[SMM Rare Earth Flash] London-listed critical minerals company NeoTerra Group announced that its Monte Muambe project in Mozambique has made a breakthrough in metallurgical testing, confirming a multi-commodity process route capable of simultaneous production of acid-grade fluorite, separated heavy rare earths, and gallium-containing material. In two-stage flotation tests, gallium was enriched approximately 100% in the first-stage tailings. The project holds a 25-year mining license, and JORC resources include 13.6 million mt (TREO grade 2.42%), 3.48 million mt (CaF₂ grade 20.6%), and 11.73 million mt (Ga₂O₃ grade 54.7 g/mt).

In H1 2026, the nickel salt (nickel sulphate) market experienced wild swings of "two rallies and two pullbacks," with price movements dominated by a pattern of cost support and demand-side drive.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] Funds Drive SS Futures Higher, Spot Market Trade Sluggish According to SMM news on July 7, SS futures maintained a pattern of consolidating on a strong note overall. Fundamentals did not change significantly. Driven by fund-side operations, SS extended its strengthening trend from the previous trading day. As of the close, the most-traded SS contract settled at 14,775 yuan/mt. In the spot market, although SS futures continued to run strong, spot fundamentals did not improve noticeably: while spot offers were raised following the rally, after low-priced cargoes saw concentrated deals yesterday, market trading weakened again today, with confidence in the outlook remaining insufficient. The most-traded SS futures contract. At 10:15 am, SS2608 was at 14,790 yuan/mt, up 65 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums for 304/2B in Wuxi were in the range of 280-680 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the average price for Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coil was flat; for cold-rolled slit-edge 304/2B coil, the average price in Wuxi rose 50 yuan/mt, and in Foshan it rose 50 yuan/mt; Wuxi cold-rolled 316L/2B coil price was flat; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil, Wuxi offers were flat; cold-rolled 430/2B coil in both Wuxi and Foshan was flat. This week, the tug-of-war between macro and industry logic dominated futures moves. US inflation data pulled back, expectations for US Fed interest rate hikes cooled further, and the US dollar index weakened, overall boosting commodity and nonferrous metals valuations and providing macro support for the metals sector. However, sentiment on the industry side remained persistently bearish, …

(Kitco News) - Although gold prices have been unable to break initial resistance above $4,200, one market strategist expects the worst of the selling pressure from the months-long correction may now be over. In his latest precious metals note, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said he believes the price action in the gold market is shifting from liquidation to consolidation and base-building. “The sector has moved from being aggressively bid to selectively accumulated, and the next move will likely depend on whether macro conditions continue to ease or once again turn hostile,” he said in his Monday note. Hansen added that gold continues to be driven by market expectations surrounding U.S. monetary policy. Although markets still expect the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates this year, aggressive forecasts have been pared back following last week’s disappointing employment data, which showed that only 57,000 jobs were created in June. At the same time, gold is also benefiting from optimistic comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who emphasized his commitment to price stability and returning inflation to the central bank's target. However, he also said inflation risks had eased in recent weeks since taking over leadership of the Federal Reserve. In a comment to Kitco News, Hansen said he does not expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year as inflation pressures continue to ease, in line with Warsh’s comments. “Forward inflation expectations have collapsed, so tightening when the reason for tightening is easing with energy prices slumping makes no sense. Once that becomes the general market view, the dollar will soften as a very elevated long gets squeezed while short-end bond yields will move back towards Fed Funds rates,” he said. However, until the Federal Reserve’s policy path becomes clearer, Hansen said gold still has a lot of ground to recover, with prices remaining 26% below January’s highs. “Support below USD 4,000 has held so far, but the rebound towards USD 4,200 last week was met with renewed selling, indicating that some investors are still using strength to reduce exposure. Such price action is typical after a deep correction and helps explain why building a durable market trough can take time,” he said. “On the charts, the 200-day moving average near USD 4,485 represents the first major hurdle. Above that, the 38.2% retracement of the roughly USD 1,650 January-to-June correction sits near USD 4,574. A break above these levels would further improve the technical picture. Until then, the recovery is better viewed as an attempt to build a base." Along with growing optimism toward gold, Hansen said he is also encouraged by the recent price action in silver, even though prices on Monday were capped at $63.27 an ounce. “ Silver ’s latest sell-off was arrested ahead of key support in the mid-USD 50s, with the subsequent rebound taking prices back above USD 60. The move is encouraging, but like gold, silver still has considerable work to do to repair the technical and psychological damage inflicted during the past few months. Silver combines gold ’s macro sensitivity with a tighter fundamental backdrop. Multi-year supply deficits and growing industrial demand provide structural support, but the market is much smaller and more flow-sensitive than gold. That makes silver particularly attractive to momentum-driven investors when conditions improve, while also exposing it to sharper liquidation when sentiment reverses,” he said. Source： https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2026-07-06/gold-price-may-have-found-its-floor-liquidation-gives-way-consolidation

