Daily FNArena News - Commodities

Last September the spot iron ore price suffered an alarming plunge to below US$90/t on seasonal Chinese destocking, but analysts can’t see the same happening again this year.

It’s been a lacklustre year so far for coal and prices are expected to stay under pressure.

Jonathan Barratt of Barratt’s Bulletin is reducing long gold positions, wary of further falls.

The spot uranium price bounced US$1.25 last week as long awaited larger orders hit a market wallowing up to that point.

Jonathan Barratt of Barratt’s Bulletin suggests the Chinese PMI and Beijing’s moves to cut capacity leave copper vulnerable.

Japanese oil demand, crunching the data in China’s steel sector and the oversupplied iron ore outlook.

In the space of a couple of years, the global rare earth picture has changed substantially. The future balance of supply and demand is a complex and difficult equation to solve, which has ramifications for Australia’s Lynas Corp.

The uranium price has fallen another US$2.00, making it look like sub US$40 prices might be here for a while.

Opportunities in thermal ooal plays are closing, two steel inventory themes play out for iron ore and the copper surplus is seen as increasing.

Goldman takes a look at metal price forecasts, while JP Morgan makes the case for improvement in refined zinc and Macquarie makes observations on the latest Chinese trade data.