Screw it, double down man.
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As always, load up under $1
Solid early volume...
Solid movement this week.
The numbers seem like they should be picking up pace but it takes doctors convincing patients and the company convincing doctors. So time. If the company gets an influx if $50 mil that might help with boosting numbers through easier access to money. At least the numbers haven't totally fallen off.
inVentiv and CEL-SCI are locked in a legal battle, with CEL-SCI claiming inVentiv breached their contract and committed trial fraud.
The latest development occurred in August when a judge dismissed inVentiv’s motion to dismiss the trial, a company spokeswoman told us. CEL-SCI is seeking $50m in damages from the lawsuit.
CEL-SCI Reports June Patient Enrollment in Its Phase 3 Head and Neck Cancer Trial
VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE MKT: CVM) ("CEL SCI" or the "Company") today announced that in June it has enrolled 25 patients in its ongoing Phase 3 trial of its investigational immunotherapy Multikine* (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) in just diagnosed, not yet treated patients with head and neck cancer. Total patient enrollment is now 488 as of June 30, 2015 in the world’s largest Phase 3 study in head and neck cancer.
A total of 880 patients are expected to be enrolled, through approximately 100 clinical centers in about 25 countries by the end of March 2016.
About the Multikine Phase 3 Study
The Multikine Phase 3 study is enrolling just diagnosed, not yet treated patients with advanced primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The objective of the study is to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in the overall survival of enrolled patients who are treated with the Multikine treatment regimen plus standard of care ("SOC") vs. subjects who are treated with SOC only. Standard of Care for these patients consists of the surgical removal of the tumor and any locally involved lymph nodes, followed by radiotherapy or concurrent radiochemotherapy.
Any thoughts on if the $50 million payout comes our way, and if enrollment picks up into the fall?
Over halfway to 800 patients. Lawsuit news will help propel us as well.
All of these articles on this could have ended in two sentences....
"Environmental groups push Dayton to intervene in the polymet mine. Dayton and his cabinet refuse to do so and allow DNR and others agencies to do their jobs."
The media is bought and paid for. Puppets with printing presses....
State report propels controversial Polymet mine proposal
PolyMet
PolyMet wants to convert a defunct taconite mining facility near Hoyt Lakes into a mine… more
A long-awaited report predicted little potential environmental impact of Polymet's proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, marking a major step forward for the open-pit mine proposal.
Though Tuesday's report is only a draft of a final version expected in fall, Polymet's chief executive Jon Cherry told the Star Tribune the draft report is a "huge milestone for us."
The report found that with proper controls, the mine wouldn't cause major harm to water quality nor affect endangered or threatened species in the area, according to the Star Tribune.
Nancy Kuehn | MSPBJ
Polymet CEO Jon Cherry
Related Content
However, Polymet would need to find a way to mitigate effects of the more than 900 acres of wetlands its Hoyt Lakes mine would decimate.
Around 58,000 public comments helped inform the 3,000 page document, the Duluth News Tribune reports.
The proposed mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has been one of Minnesota's most divisive issues in recent years, illustrating a split between environmental and business interests. A public hearing on the mine last year drew thousands of cheering and booing people to St. Paul's RiverCentre.
Advocates for the mine have said it would be a boon to the Hoyt Lakes workforce for the likely 20 years it would be open, but earlier projections said water treatment would be required for 500 years after the facility's closure. Copper mines can be detrimental to water supplies, even more so than the iron mines that already dot northern Minnesota.
Polymet says the proposed mine would directly create 360 permanent jobs near Hoyt Lakes, while producing $80 million in annual taxes, the Star Tribune reported. Polymet has already poured tens of millions of dollars into this project in the past three years.
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A proactive CEO creates results. Others wait for results.
Just remember, everyday we are one day closer to approval. Hope everyone is happy with their positions and capitalized fully on the rights offering. The tide is turning...
As one of our supporters, we want you to know that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released the preliminary final Environmental Impact Statement (PFEIS), which demonstrates that our copper-nickel project meets applicable environmental standards.
Read the news release on the project’s major milestone.
