Category: Commodities

Silver Holds Firm at $82 Amid Escalating Iran Conflict Boost

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Silver (XAG/USD) continues to rise in the early Asian session on Friday, hovering around $82. White metal is boosted by the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran, which offers safe-haven support. In search of new motivation, traders await the release of the important US employment report for February.

Silver’s Momentum Reset Sets the Stage for the Next Leg Higher

Iran launched a new round of missile and drone attacks throughout the Gulf on Thursday, with attacks reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. US President Donald

Trump claimed that Iranian officials had contacted him in an effort to come to an end to the conflict, but he maintained that it was too late and that the US was working to destroy Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, declared that his nation had not asked for a ceasefire and had no plans to engage in negotiations. In the short term, a safe-haven asset like silver may benefit from growing tensions between the US and Iran as well as worries about a protracted conflict in the Middle East.

Silver is still in a long-term bullish trend after surpassing its 1980 peak of $50.36 per ounce in 2025.

Industrial and speculative demand for silver has skyrocketed. According to the Silver Institute, demand will exceed supply in 2025, resulting in a 117.70 million-ounce deficit. When the price of silver reached a new record high in 2025, it attracted significant buying interest because it is a highly speculative metal.

Silver Institute projected silver demand to stay “largely unchanged in 2026, as healthy gains in retail investment are likely to offset most of the losses across other key demand segments, notably in jewelry, silverware, and industrial demand.”

A weak US dollar and the likelihood of declining U.S. interest rates have been positive for silver prices.

Silver Stuck at $82 on Boost from Ongoing Middle East Tensions with Iran

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Silver (XAG/USD) continues to rise in the early Asian session on Friday, hovering around $82.

White metal is boosted by the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran, which offers safe-haven support. In search of new motivation, traders await the release of the important US employment report for February.

Silver’s Momentum Reset Sets the Stage for the Next Leg Higher

Iran launched a new round of missile and drone attacks throughout the Gulf on Thursday, with attacks reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. US President Donald

Trump claimed that Iranian officials had contacted him in an effort to come to an end to the conflict, but he maintained that it was too late and that the US was working to destroy Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, declared that his nation had not asked for a ceasefire and had no plans to engage in negotiations. In the short term, a safe-haven asset like silver may benefit from growing tensions between the US and Iran as well as worries about a protracted conflict in the Middle East.

Silver is still in a long-term bullish trend after surpassing its 1980 peak of $50.36 per ounce in 2025.

Industrial and speculative demand for silver has skyrocketed. According to the Silver Institute, demand will exceed supply in 2025, resulting in a deficit of 117.70 million ounces. When the price of silver reached a new record high in 2025, it attracted significant buying interest because it is a highly speculative metal.

Silver Institute projected silver demand to stay “largely unchanged in 2026, as healthy gains in retail investment are likely to offset most of the losses across other key demand segments, notably in jewelry, silverware, and industrial demand.”

A weak US dollar and the likelihood of declining U.S. interest rates have been positive for silver prices.

Teck Hikes Silver, Germanium Fees in Korea Zinc Deal for 2026

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Korea Zinc Co. and Canadian miner Teck Resources reached an agreement to charge more for silver and germanium in 2026 due to a spike in both metals’ prices, and to sell its zinc concentrates at a marginally higher processing fee.

Silver’s Momentum Reset Sets the Stage for the Next Leg Higher

Korea Zinc’s treatment charge for smelting concentrates, or semi-processed ores, increased to $85 per ton this year. This year’s $80-per-ton fee, which was the lowest benchmark level for the zinc industry in over 50 years, represents a slight improvement.

Low processing fees typically hurt them since treatment fees have historically made up around one-third of zinc smelters’ earnings,

Nevertheless, due to a remarkable increase in the price of silver, germanium, and other metals—which are also present in the concentrates it purchases from Teck and other miners—Korea Zinc recorded record profits in 2025.

Revenues from those byproducts in 2025 exceeded its zinc revenues due to a 150 percent increase in silver prices and a 75 percent increase in germanium prices.

Germanium is essential to defense systems and other cutting-edge technologies, and since China began imposing export restrictions on it and other vital minerals in 2023, prices have skyrocketed. Five percent of the world’s silver comes from Korea Zinc, which is also one of the largest producers of germanium and other essential minerals outside of China.

The largest zinc-lead mine, Teck’s Red Dog mine in Alaska, is a large provider of that metal.

