At the time of writing, the XAU/SD trades at $2,755 after bouncing off daily lows of $2,741
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the performance of the Greenback against a basket of six peers and usually correlates inversely to Gold, rises 0.08%, up at 108.16.
Gold prices are set to challenge record high of $2,790 amid ongoing US trade policies uncertainty.
Source – FXSTREET
Silver price (XAG/USD) retraces its recent gains from the previous session, trading around $29.80 per barrel during the Asian hours on Wednesday.
People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng stated on Monday that “interest rate and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) tools will be utilized to maintain ample liquidity.” Gongsheng reaffirmed China’s plans to increase the fiscal deficit and emphasized that China will continue to be a driving force for the global economy.
Source – FX Street
Unusually large shipments of copper to the United States are unlikely to abate as long as the threat of tariffs hangs over the market and price premiums for the metal on U.S.-based COMEX make deals profitable for traders and producers, analysts said.
COMEX copper hit a record high at $11,633 a metric ton on March 26, creating a premium of more than $1,570 a ton against the benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange.
“We expect 250,000-300,000 tons of extra copper will be shipped to the U.S. over March-May because of the spread and amid the uncertainties regarding the tariff,” said Sharon Ding, head of China basic materials at UBS Investment Research.
“It’s possible we’ll see more atypical cargos in the second half of May,” Kpler analyst Ben Ayre said. “While the COMEX price continues to run at a premium to the LME there’s a strong incentive to land refined copper in the United States.”
Source – Reuters
Shipments of refined copper from the central African country jumped by 71% year-on-year to 1.48 million metric tons in 2024. The Congo is now by some margin the largest supplier of refined metal to the world’s largest buyer.
The Congo’s share of Chinese copper imports has risen from 10% in 2020 to 36.7% with volumes steadily increasing over the fourth quarter. December’s imports of 167,735 tons were a new monthly record.
Source – Reuters
This figure significantly exceeded consensus forecasts, as economists had anticipated job gains of around 164,000.
Adam Button, a market analyst, pointed out that the unexpectedly strong employment report is driving the U.S. dollar higher, which is consequently weighing on gold prices.
Source – KITCO NEWS
The South African rand strengthened on Tuesday, helped by the gold price extending its historic run to a new all-time peak.
At 0814 GMT, the rand traded at 18.0175 against the dollar , about 0.4% stronger than its previous close.
“At some point a gold price that continues to rise will excite local miners to make a greater effort to mine difficult-to-reach gold deposits. What may not have looked viable several years ago must be looking interesting now,” said ETM Analytics in a research note.
Source – Reuters
South African rand – is the official currency of South Africa. 1 South African Rand is $0.055 USD.
A Chilean startup backed by BHP Group has delivered its first copper cathodes from a demonstration plant at a mine site in northern Chile as the industry looks to squeeze out more metal from lower quality ore.
Ceibo and firms such as Jetti Resources LLC and Rio Tinto Group’s Nuton venture are looking to roll out catalysts for liberating copper from low-grade ore that miners previously saw as too expensive and difficult to process.
Source – Mining.com
Copper cathode – is high quality copper that is produced through the process of electrolysis.
Electrolysis – is an electric current that passes through a substance to have a chemical change.