As always, we appreciate your support of our project. Please share the news release with others and encourage their support. Together, we’re working to expand and diversify our mining economy and bring responsible strategic metal mining to NE Minnesota. We will continue to keep you updated with important information about the process and project.
June 22, 2015
PolyMet Achieves Major Milestone in Environmental Review Process
St. Paul, Minn., June 22, 2015 – PolyMet Mining Corp. (TSX: POM; NYSE MKT: PLM) has been notified that the preliminary final Environmental Impact Statement has been completed and is undergoing review by the Co-lead and Cooperating Agencies prior to publication of the final EIS.
“Publication of the PFEIS is a significant milestone for the project and for the people of northeast Minnesota,” said Jon Cherry, president and CEO. “PolyMet is committed to practices that are transparent, accountable and open in safeguarding the air, water, land and communities common to our operations. The PFEIS confirms that the state’s first copper-nickel mine can responsibly produce strategically important metals in a manner that is protective of natural resources and remediates legacy environmental impacts from historic mining operations.”
The PFEIS incorporates more than 10 years of comprehensive environmental review and analysis of the PolyMet project, which comprises the NorthMet copper-nickel-precious metals ore-body and the nearby Erie Plant, located near Hoyt Lakes in the established mining district of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has led the environmental review along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service as federal Co-lead Agencies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and three Minnesota Chippewa bands have participated as Cooperating Agencies. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has also been actively involved.
The PFEIS incorporates analysis of and responses to approximately 58,000 comments on the supplemental draft EIS which was published for public review in December 2013. The EPA issued comments on the supplemental draft EIS, which included an EC-2 rating, which is among the highest ratings that have been issued for a proposed mining project.
Once the Agency review has been completed, the final EIS will be published in the Federal Register and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board Monitor, which PolyMet expects to be in about three months.
Publication of the final EIS and a subsequent adequacy decision by the MDNR and Records of Decision by the federal agencies are necessary before the agencies can take final action on the various permits required to construct and operate the NorthMet Project. PolyMet is preparing various mining, air and water permit applications, securing project financing and preparing for construction as the EIS and permitting process is completed.
“After 58,000 public comments and EPA’s strong rating on the SDEIS, the PFEIS now reflects a solid foundation to build a modern mine and create hundreds of new well-paying jobs for Minnesotans, while keeping the state’s outdoor and natural resources safe, clean and healthy for generations to come,” Cherry noted.
“Northern Minnesota is currently reeling from layoffs this year in the mining industry associated with weak iron ore prices and the downturn in the domestic steel industry. Copper-nickel mining presents a tremendous opportunity to diversify and expand the mining economy on the Iron Range and put many miners and contractors back to work,” he concluded.
* * * * *
About PolyMet
PolyMet Mining Corp. (www.polymetmining.com) is a publicly-traded mine development company that owns 100 percent of Poly Met Mining, Inc., a Minnesota corporation that controls 100 percent of the NorthMet copper-nickel-precious metals ore body through a long-term lease and owns 100 percent of the Erie Plant, a large processing facility located approximately six miles from the ore body in the established mining district of the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota. Poly Met Mining, Inc. has completed its Definitive Feasibility Study and is seeking environmental and operating permits to enable it to commence production. The NorthMet project is expected to require approximately two million hours of construction labor, creating approximately 360 long-term jobs, a level of activity that will have a significant multiplier effect in the local economy.
POLYMET MINING CORP.
Per: “Jon Cherry”
Jon Cherry, CEO
For further information, please contact:
Media
Bruce Richardson
Corporate Communications
Tel: +1 (651) 389-4111
brichardson@polymetmining.com
Investor Relations
Jenny Knudson
Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (651) 389-4110
jknudson@polymetmining.com
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning anticipated developments in PolyMet’s operations in the future. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “potential,” “possible,” “projects,” “plans,” and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results “will,” “may,” “could,” or “should” occur or be achieved or their negatives or other comparable words. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding completion or timing of the environmental review and permitting or other statements that are not a statement of fact. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements due to risks facing PolyMet or due to actual facts differing from the assumptions underlying its predictions.
PolyMet’s forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and PolyMet does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s beliefs, expectations and opinions should change.
