Arcelor Shifts Focus to Emerging Economies
WSJ.com
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, is shifting focus from the developed world to lower-cost developing regions, acknowledging that growth prospects are dimmer in North America and Europe.... ArcelorMittal's shift reflects that the global steel market isn't seeing the same signs of rebound that have appeared in some other sectors. World-wide steel production fell 21% in May from a year earlier, with the biggest drops in North America and Europe -- 49% and 44%, respectively.
http://bit.ly/Qympv
Mittal concerned at China`s sops for steel shipment
Zeenews.com
Expressing concern at China giving incentives for steel exports, ArcelorMittal chief L N Mittal has said that such steps could further delay the recovery of the sector, which is anyway unlikely before 2011.
http://bit.ly/BDBSa
ArcelorMittal May Restart Two Furnaces, Mittal Says
Bloomberg.com
ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, may restart two blast furnaces at its Indiana manufacturing facility to take advantage of higher demand, Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal said.
http://bit.ly/1ISbRF
***** A recent uptick in prices have made this possible, but likely short term.
Shanghai to Keep Lead Over London Copper Price, Trader Says
Bloomberg.com
Copper futures in China have led prices in London since April in a trend that will persist as volumes on the Shanghai exchange climb, a trader at a unit of Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co. said. “The trend is likely to continue as China’s copper consumption accounts for a lion’s share of the world demand and the Chinese currency is becoming more important on the global stage too,” said Gu Jianjun, a trader at Jinyuan Futures Co., a unit of Tongling, China’s second-largest copper producer by output last year.
http://bit.ly/gICEC
***** What happens when China's demand slackens and Europe's has already dried up?
Metals ‘to Suffer’ as China Ends Stockpiling Drive, Blanch Says
Bloomberg.com
Metals prices may decline in the next three months as China, the world’s biggest user, begins to run down inventories that were built up earlier this year, according to Francisco Blanch at Merrill Lynch & Co.
http://bit.ly/q8uEE
***** Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.
| JLN Metals Scorecard | 23-Jun-09 |
| | |
| NYSE LIFFE US Total Volume | 12,949 |
| | |
| 100 oz. Gold Futures Volumes | |
| NYSE LIFFE US | 4,382 |
| CME/NYMEX | 94,389 |
| CME/NYMEX Open Auction | 8,776 |
| NYSE LIFFE market share | 4.07% |
| NYSE LIFFE US Electronic market share | 4.44% |
| | |
| 100 oz. Gold Futures Open Interest | |
| CME/NYMEX | 370,347 |
| NYSE LIFFE US | 658 |
| NYSE LIFFE US market share | 0.18% |
| | |
| Mini Gold Volume | |
| NYSE LIFFE US | 5,617 |
| CME/NYMEX miNY | 48 |
| CME/NYMEX E-mini | 31 |
| NYSE Liffe market share | 98.61% |
| | |
| 5,000 oz. Silver Futures Volume | |
| NYSE LIFFE US | 458 |
| CME/NYMEX | 40,289 |
| NYSE LIFFE US market share | 1.12% |
| | |
| Mini Silver Volume | |
| NYSE LIFFE US | 2,483 |
| CME/NYMEX miNY | 9 |
| CME/NYMEX E-mini | 0 |
| NYSE LIFFE US market share | 99.64% |
| | |
| Additional Metal Futures Volume statistics | |
| EUREX Gold Futures | 4 |
| TOCOM Gold Futures* | 36,036 |
| TOCOM Mini Gold Futures* | 14,683 |
| TOCOM Silver Futures* | 433 |
| Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange | 4,463 |
| * trade date June 24, 2009 |
| Precious metal ETFs* | Symbol | Volume |
| ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) | AGQ | 181,410 |
| Market Vectors Gold Miners (ETF) | GDX | 8,370,100 |
| SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) | GLD | 11,965,776 |
| ProShares UltraShort Gold (ETF) | GLL | 268,667 |
| iShares COMEX Gold Trust (ETF) | IAU | 284,220 |
| iShares Silver Trust (ETF) | SLV | 7,878,775 |
| Market Vectors Steel (ETF) | SLX | 399,216 |
| ProShares Ultra Gold (ETF) | UGL | 201,011 |
| ProShares UltraShort Silver (ETF) | ZSL | 1,282,834 |
| INTENTS OF 23 June 2009 FOR DELIVERY ON 25 June | Issue total | Stop total |
| none | none |
***** The Scorecard from June 24 has been corrected.
Lead Stories
Will A Strong Dollar Crush Stocks, Silver, and Gold?
