5390 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Dee Perera, an analyst at brokerage firm Marex Spectron, said the copper market was buoyed on Tuesday by improved sentiment at a key industry conference in Shanghai………………………………………Full Article: Source

Commodities are back in favor, boosting oil producers and miners after their annus horribilis of 2015. The Bloomberg Commodity Index is set for its biggest three-day advance since June, led by gains in oil and industrial metals. That’s pushed shares of mining companies close to their highest this year, with Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc gaining almost 5 percent on Tuesday. Energy companies also rose, with Tullow Oil Plc up 2.2 percent.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said investors should bet on higher prices in the next year as manufacturing picks up around the world, the first time the bank has recommended an overweight position for the asset class in more than four years………………………………………Full Article: Source

Copper’s recent turbo-charged rally has upended the market’s narrative of supply surplus. Too much supply was supposedly the reason why copper, until this month, was the worst performer among the base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
But right now the market is struggling to work out where all that extra copper actually is. LME stocks are low and falling. Stocks registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) are rising but still low…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Copper’s aggressive advance in the week since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States suggests investors are more bullish about growth than they have been in years, but strategists wonder if the rally is for real.
The metal used in cables and wiring jumped to a 17-month peak as high as $2.53 per pound after Trump’s victory on hopes he’ll make good on commitments to ramp up in construction in the U.S. After reaching a peak close to $4.50 in 2011, prices have languished around the $2 mark for the past few years, largely due to excess supply in a slow global growth environment…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Something very strange is happening in China’s metal markets. Buyers appear to be behaving the way U.S. shoppers do at this time of year: queuing up and pushing to get their hands on some product before anyone else can get a chance.
Chinese buyers are paying the sharpest premium in years for near-term Shanghai aluminum futures. Aluminum has been in a state of backwardation on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for several months……………………………………Full Article: Source

Copper stood out among the hottest commodities in the past one month, as prices of the base metal surged nearly 20 per cent on hopes of improving demand from top consumer China and a steady decline in stocks at warehouses.
The rally was fuelled by optimism over robust demand from the US on expectation of increased infrastructure spending under president-elect Donald Trump. Trump has pledged to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure over the next 10 years, which has fuelled demand expectation……………………………………Full Article: Source

The current copper spike may not last, but it shows copper’s long-term potential, especially if part of the announced infrastructure program materializes. Unlike copper, other metals aren’t in a sweet spot due to unlimited supply, and recent and large price increases.
Gold is the riskiest of all metals, especially now with no more election uncertainty, a stronger dollar, and the expected FED action in December that will have us seeing higher……………………………………..Full Article: Source

We have been asked a lot in the past day or so about the impact on the base metals of Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US presidential election. There is interest in the short term Trump-effect in light of the strength in base metal prices.
And there is interest in the longer term effect of ‘Trumponomics’ on the market fundamentals. Before the election, the base metals were already on a tear from LME Week in London last week, where quite a bullish consensus formed, especially for copper. So there was momentum from that, and from technical break-outs on the many of the charts……………………………………..Full Article: Source