Specific reference is made to PolyMet’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 and in our other filings with Canadian securities authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Report on Form 6-K providing information with respect to our operations for the three months ended April 30, 2015, for a discussion of some of the risk factors and other considerations underlying forward-looking statements.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
BACK TO NEWS RELEASES
I thought it would pull back more. Surprised....
Are the offices still open?
Wait for it.........
The Senate took three votes on the $780 million legislation before accepting the original bill. It eliminates the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens' Board, which makes pollution-related decisions. The bill also exempts copper and nickel mining from solid waste rules.
DNR: Preliminary final draft Polymet EIS coming
June 10, 2015 Updated Jun 10, 2015 at 1:26 PM CDT
St. Paul, MN (NNCNOW.com) -- We could soon be getting our first look at the preliminary final draft of the Polymet Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner, Tom Landwehr, says they've read and addressed all 58,000 public comments on the EIS, now they're putting together the final document to send to the cooperating agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Commissioner calls that version the "preliminary final draft" of the EIS and says it will be available through public records request "very soon."
After those agencies provide their comments, the DNR incorporates them into a final EIS, which will be released to the public for a public comment period.
After that period, the DNR finally determines whether to deem the Environmental Impact Statement adequate.
If they do, Minnesota's first copper–nickel mine moves forward.
The Commissioner says the whole process has been complicated.
"It's just a huge amount of really technical work and again, having not had a project of this scale, this complexity, or this much public input, we just didn't have any sort of benchmarks to adequately say how long it was going to take to develop the EIS," Landwehr said.
While the Commissioner says the preliminary draft will be available soon, the draft available for public comment will take longer.
The commissioner said he expects it to be available in a "reasonably short amount of time." When pressed as to whether that would be this summer, he said he "couldn't go that far."
No timeline is safe.
98' prices put it around .26 - .32
We want you to be aware of a new radio commercial that began this week. In it, a PolyMet engineer and fourth generation Iron Range miner with extensive environmental experience, LaTisha Gietzen reaffirms our company’s commitment to protecting precious water and other natural resources when we build Minnesota’s first copper nickel mine.
The 60-second commercial will air in select Northern Minnesota communities. You can listen to the entire commercial here.
http://links.silverpop.eb2b.vtrnz.com/ctt?kn=14&ms=MTE1NjY2ODUS1&r=MTkxMzU0NTQ4NDU5S0&b=0&j=NTYwMzM3NTUzS0&mt=1&rt=0
The commercial invites listeners to visit Mining For Minnesota, where they’ll find information about the project and how copper nickel mining will diversify and expand the mining economy on the Range and help preserve the state’s rich mining heritage.
Please share this page with others to help spread accurate information about this new mining opportunity.
Thanks for your support of our effo
Anyone willing to divulge holdings? Anyone over 40k?
PolyMet Mining Corp. (NYSE:PLM) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,206,395 shares, a decrease of 1.3% from the April 30th total of 3,248,312 shares, Stock Ratings Network reports. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Almost....
"We didn't need this kind of news now," Hess said, saying the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes now takes on added importance for her community. "We're hoping and staying very positive on PolyMet. More than ever, we need PolyMet to move forward."
http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/business/3753165-parent-company-says-two-iron-plants-will-stay-idle-least-two-years
Parent company says two iron plants will stay idle at least two years
About 200 workers at the Mesabi Nugget iron plant near Aurora and Mining Resources iron concentrate plant near Chisholm learned the facilities will remain idle -- and stay idled for at least two years, parent company Steel Dynamics Inc. announced, amid a continued global decrease in iron prices.
"Management and the company's board of directors have elected to idle the operations for an initial 24-month period given the continued significant decline in pig iron pricing, which has resulted in the cost of iron nugget production being meaningfully higher than product selling values," the Indiana-based company announced in a news release.
There have been a number of notices of layoffs and plants going idle on the Iron Range so far this year, but the minimum two-year idling outlined by Steel Dynamics on Tuesday suggests a recovery may not come anytime soon.
"To mothball this project for two years -- I don't know what to make of that," said Tony Barrett, professor of economics at the College of St. Scholastica. "I find that troubling."
