Metals Watch Will Fed tightening prove too strong a headwind for gold? The resilience in the price of gold this year has come as a surprise given the prospect of further monetary tightening in the US. Safe-haven demand appears to have been the main driver of prices. But... 8th May 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch How will input costs affect aluminium prices? There are many drivers of the price of aluminium, including demand, supply and investor sentiment. However, in this Metals Watch, we are going to focus on the supply-side. In particular, we are going... 27th March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch A bright road ahead for cobalt…but beware of bumps While we have been positive on the prospects for cobalt prices for some time now, we think that the most recent rally is overdone. Admittedly, the market is tightening. But, in our view, the move-up... 8th March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Metals to take a breather in 2017 While we had always been positive on the outlook for metals in 2016, even we were surprised by the scale of the rally. Indeed, we are now concerned that the prevailing optimism about demand for... 30th January 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Nickel market to tighten, but will that be enough? The prospect of reduced mine supply from the Philippines was a key driver of the rally in nickel prices in the second half of 2016. However, the price of nickel still underperformed its base metal... 3rd January 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch What’s next for zinc prices? Over the past year, zinc prices have rallied strongly, reaching a nine-year high recently, on the back of mine closures and production cuts. While the refined market will continue to tighten through... 30th November 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch What would a Trump victory mean for metals prices? We don’t pretend to know how the political race in the US will develop or who will eventually win the presidency, but in this Metals Watch we aim to shed some light on the potential impact on metals... 12th October 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Oversupply to weigh on the price of iron ore Iron ore prices have been on a bit of a rollercoaster this year, rising on waves of optimism about China’s demand, before slipping back on persistent growth in supply. In this Metals Watch, we argue... 14th September 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Western investors to drive gold prices higher Despite subdued buying from key consumers – China and India – demand for gold had a strong first half of the year. Indeed, renewed interest from Western investors more than offset continued weakness... 18th August 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Slower global growth to weigh on PGM prices Platinum group metals (PGMs) are primarily used in the automobile sector as catalysts for air pollution abatement in light- and heavy-duty vehicles. Auto sales in the three biggest markets, China, the... 12th July 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Electric cars could be a game-changer for base metals Tesla, Chevy, and Nissan, three major car makers, have recently announced plans to start selling long-range affordable electric vehicles (EVs) over the next few years. This could potentially be a game... 28th June 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch High stocks to weigh on the nickel price, for now Having underperformed in the first quarter, the price of nickel surged in April, only to fall back more recently. The rally did, however, raise the question of whether the four-year long downturn in... 25th May 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Autocatalyst demand to boost PGM prices In other publications we have addressed at length how falling mine supply should boost platinum group metals (PGMs) prices. But this is only part of the story. Developments on the demand side are... 26th April 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Has the rally in zinc prices got further to go? In recent years, zinc has periodically been a favourite of investors, based on the premise of falling supply as a result of mine closures. However, earlier price rallies have fizzled out, primarily... 26th April 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch What can LME stocks tell us about the aluminium market? In this Metals & Mining Watch , we peer into the murky world of aluminium stocks on the LME. We ask whether LME stocks data are, and can expected to be, reliable indicators of the economic drivers... 1st April 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Is the best yet to come for silver prices? After a weak 2015, the prices of gold and silver have rallied since the beginning of the year, underpinned by safe-haven demand and rising inflation expectations in the US. Yet, silver has failed to... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