When commodity producers talk down the market you know prospects really aren’t very good for a price rise. Iván Arriagada, chief executive at Antofagastawas interviewed by the Financial Times while at the recent LME week and is quoted as saying Copper will continue to lag behind as other commodity prices rebound, adding the market is likely to remain oversupplied for at least the next three years.
While demand for copper in China will grow at around 3% next year, that growth will be outweighed by oversupply. Chinese demand this year has been bolstered by a surprise stimulus boost early this year but many are expecting that to fade by Q2 next year resulting in a surplus of 192,000 metric tons in 2017, up from 185,000 mt this year, according to Reuters……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The head of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. says it will take more than Donald Trump to keep copper rallying. “In terms of being a long-term driver of copper prices, it will have an impact but not a huge impact,” Richard Adkerson, chief executive officer of the world’s largest publicly traded copper miner, said.
“For copper demand to be robust requires a positive economic situation in China, in the world’s global economy.” U.S. President-elect Trump has promised to rebuild America, a goal that includes a $550 billion transportation infrastructure plan………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Heavyweight mining stocks slumped back yesterday as investors took profits after a post-US election bounce in metals prices lost momentum. Investors had piled into miners and industrial metals on bets Donald Trump will drive through an infrastructure bonanza in the US, last week, triggering copper’s best performance since 2011.
The red metal’s advance was halted, with prices slipping back 3.2 per cent to $5,360 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Speculators had cashed out of commodities futures markets in China earlier in the day amid jitters that regulators might clamp down on price swings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Our November metal price trends report showed an industrial metals complex buoyed by strong Chinese demand and bullish on the future, thanks to the election of republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who promises to curtail regulations on metals producers and the energy suppliers that provide power for smelting, steelmaking and mining.
While some of the metals turned in a flat performance during the month of October, almost all quickly took off after the election. Now, as our lead forecasting analyst, Raul de Frutos, recently wrote, the industrial metal bulls are in full charge………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Most commodities are denominated in, and therefore pegged to, the U.S. dollar but these days the Chinese yuan is starting to have as much influence on prices.While there were fundamental triggers behind the recent spike and drop in raw materials, it’s becoming clear that Chinese trading was among the main drivers.
Investors in the northeastern city of Dalian have been piling back into commodities in a replay of what happened earlier this year. That’s partly because they’re seeking to protect their global purchasing power as the Chinese currency loses value………………………………………..Full Article: Source

After shaking up iron ore, steel and coal futures this year, Chinese investors have taken on copper. The metal used in cables and wiring jumped 11 percent last week, the most since 2011, as President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to spend as much as $1 trillion on infrastructure boosted the outlook for demand. But the impetus for the surge probably had its origins elsewhere, namely in China.
China’s retail traders and funds have been buying copper in Shanghai since the start of November after the country’s exchanges boosted margins on other commodities, according to Citigroup Inc………………………………….Full Article: Source

Copper, coming off its best week since 2011, is leaving haven assets such as gold in the dust. With an improving economic outlook in China and bets on increased U.S. infrastructure spending bolstering the demand outlook, copper and other industrial metals are expected to outperform precious metals in the coming months, said Chuck Self, the chief investment officer of iSectors LLC.
An ounce of bullion buys about 485 pounds of copper, the least since November 2015………………………………….Full Article: Source

Precious metal gets a boost from hopes for stronger U.S. auto sales. Palladium prices on Tuesday rose to their highest in more than five weeks, bolstered by hopes of stronger auto sales in the U.S.
Palladium for December delivery closed up 1.2% at $705.95 a troy ounce, its highest settlement since October 3. Prices are up 14% this month. Driving the rally were hopes that U.S. car sales would rise in coming months, boosting demand for the metal, which is used to scrub emissions from gasoline engines………………………………….Full Article: Source

Anyone expecting that President-elect Donald Trump will have a free hand in tearing up U.S. rules on auto emissions may find a rude shock in precious metals markets: The ratio between platinum and palladium prices is collapsing. The platinum-palladium ratio is close to its lowest levels since 2002.
About 72 percent of the world’s palladium goes into catalytic converters, the filters attached to vehicle exhausts that capture soot and convert nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide into less toxic gases………………………………….Full Article: Source

The music may be stopping for iron ore, with the commodity falling sharply overnight and dragging down Australia’s major miners as traders started to worry about Chinese regulators stepping in to reduce sharp price swings.
Iron ore dropped 8.7 per cent to $US72.80 a tonne in a single session overnight, according to the Steel Index, from a two-year high of $US79.70 the previous day. Speculators became worried that China would tighten curbs on trading of a range of commodity futures and have sold off materials ranging from coal and steel to soybeans, Reuters reported………………………………….Full Article: Source