July 6, 2026 Despite current headwinds from high U.S. yields and a strong dollar, HSBC believes the gold price still has further upside potential through the end of 2026. While the precious metal is currently trading within a narrow range in the short term—as higher real yields increase the opportunity cost of this non-interest-bearing asset—analysts remain extremely bullish on the long-term investment case. Short-Term Pressure: Raising Liquidity Rather Than a Safe Haven During the recent geopolitical crises in the Middle East and amid rising oil prices, gold behaved less like a traditional safe haven and, at times, moved in tandem with the stock market. In an environment marked by inflation concerns and falling stock markets, investors primarily used the precious metal as a highly liquid hedge. To quickly generate cash during tense market phases or to meet impending margin calls on other investments, gold positions were aggressively sold off. This development was accompanied by previously massively overextended positioning in the futures market. Driven in part by inexperienced speculators, a noticeable correction followed the rapid surge to around $5,400 per ounce at the end of January, as these often leveraged positions had to be hastily unwound. Also noteworthy for commodity investors is the profoundly altered market dynamic: The historical correlation between gold and oil, which was still strongly positive in the 1970s and 1980s, has since decoupled dramatically. Today, this correlation has weakened to a value of around 0.15 or even into negative territory, posing entirely new challenges for diversification in modern portfolios. Structural demand from Asia and ETF inflows provide support The gold price owes its solid foundation to the ongoing need for diversification among institutional investors. Global de-dollarization and geopolitical uncertainties, along with steady ETF inflows, are driving demand, particularly in Asia. On the Shanghai Gold Exchange, this is reflected in a significant price premium of around 20 U.S. dollars. The focus here is less on jewelry or coins and more on large-format bars for the institutional sector. Regulatory changes in China and India now allow large local insurers and asset managers to strategically build up gold positions. This robust demand is complemented by steady purchases by central banks, as underscored by the People’s Bank of China ’s recent acquisitions of an additional 8.1 metric tons. Source： https://goldinvest.de/en/gold-price-forecast-for-2026-why-the-precious-metal-holds-huge-potential-despite-headwinds

[SHFE and LME Aluminum Prices: Low-Level Consolidation and Recovery as Destocking Positives Offset Overseas Capacity Negatives] On the macro front, US June nonfarm payrolls significantly missed expectations, causing the market to push back the timing of Fed rate hikes. A weaker US dollar provided valuation support for nonferrous metals. The US and Iran resumed nuclear talks, and the geopolitical risk premium continued to narrow, to some extent capping the upside room for commodities. Meanwhile, expectations of new overseas aluminum capacity coming on stream formed a medium- and long-term supply bearish factor. Domestic positives stood out. The proportion of liquid aluminum continued to rise, and aluminum ingot warehouse withdrawals hit a four-year high over the past week. The pace of inventory destocking significantly accelerated, providing support for the bottom of SHFE aluminum. Amid a mix of bullish and bearish factors, overseas positives from a weaker US dollar and negatives from supply/geopolitics offset each other. LME aluminum, after an earlier oversold decline, saw its downward momentum slow, and in the short term, it mainly undergoes low-level consolidation and recovery. Supported by rapid destocking, the probability of China’s market underperforming LME aluminum is low. SHFE and LME may see slight divergence, and a one-sided weak market is unlikely to persist.