U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t yet imposed import tariffs on copper but the market is already pricing in the likelihood that the red metal will be next on the list after aluminium and steel.
The arbitrage between the CME and the London Metal Exchange (LME) contracts has blown wider in recent days, with the CME premium exceeding $1,000 per metric ton earlier this week.
Source – Reuters / Written by Andy Home / Opinion
The silver market has been somewhat sideways over the last few weeks, but the Wednesday session could provide enough information to get people moving again.
Silver fell in the early hours of Wednesday as we have tested the crucial $33 level again. This is an area that of course has been like a magnet for price for some time.
Talks between the United States and China are seemingly a thing now, and that, of course, will help the idea of industrial demand for silver, but it takes away that precious metal trade as well.
Source – FX Empire
Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is looking for critical minerals projects in Zambia to invest in, the southern African country’s mines minister Paul Kabuswe told Reuters on Thursday.
“They (Manara) are interested, but we do not know which ones yet,” he said on the sidelines of a mining conference in Riyadh, adding that an announcement on a potential mining deal between Zambia and Saudi Arabia is likely this year.
“We no longer want those agreements where we have 10% or 15%,” he said, adding that the government is also holding talks with Barrick Gold, Ivanhoe Mines and Chinese investors on their plans for new projects.
Source – Reuters
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered support for Jerome Powell amid regular attacks from President Donald Trump, saying he sees no reason for the Federal Reserve chair to step down. Trump has maintained his criticism of the Fed chief and stressed his belief that the central bank’s benchmark rate should be 3 percentage points lower.
Political interference and a potential attempt to oust of Powell before his term ends is throwing the Fed’s independence into question. That’s negative for the dollar, and is helping boost haven demand for gold.
“The USD is losing its store of value function” and bullion is exceptionally well-placed to benefit, TD Securities senior commodity strategist Dan Ghali said in a note.
Spot gold was up nearly 1% to $3,430.05 an ounce at 2:16 p.m. in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%. Silver and palladium advanced while platinum slipped.
Source – Bloomberg
Total assets under management (AUMs) in gold-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit record highs of $271 billion in 2024, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
This represented a 26% year-on-year increase and was driven by a soaring bullion price.
The yellow metal hit new all-time highs on 40 occasions last year, the WGC noted. Over the whole year, gold appreciated 26% in value to around $2,629 per ounce.
Source – Forbes
Central banks worldwide are on track to buy 1,000 metric tons of gold in 2025, which would be their fourth year of massive purchases as they diversify reserves from dollar-denominated assets into bullion, consultancy Metals Focus said.
The price rally has so far kept purchases by central banks, a crucial category of demand, unaffected with the first-quarter buying in line with the 2022-24 quarterly average, Metals Focus said in its annual report on Thursday.
Jewelry demand for bullion has been hit hard by the price rally. Gold jewelry fabrication fell 9% to 2,011 tons in 2024 and is expected to deliver a 16% slump this year with India and China accounting for much of this decline.
Source – Reuters