Barrett told the News Tribune that this is "more than just a cyclical decline in steel."
The problem of late in the iron ore industry has been a flood of imported steel, largely from China, he said. Legislation to block that takes time, but it's being worked on and "relief is coming" within a year.
"That's what's throwing me about this 24-month period," Barrett said of Tuesday's announcement from Steel Dynamics. "This is beyond the short-term cyclical flooding of imports. There's something more."
Comparing Tuesday's announcement to other recent layoff news on the Range, Barrett said, "This is different from everything else."
The duration of the plant idling also caught some workers off-guard.
"I was expecting a layoff, but not to the timeline that they're talking about," Mining Resources worker Rich Yuretich told WDIO-TV on Tuesday after a meeting for affected workers in Mountain Iron.
"Current global currency dynamics and world iron ore supply / demand factors support lower pig iron prices. We currently do not see strong drivers that would suggest a reversal of this trend for some time," Mark D. Millett, Steel Dynamics chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Millett said Minnesota operations were "intended to serve as a hedge to high pig iron and scrap prices." While the lower global prices of those materials are good for the company's steelmaking operations, "it has resulted in an uneconomic situation for our iron nugget operations. ...
"We deeply regret the need to take this action, as the men and women in Minnesota have made great strides in production capability and cost savings relative to this pioneering effort. I commend their dedication, hard work, and strong commitment to the company and area communities."
Steel Dynamics said it will take steps to find jobs for affected workers elsewhere in the company. A small maintenance crew will stay on the job at the two plants.
David Bednarz, vice president of iron resources for Steel Dynamics, talked to employees Tuesday and told WDIO-TV that the company is "going to maintain the facilities, with the hope being that the market will turn around and we can restart them. They did immensely good work at Nugget to make things more profitable over the past 12 months. In this market though, it's still impossible."
Mesabi Nugget, which opened in late 2009, is 81 percent owned by Steel Dynamics and 19 percent owned by Japan-based Kobe Steel. The unique plant, the first of its kind in Minnesota, turns iron ore concentrate recovered from old mine sites directly into 97 percent pure iron nuggets -- akin to pig iron -- used to enhance scrap metal in electric arc "mini-mill" steel mills.
Steel Dynamics owns 80 percent of Mining Resources LLC near Chisholm, a joint venture with Magnetation Inc. that uses Magentation's patented technology to recover valuable ore concentrate from old mining waste sites. The concentrate is then trucked to the Mesabi Nugget plant.
Both plants had been idled for months ahead of Tuesday's announcement. Other ongoing or upcoming layoffs on the Iron Range -- at Keetac in Keewatin and Minntac in Mountain Iron, among others -- have affected hundreds of workers.
"This year's been pretty brutal for communities on the Range," said state Rep. Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia. "Folks will get through this, but it wasn't fun to hear one more domino fall."
Tuesday's news also is troubling, St. Scholastica's Barrett said, because nuggets like the ones produced at the Aurora plant had been pitched as a means of adding value to taconite and diversifying the Iron Range's products.
"The nuggets have been held out as a hopeful line for our future," he said.
The Steel Dynamics announcement is "another hit for the East Range," said Aurora Mayor Mary Hess, who received a heads-up call about the idling Tuesday morning, before the company released the news. "I wasn't completely surprised; I have heard rumblings. Like other companies they're all facing the same situation -- foreign steel. ...
"We didn't need this kind of news now," Hess said, saying the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes now takes on added importance for her community. "We're hoping and staying very positive on PolyMet. More than ever, we need PolyMet to move forward."
• Diversifying Mining Economy: While the iron ore/taconite industry is taking a hit right now, the PolyMet copper/nickel/precious metals project is poised to launch with construction at the former LTV Mining site near Hoyt Lakes later this year. Those minerals create different products than iron ore and will diversify the Range’s mining economy. As soon as the permits are in hand, shovels will be in the ground, says PolyMet CEO Jon Cherry. And Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr voiced strong optimism recently, saying, “This will be an ironclad EIS (Environmental Impact Statement).”
I'm sure you are well aware I this, your investment is in the hands of the EPA and Sierra Club....