Its output cannot currently be sold in China on competitive terms due to tariffs on incoming US goods.

Miners give smelters price breaks to cover the cost of recovering zinc, silver, and other metals. However, Teck and Korea Zinc agreed to lower the content threshold at which silver will become payable in this year’s agreement.

Forex Signals March 6: NFP Expected to Cool as the Crude Oil Price Spikes

Posted on by Skerdian Meta

While we await the U.S. NFP and labor market statistics today, geopolitical worries dominated market mood as oil prices rose and stocks fluctuated wildly.
Continue reading “Forex Signals March 6: NFP Expected to Cool as the Crude Oil Price Spikes” →

Forex Signals March 5: The Costco (COST) and Alibaba (BABA) Earnings Preview

Posted on by Skerdian Meta

Major retailers like Costco and Alibaba have released their earnings reports today, which will demonstrate the demand in both the physical and online sectors.
Continue reading “Forex Signals March 5: The Costco (COST) and Alibaba (BABA) Earnings Preview” →

Putin Signals Russia May Redirect Gas Flows Away From Europe

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, stated that his nation may decide to stop selling the majority of its natural gas to Europe in favor of more promising markets. By late 2027, the European Union intends to gradually outlaw imports of Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas.

 

Natural gas prices are up this week thanks to lower than expected storage increases.

The Russian leader stated that he would give his government instructions to consider rerouting supplies away from the bloc so that officials could address the matter with businesses. Putin stated on state television on Wednesday, “Other markets are opening now.”

Perhaps it would be better for us to stop supplying the European market at this time in order to establish a presence in those markets that are just opening.

European gas prices surged to a three-year high this week due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East. However, they recovered some of their losses today after the US announced plans to safeguard navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Russia still supplies pipeline gas to a few European markets, such as Serbia, Hungary, and Slovakia, even though Russian fuel exports to Europe have decreased since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Additionally, the nation imports some fuel from the Yamal LNG plant, which is run by Novatek. According to the EU Council, Russian gas still made up an estimated 13% of EU imports in 2025, totaling more than €15 billion ($17.4 billion) per year.

The Russian leader emphasized that his nation still desired to supply energy to what he described as dependable allies like Slovakia and Hungary during his meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto at the Kremlin on Wednesday

Energy Shock: Europe Sees 30% Gas Price Spike as War Chokes Key Global Routes

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Concerns about a significant disruption to the world’s energy supplies sparked a surge in European natural gas prices after fighting throughout the Middle East.

 

Natural gas is remaining mostly flat today as market factors push and pull.

Traders are keeping an eye on how long ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will be suspended. After tankers mostly stopped using the narrow waterway over the weekend, benchmark futures surged as much as 30 percent, the largest increase since August 2023.

About 25% of the world’s liquefied natural gas exports are transported via this important energy shipping route. Oil also experienced a sharp increase.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted international energy trade four years ago, the situation could cause the biggest shock to gas markets.

Although the majority of LNG shipped from the Middle East is purchased by Asian nations, any disruption would increase competition for substitute supplies, driving up prices globally, including in Europe.

Europe is particularly vulnerable. Fuel inventories are abnormally low as the continent approaches the end of winter and gas consumption slows. Tom Marzec-Manser, director for Europe gas and LNG at Wood Mackenzie Ltd., stated that “the next key question for traders will be how long the strait remains closed.” The region must import significant amounts of LNG this summer in order to refill them before the upcoming heating season.

“The price will increase the longer it takes to reopen,” he stated. In an interview with the New York Times, US President Donald Trump stated that he plans to keep bombarding Iran for the next four to five weeks.

More than half of the biggest maritime insurance clubs in the world will no longer cover war risks for ships entering the Persian Gulf. Those wishing to load cargoes from within the Persian Gulf will probably be less willing to take on risk if the insurance is removed.

Forex Signals March 4: Broadcom AVGO, Veeva, OKTA, RGTI, Firefly Earnings Preview Today

Posted on by Skerdian Meta

Broadcom Inc., Veeva Systems Inc., Okta Inc., and other mid-cap growth companies lead Wednesday’s after-hours earnings program, which offers details on semiconductors, cybersecurity, quantum computing, aerospace, retail, and live events. Continue reading “Forex Signals March 4: Broadcom AVGO, Veeva, OKTA, RGTI, Firefly Earnings Preview Today” →