Yahoo! Finance
The market is devious and will often do the opposite of what most investors expect.
http://bit.ly/5jVnC
Xstrata ups ante in Anglo hunt
miningmx.com
XSTRATA launched the next phase in its attempted merger with Anglo American – rejected earlier this week – issuing details of its approach to the South Africans in an effort to win Anglo American shareholder support.
http://bit.ly/j64vi
Mick Davis, Xstrata`s tap dancer
Mineweb
Xstrata has previously backed out of hostile bids worth an aggregate USD 32bn, and may not have the stomach for a clearly incensed Anglo American.
http://bit.ly/IEpX
Futures & ETF News
Put Platinum Funds in Your Future File
TheStreet.com
These days, you don't need to sell millions of records to get a taste of platinum. The E-TRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Long Platinum ETN and iPath DJ AIG Platinum ETN are two instruments that deal solely with the shiny metal.
http://bit.ly/dA2Xr
New Peru ETF Is Far Too Materialistic
Yahoo! Finance
... the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund has a 65% weighting in basic materials. There's little reason to expect that it'll perform much differently than WisdomTree International Materials or SPDR S&P International Materials.
http://bit.ly/19cZK9
NYSE Technologies Launches Market Data Platform V5
.... This revolutionary ticker plant technology is designed specifically for high-volume and latency sensitive markets, delivering data in microseconds rather than milliseconds.
http://bit.ly/S9T8R
Gold Futures Await Fed
TheStreet TV
Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco.com, says if the Fed raises rates, gold futures will see more downside.
http://bit.ly/J6F9D
Investments
Fulbright's Lun Likes China's Banks on PBOC Policy: Video
Bloomberg.com
Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities, talks with Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin about his preference for Chinese banks.
http://bit.ly/RLldM
What Silver looks like now and in the long term
Seeking Alpha
Last month there was a lot of buying pressure in silver, i.e. the exchange traded funds, the mining equities, and the physical market itself all combined to send the market higher.
http://bit.ly/2XFVO
Silver Could Outperform Gold 2:1
Seeking Alpha
Interview with David Morgan
http://bit.ly/18FvFc
Choppy times ahead for gold in near term - BMO`s Melek
Mineweb
Choppy times are ahead for gold in the near-term, BMO Capital Markets Global Commodity Strategist Bart Melek warned Tuesday.
http://bit.ly/R7Z7b
Reports and Macroeconomics
Carney Says Canada’s Slump Has Become as Deep as U.S.
Bloomberg.com
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said his country’s recession is now as deep as in the U.S., according to a person who heard his remarks today in Washington..... Canada’s economy was hit by a plunge in the prices of exported commodities such as oil and copper, Porter said, offsetting Canada’s stronger housing market.
http://bit.ly/HaH3S
India June Gold Imports Slump on High Prices, Trade Body Says
Bloomberg.com
Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest buyer, probably halved in June as higher prices and weak currency deterred jewelry buyers, a traders group said.
http://bit.ly/LE4cj
Copper market was in deficit in March - study group
miningweekly.com
World demand for refined copper exceeded supply by about 50 000 t during March, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) reported on Monday. This followed a supply deficit of 27,000 t in February, and a surplus of 124,000 t in January.
http://bit.ly/2lrxP0
Steel bar demand picking up: Industry group
Business Times
DEMAND for steel bar has picked up in the recent months, boosted by the first RM7 billion stimulus package which has been mostly disbursed.
http://bit.ly/Hb5fL
Regulatory News
China Defends Export Limits, Highlights Its Own Trade Complaint
Bloomberg.com
China’s government said it will contest complaints to the World Trade Organization from the European Union and the U.S. that the nation unfairly limits exports of raw materials such as magnesium, coke and zinc.
http://bit.ly/3NdMTJ
Harare seeks to lure mining investors
FT.com
.... In the year leading up to last year’s disputed presidential elections, the law was held up by investors as one reason why foreign capital was not developing Zimbabwe’s rich gold, nickel, platinum and diamond deposits.
http://bit.ly/SSiZb
Miscellaneous News
China’s Mills, Smelters Raise Power Demand ‘Slightly’
Bloomberg.com
China’s steelmakers and metal smelters, consumers of about a third of the country’s power, raised demand “slightly” in June as they restarted stalled capacity, said an official at the China Electricity Council.
http://bit.ly/HEpl5
Going green with gold
KVOA News 4
.... "In today's world, it takes 20 to 30 tons of toxic waste to produce one ounce of new gold,"
http://bit.ly/jDvPI
US To Trade Gold Reserves For Cash Through Cash4Gold.com
The Onion - America's Finest News Source
US To Trade Gold Reserves For Cash Through Cash4Gold.com
http://bit.ly/gpxXF
***** Just wanted to see if you were paying attention....
Metals Metaphor of the day
It’s good to be green and silver, and gold, and platinum
WRAL.com
Building "green" is the practice of using sustainable design and development techniques to create or renovate structures in an environmentally responsible manner by integrating resource-efficient products and processes throughout the life cycle of a building.
