WEEK IN REVIEW: Keeping an even keel

Most metal prices remained stable this week, in the run up to industry events and negotiations during the LME Week in London.

Volatile currencies continue to make both buyers and sellers cautious as they try to protect their margins. And activity in several markets is focusing on long-term contracts, while spot market purchasing has been hand-to-mouth and for small volumes.

After a recent run-up in prices, boosted by speculative interest linked to rechargeable battery consumption forecasts, the markets for both lithium compounds and cobalt encountered price resistance. Cobalt traded in a narrowed range this week, with larger volumes transacted below $13/lb.

Molybdenum prices also lost more ground in thin trade, although the market for ferro-vanadium continues to be buoyed by tightness in raw material supply. And prices for tantalite ore and tantalum metal edged lower in the run up to and during the industry body, Tantalum-Niobium International Study Group (TIC), meeting in Toulouse this week, reflecting overcapacity at Chinese …
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Source: Metal Pages