The reason for the interest in the land is obvious but you have to secure permits to mine that land. Polymet is the test subject. If approved you will see a significant price impact.
The reason the stock price has not been affected is because, honestly, it is not a viable mine YET...
Good find. There was a waiting period until this all got sorted out. Dayton realized it was detrimental to industry in MN. Let's move forward.
NYSE:PLM) were the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,248,312 shares, a decline of 1.3% from the April 15th total of 3,290,828 shares, Analyst Ratings.Net reports. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 167,553 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 19.4 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold
Deal made in 1978 now ignored by those who made it
by Joe Baltich Jr., Ely resort owner
Sometime around 1978 when they put the BWCA law in place, the State of Minnesota, the Sierra Club and the mining industry got together to draft a new set of mining rules regulating the installation of mines to further protect the BWCA.
They drafted a law that was so restrictive toward building any new mine, with a long list of criteria that said what a new mine would have to meet in order to get the final permit of approval from the state.
The mining industry, knowing that fighting the Sierra Club and their usual lying propaganda was expensive and pointless, acquiesced to the long list of requirements for new mine development, resolving to live with the present day operations and do the best they could with that.
The Sierra Club and other enviro-groups, along with the state and the mining industry, all signed the agreement that effectively shut down any new mine development given the technology of the time. The enviros cheered and drank champagne from tall fluted crystal glasses made from mined silica while everybody else went home.
Fast-forward to 2005. Duluth Metals and PolyMet put forth new, patented technology that could do what nobody even imagined in 1978. With this new tech, plus light-years of advancements in mining technology, it appears these companies could meet and exceed all of the requirements in that agreement.
The enviro groups screamed and hollered for Minnesota to stop this madness! No new mines, remember the agreement! Minnesota read the agreement and said PolyMet appeared capable of doing every requirement on the list, so they decided to give them a try using the exhaustive, extensive, decade-long permitting process to prove they can meet the requirements.
The furor of protest sounded as the enviro groups claimed this is unfair and that they never agreed to this! At that point, Minnesota showed the enviro-screamers the agreement and asked them, “Isn’t that YOUR signature on the bottom of this agreement - the one here with this long list of requirements? Did you not agree that a mine could be built IF and ONLY IF it met all of these requirements insisted upon by YOU back in 1978?”
“Well,” the enviro-groups sputtered, “that was then, this is NOW, and besides - we were drunk. We were under duress. Our dog died the night before and the kids were crying! We didn’t know what to do....”
“That’s enough” replied the state. “We’re going to proceed with this new mine proposal that can meet the standards you, us and them, agreed to in 1978!”
At that point, having no real recourse, the enviro-groups whipped up the world of “No” sayers, and began a grass roots campaign to lie, derail and destroy those who would dare support this mine that met all of THEIR requirements.
They formed several groups made up of the same people. They began emailing and getting on to liberal media outlets to spread the word how Minnesota is destroying the Boundary Waters by mining for sulfides.
They used the word “sulfide” possibly because it sounds like “cyanide” - a word that resonates with every American as a severely toxic-sounding poison used to put down heinous criminals.
They ignored the fact that these same sulfides (sulfur salts which are in just about everything) have been laying in the open, on the ground all over the BWCA for millennia. They claimed the water was orange in the Kawishiwi River (and it is - has been for 10,000 years due to bog stain/ tannic acid) and was due to sulfide mining when the water originates from within the hallowed BWCA where no development has existed. They declared it the sixth most polluted river in North America due to non-existent copper-nickel mining.
They made websites about “Saving the BWCA” as if there is a clear and present, current day threat when actual BWCA usage is declining, perhaps due to their very lies and propaganda. They continued to try to instill panic by declaring the entire Boundary Waters toxic due to sulfides in the water, and some people believed them for lack of any other knowledge.
They blatantly choose to disregard the real science put forth by a Democrat-controlled Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report which cost millions in public tax dollars. It proves what they say is complete fallacy, utter zealotry and a misrepresentation of the actual, proven facts.