http://bit.ly/SwP04
Physicals & Company News
Xstrata has strong shareholder backing for Anglo merger – Fairfax
miningweekly.com
Anglo American suitor Xstrata has strong institutional shareholder backing for its merger proposal and will gain further support for the deal despite Anglo’s rejection, Fairfax mining analyst John Meyer said on Tuesday.
http://bit.ly/lagyf
Xstrata Says It Will Continue to Pursue Anglo Merger
Bloomberg.com
Xstrata Plc said it will continue to seek talks with rival mining company Anglo American Plc over its proposed 22.9 billion-pound ($37.9 billion) “merger of equals.” The deal would save more than $1 billion of costs annually in the third full year following its completion, Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata said today in a statement.
http://bit.ly/BoWF4
Is Xstrata's Davis taking the Mick?
Reuters
If you want excitement, then Mick Davis is your man. Xstrata (XTA.L), the company he runs, has been up like a rocket and down like the stick since it burst on an unsuspecting London stock market in 2002.
http://bit.ly/Kv4CB
BHP May Win Lower Copper Fees From Japanese Smelters
Bloomberg.com
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, may win a reduction in copper processing fees from Japanese smelters in mid-year supply contracts, said analysts at UBS AG, Daiwa Institute of Research and CRU.
http://bit.ly/YNz6j
Gold price tipped to rise as US strategy increase inflation threat
VietNamNetViet Nam Gold Traders Association vice president Huynh Trung Khanh spoke to Thoi bao Ngan hang (Banking Times) newspaper about the domestic gold market.
http://bit.ly/19tzHh
***** VietNam's market is largely a physical market, check out the portion about real estate sales being conducted in gold.
Coeur Scores a Supreme Victory
MotleyFool.com
.... The most recent fortuitous event is a victory hammered out not in the mining camp, but in the courtroom.
http://bit.ly/Dm1jW
Japan’s Copper Cable Shipments Plunge to 34-Year Low
Bloomberg.com
Japan’s copper wire and cable shipments plunged 31 percent in May from a year earlier to the lowest level in more than 34 years on slumping demand, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers’ Association said.
http://bit.ly/23Hg1
AK Steel Sees Improved Results in Coming Quarters
Bloomberg.com
AK Steel Holding Corp., the fourth-largest U.S.-based steelmaker by sales, expects second-quarter results will improve from the previous period because of reduced operating costs.
http://bit.ly/1Ds3y
Asia’s Biggest Iron Deposit Found in China’s Liaoning Province
Bloomberg.com
Asia’s biggest iron ore deposit, with reserves of more than 3 billion metric tons, was found in China’s northern province of Liaoning, according to a local government.
http://bit.ly/VNoPu
Lonmin May Ask Third Parties to Process Platinum Ore
Bloomberg.com
Lonmin Plc, the world’s third- biggest platinum producer, may ask third parties to process the ore it mines to boost sales after shutting down a South African furnace for repairs.
http://bit.ly/4VwfE
Mill problem hits PanAust's Laos copper-gold mine
Reuters
A mill failure has disrupted production at Australian miner PanAust Ltd's Laos copper-gold mine, prompting the company to warn that shipments of concentrate from the operation could be delayed if necessary.
http://bit.ly/3hCmb
GDBGF China OKs Angang to Lift Holdings in Gindalbie Metals
SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX
China's steel giant Anshan Iron & Steel Group (Angang Group) got the go-ahead from the Chinese government to add investment in Australian iron ore company Gindalbie Metals Ltd., said the target company on June 23, 2009.
http://bit.ly/KSmnD
Sheet Steel Price to Rise in Tokyo
Sheet steel market price shows sign to increase around Tokyo
Japan Metal Bulletin
http://bit.ly/Jf8ny
Northam appoints directors
miningmx.com
MINING group Northam Platinum on Tuesday unveiled the appointment of Alwyn Martin, Kelello Chabedi and Mikki Xayiya as non-executive directors.
http://bit.ly/9XfIR
Phoenix-like Monarch Gold to become a Swan
Mineweb
High profile Perth mining identity Michael Kiernan who was at the helm of Monarch Gold Mining Ltd when the company sunk through a mining under-performance and debt issues will be back at the wheel for its planned revival.
http://bit.ly/la7ir