The sharp rally in metals and bulk commodities was “too much too fast,” because the impact of Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan on global demand was tiny compared to that of China, Goldman Sachs analysts cautioned in a report.
In his victory speech on Wednesday, Trump proposed a “$1 trillion over a 10-year period” infrastructure stimulus plan, sending iron ore prices up about 5 percent to around $74 a metric ton soon after. Iron ore traded around $80 a ton on Monday, compared to all-time lows around $38 a ton hit 11 months ago……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Copper prices rose Monday amid continued market optimism that a Trump presidency would boost infrastructure spending in the U.S. Copper for December delivery settled up 0.5% at $2.5210 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing near its highest level in more than a year.
The gains extended a multiweek rally for the industrial metal, which picked up steam after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The copper market will start to enter a “substantial” supply deficit from 2021, pushing prices of the industrial metal higher, the head of Chile’s national mining association Sonami said. “In the near term, mining companies are not investing in additional capacity and copper demand is growing at a pace of around 2 percent a year,” Sonami Chairman Diego Hernandez told the Copper 2016 industry conference in Kobe, Japan.
Supply growth will likely begin to fall from around 2019 and the market will face a substantial deficit from around 2021 as it coincides with a recovery in demand growth, driven by population growth and urbanization in China and other emerging countries, and less fossil fuel use amid climate change, Hernandez said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The post-U.S. election mayhem in the metals market that saw copper rally 11 percent last week and gold plunge has spread to silver. Prices are down about 10 percent in the past two days, the most in three years. Silver is known as the devil’s metal because of its often wild swings, and a 10-day measure of its price volatility is near the highest since 2014.…………………………………….Full Article: Source

It‘s hard to imagine metallurgical coal exerting much influence on other commodity markets. But when the price of a commodity quadruples in slightly over 10 months, its clout amplifies.
A range of products in the metals and coal markets have glided into the slipstream of the year’s best commodity price performance – ignited by crippling Chinese and Australian coal supply shortages. Spot premium hard coking coal prices from Australia was assessed at $310/mt FOB Australia on November 10, up from $76.45/mt FOB Australia at the start of the year……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Base metal prices soared this week, with copper forging above $6,000 per tonne as Donald Trump’s election victory sparked hopes of booming demand to meet the president-elect’s pledge on infrastructure spending.
Industrial metals also scored multi-year and multi-month peaks on hopes of resurgent demand from top global consumer China. Copper, used in plumbing, heating, electrical and telecommunications wiring, peaked Friday at $6,025.50 — the highest price for almost one and a half years…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Iron ore prices have more than doubled from the all-time lows struck 11 months ago. Doubled. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fines surged 7.7% to $79.81 a tonne on Friday, extending its gain in 2016 to 83.2%.
It was the largest percentage gain since April 21, and the largest in dollar terms since March 7 when it jumped $9.99 a tonne. Remarkable…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Metals prices soar amid hopes Trump’s infrastructure policies will boost demand: zinc surges to 5.5-year high while copper and nickel find 16-month high. Copper has surged more than five per cent to a 16-month high as speculation that US infrastructure spending could jump under a Republican administration unleashed a wave of interest in industrial metals.
Zinc hit a five-and-a-half-year peak and nickel was at its highest since July 2015 on expectations that US president-elect Donald Trump could boost domestic construction spending. London Metal Exchange copper hit a peak of $US5,714 a tonne on Thursday, its highest since July 2015, and closed up 3.5 per cent at $US5,601 a tonne, extending Wednesday’s 3.4 per cent rise…………………………………..Full Article: Source

After lagging behind rivals for most of 2016, the metal price has exploded recently. A wave of speculative buying has helped pushed copper to its highest level in more than a year, helping to reverse its underperformance against other industrial metals.
After going nowhere for most of the year, copper has surged 20 per cent over the past two weeks, attracting the attention of momentum trading funds. It has also forced short sellers to buy back their positions. “Speculators are finally returning to the copper market,” said Xiao Fu, head of commodity markets strategy at Bank of China International…………………………………..Full Article: Source