This mining proposal - of which they signed off in the late ’70s - is now about gaining power, control and money to pay for their higher-member jet plane trips to exotic locales to “study” environmental concerns world-wide. This action creates more self-perpetuating money sources. They raise the alarms for panic around the world and their members get free, expensive adventures to study coral reefs in Tahiti via kayak.
They return home and raise another alarm about coral dying and their phony credibility increases (he’s not a scientist - he’s a lawyer) and more money comes in upon the dissemination of findings by a lay-person, not even a bona fide scientist with standards and the scientific method. They then prey on “useful idiots” to help the “funding” come in.
Only a handful of people know this, and it is very easy for the enviro-groups to combat. After all, who doesn’t want to save the environment? Who among all of us doesn’t want to have clean water and air? It’s incredibly easy to get people to sign petitions seeking the ban of dihydrogen-monoxide because they are finding it in newborn babies.
And it is incredibly easy to get people to want to help out by sending a buck or two if the cause sounds reasonable just because enviro-groups know that many of their supporters are too mentally lazy to actually take an in-depth look. This model has now been proven ad nauseam by the world of politics in the last seven years. “You have to vote on the bill first to get a chance to see what you are actually buying.” We saw where that took us.
The sad part is, this whole anti-mining thing is about cash flow for the environmental groups’ upper-level members. They take some pretty nice vacations and it’s all for “free” while being a non-profit organization with money coming in from the federal government to boot. This is who we are up against. It’s a hard fight.
Follow the money.
Ha! Not sure if the CEO even cares.
IMO
Magnatation files for bankruptcy. 335 workers. Even more reason why PLM will be pressured to be approved.
Activity..
Copper’s Win Streak Hits Seven Days
By
Christian Berthelsen
May 3, 2015 3:42 p.m. ET
Copper prices have been running up their largest gains in years, with the market watching China for stimulus moves that might jump-start economic activity and renew demand for the industrial metal.
The most actively traded copper contract, for July delivery, ended higher for a seventh straight trading session Friday, its longest winning streak since December 2013, and has gained 9.9% over the stretch.
Copper is used in the manufacturing of everything from housing to personal electronics, and China’s rapid expansion and heavy investment in infrastructure has made it the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for 40% of global demand. Copper is also viewed as a key barometer—and beneficiary—of economic growth, and any uptick in Chinese economic activity is viewed as a bullish driver for the market.
China has been aggressively maneuvering to keep its economy humming as it cools down from years of double-digit growth. That has lead to measures such as the one last month to cut the reserve-requirement ratio, allowing banks to lend more money and potentially spur growth.
On Friday, the April reading on China’s official purchasing managers index came in at 50.1, unchanged from March and slightly above market expectations of 50.0. A reading above 50.0 indicates expansion, while any number below that signals contraction.
“This is a Chinese story,” said John Payne, senior market analyst with futures brokerage Daniels Trading in Chicago. “The more negative the data is out of China, the more it’s a bullish indicator [for copper], because of expectations” for additional efforts to pump up the economy, he said.
The July contract for copper rose 1.5% on Friday to close at $2.9295 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
There are other factors at work as well. U.S. manufacturing data continued to signal expansion, although at lower-than-expected levels, and the number of disruptions to copper mining activity has been on the uptick this year, interfering with supplies, Barclays said in a note. Chilean producer Antofagasta PLC cut its full-year copper output forecast by 2.1% because of lost production from protests at its flagship Los Pelambres mine and heavy rainfall in Chile’s Atacama desert where three of its mines are located.
The rally has its skeptics, too. Some analysts note that Chinese demand for physical copper has remained weak, with imports down 21% in the first quarter from a year earlier, as the country already has large stockpiles.
In addition, “many key copper-using sectors remain under pressure,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note. While Chinese government support for the economy is urgently needed, “it will in our view merely dampen the slowdown.”
And others said the market’s weakness over the past year and volatility could bring it under pressure again.
“This is copper,” said Charles Nedoss, senior market strategist at brokerage LaSalle Futures in Chicago. “You’re one report away from it turning right back around.”
They have always had deadline issues and it looks like the "early spring" release date by the DNR is taking too long for some. The good news is copper prices have rallied quite a bit this spring.
Holy cow, shares actually traded...
Is it early spring yet??