Metals Watch Copper price to struggle The price of copper has been trading in a fairly narrow range in the last few weeks, but is still significantly higher than at the start of 2016. In this Metals Watch, we discuss the main drivers of... 26th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (May) World Steel Association (WSA) data showed a 4.7% y/y rise in global steel production in May, down from 5.0% in April. Nonetheless, this still compares very favourably with the 0.8% increase in steel... 20th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (May) According to the International Aluminium Institute, global primary aluminium output rose by 4.8% y/y last month, down from 6.4% y/y a month earlier. However, unlike in April when the growth was all in... 20th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Stocks are not painting a clear picture of demand Exchange stocks generally fell over the last month. The bigger picture is that there have been sharp drawdowns in global exchange stocks of aluminium and zinc and a large build in copper inventories... 19th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly The losing streak continues It has been a poor week for most commodity prices. The Fed’s decision to hike interest rates on Wednesday weighed on the prices of gold and industrial metals. Oil prices continued to drop, partly due... 16th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China Industrial Metals Demand Monitor (May) China’s activity data were broadly stable in May, but a slowdown in construction starts and growth in investment do not bode well for future metals demand. 15th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Tightness in tin likely to ease The likelihood that China will start exporting refined tin in much larger quantities should ease the relatively tight supply picture outside China. As such, we have revised down our end-2017 price... 13th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response South Africa’s Mine Production (Apr.) PGM output had a strong start to the year but the latest figures suggest that it has already started to wane. We expect production to fall in the remainder of the year as the platinum price treads... 8th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack Precious metals outperform The prices of precious metals benefitted from a weaker US dollar and heightened safe-haven demand in May. In addition, markets are pricing in only a limited Fed tightening over the next eighteen... 6th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A case of the jitters hits commodity markets Oil prices have continued to fall on fears that the OPEC supply cuts will not be sufficient to clear the excess in the market. In addition, a weak May unofficial PMI reading out of China on Thursday... 2nd June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Are we too bearish on the prospects for lead prices? Despite the recent rally in prices, we remain bearish on the long-term prospects for lead usage. While increased demand for start-stop systems in cars could provide some support to prices over the... 1st June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Mixed messages from China’s PMIs The official and unofficial May manufacturing PMIs for China told somewhat different stories. However, we are inclined to put more weight on the unofficial PMI, which fell for the third successive... 1st June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch As good as it gets for Chinese steel Chinese steel prices have been on a roller-coaster since the start of this year, as investor sentiment on the outlook for demand waxed and waned. In this Metals Watch, we take an in-depth look at the... 30th May 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Metals prices could fall sharply as sentiment turns Sentiment towards metals has deteriorated somewhat since the start of 2017. We had warned that this could happen as the large investor inflows into metals markets last year were mostly premised on... 24th May 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Apr.) World Steel Association (WSA) data showed a 5% y/y rise in global steel production in April, down from 5.7% in the first quarter. Nonetheless, output was growing strongly in all the large producing... 23rd May 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (Apr.) According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), global primary aluminium output rose by 6.4% y/y last month, up from 4.3% y/y in March. However, in month-on-month terms, production fell in... 22nd May 2017 · 1 min read