There’s just no stopping iron ore. Benchmark prices are on their way to doubling as concern eases about a slowdown in China, and steps by exchanges in the world’s top buyer to curb spikes in other commodities including coal and steel lure funds into the raw material.
Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao rallied to $74.12 a dry metric ton on Thursday, the highest level since November 2014, after gaining 94 percent from December’s low, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. In Asia, SGX AsiaClear futures are up 98 percent since their closing low the same month, while the contract on the Dalian exchange has now more than doubled…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold jumped as much as $75 an ounce on Wednesday, while gold miners surged as investors watched Donald Trump edge ever closer to the White House. But, as with the other knee-jerk market reactions to the news that the property developer with no previous political experience will be the 45th American president, the yellow metal’s move moderated somewhat following his acceptance speech.
Striking a much more conciliatory tone than characterised his campaign and notably lacking any mention of his more extreme campaign promises, the speech seemed to calm some of the initial jitters and saw gold fall back toward the important technical level of £1,300 per ounce………………………………………Full Article: Source

As Donald Trump’s shock presidential election victory ripples through financial markets, it’s far from doom and gloom for metals producers, according to Jefferies Group LLC.
Miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Inc are set to benefit on the prospect of increased US infrastructure spending that pushes up demand for copper and other mined commodities at a time of tightening global supply, Jefferies analysts including Christopher LaFemina wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. A weaker dollar would also be a positive for copper and gold………………………………………Full Article: Source

Iron ore has surged to a 12-month high of $US70 a tonne as a result of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, as copper, nickel and zinc also enjoyed big gains.
The Chinese spot price of iron ore, Australia’s most important export commodity, rose 3.9 per cent to $US70.98 ($92.71) a tonne. Iron ore has now risen 85 per cent since touching a low of $US38.30 in December last year………………………………………Full Article: Source

Iron ore exports jumped 54% to 8.46 million mt in the first half of the Iranian year, to September 21, despite the Iranian government’s policy to halt exports of raw materials, official customs statistics show.
Official statistics also show the Iranian steel industry imported 65,000 mt of iron ore pellet, a 93% year-on-year drop. Iran also imported 98,400 mt of metallurgical coal in the same period, down about 76% year on year………………………………………Full Article: Source

Gains based on rise in U.S. infrastructure spending after Trump triumph and optimism over China demand. Copper rose to a fresh one-year high on Wednesday, boosted by bets on a rise in infrastructure spending and continued optimism over China demand.
Copper for December delivery settled up 2.9% at $2.4480 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, its biggest one-day gain in over a year. Wednesday marked the 13th consecutive session of gains for copper, the longest streak in at least 28 years………………………………………Full Article: Source

Our Copper MMI held steady at 61 points in October. At first glance, it might appear that there is nothing bullish about that. Markets remain in surplus due to producers’ unwillingness to cut capacity.
Copper prices have lagged the rest of the industrial metals this year and we’ve been pretty bearish on copper since 2011. But, although still early to make a call, there might be a bull lurking in the shadows. Copper prices might be setting up for a big run. Although prices didn’t rise in October, they showed resilience in the face of a rising dollar…………………………………….Full Article: Source

After a five-year downturn, the world’s least-loved commodity is burning brightly again. The price of coking coal has just topped $300 a tonne for the first time since 2011 as steel mills in Asia scramble for supplies.
Premium hard Australian coking coal rose 6 per cent to $307.2 a tonne on Tuesday, extending gains since April to 250 per cent, according to a price assessment from the Steel Index. The last time coking – this year’s best performing commodity – was trading at these levels was in 2011 after severe flooding disrupted supplies from Australia, a leading producer…………………………………….Full Article: Source