MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 1 of 16

The Monthly Metals Index:Metals prices make gains; U.S., China reach phase one trade dealJanuary 2020

MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 2 of 16

Table of Contents1. Introduction/Overview/Executive Commentary on This Month’s MMIs

2. Aluminum MMI - January 2020

3. Copper MMI - January 2020

4. Stainless MMI - January 2020

5. Raw Steels MMI - January 2020

6. Rare Earths MMI - January 2020

7. Automotive MMI - January 2020

8. Construction MMI - January 2020

9. Renewables/GOES MMI - January 2020

10. Global Precious Metals MMI - January 2020

11. A Note on MetalMiner's Price Outlooks and Benchmarking Capability

MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 3 of 16

Introduction and OverviewTo help you understand month-to-month metal price trends across industries and within specific metal markets, MetalMiner issues the Monthly Metals Index (MMI) reports on 10 subindexes:

• Aluminum• Copper• Stainless• Raw Steels• Rare Earths• Automotive• Construction• Renewables• Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel• Global Precious Metals

How MetalMiner Shapes the MMI Reports

Many indexes bear little resemblance to what you actually pay for the range of metals you buy. MetalMiner uses the following guidelines to ensure index relevance: 1. Each index represents a basket of metals or raw materials (depending on the category, e.g. coking coal, scrap and iron

ore for steel prices) that impact the cost structure for that particular metal market.2. The inputs reflect the global market for that commodity, with the goal of more accurately representing underlying global

price trends.3. We’ve added three key industry verticals — Automotive, Construction and Renewables — that impact multiple metal

markets, as metal prices often depend upon the underlying demand for various industries (e.g. steel prices relate to construction industry activity).

How You Can Use the Monthly MMI

Use this report as an economic indicator, much like the ISM Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) or the BLS Producer Price Index (PPI), for forecasting, predictive analytics and tracking which commodities have the greatest volatility.

MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 4 of 16

MetalMiner Monthly Metal Buying Outlook: Generate hard savings on your metal buys year-round (MMO)

Want to improve purchase timing and develop price risk mitigation strategies? Get access to MetalMiner’s monthly metals price outlook (MMO) report including:

• HRC• CRC • Aluminum • HDG • Steel Plate • Lead• Tin• Copper• Zinc• Nickel It’s the most accurate forecast in the business, and here’s why: MetalMiner does NOT predict the future.

Instead, MetalMiner analysts constantly monitor metals and influencing markets, interpret movement and issue buying recommendations throughout the year. After all, for purchasing organizations, trying to forecast the future is not as important as knowing when and how to react.

Benefit from the metal buying strategies MetalMiner identifies throughout the year — take a look at MetalMiner’s impeccable forecasting track record and the hard-dollar savings achieved by subscriber companies.

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Phone: 773.525.9750

MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 5 of 16

Executive Commentary on This Month’s MMIs

This past month proved to be a strong one for MMI activity, as all 10 indexes posted upward movement.

The GOES, Rare Earths and Global Precious MMIs were the three biggest risers, surging by 19.1%, 5.3% and 4.5%, respectively.

Steel prices also made gains, with the Raw Steels MMI increasing 4.3%. Despite losing some steam in the second half of December, U.S. steel prices increased across the board in the first half of the month. However, as MetalMiner's Belinda Fuller noted, steel prices have yet to break out of the longer-term bearish downtrend.

Elsewhere, copper prices made gains; however, those gains were capped by questions regarding demand.

"From a longer-term perspective, copper prices do not appear particularly strong, but they have not dropped all the way back to 2016 price levels — indicating some level of supply dynamics is still at work and supporting prices," Fuller explained.

In other sectors, U.S. automotive sales were forecast to fall 1.7% in 2019 compared with the previous year. Despite a 40-day United Auto Workers strike later in the year, however, General Motors deliveries increased 12.7% last year compared with 2018.

U.S. construction spending in November reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,324.1 billion, marking a 4.1% year-over-year increase. Architecture billings also grew in November for the second straight month after posting flat or declining billings throughout the first three quarters of 2019, according to the Architecture Billings Index.

In trade news, Monday, Jan. 13, marked the deadline for public comments related to proposed U.S. tariffs of 100% on copper products from the E.U. In addition, the U.S. and China are scheduled to sign a previously announced first-phase trade deal this week.

— Lisa Reisman, Executive Editor, MetalMiner

MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. *Renewables and Raw Steels MMIs restated for May to map the underlying markets more effectively.

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Monthly Aluminum MMI Gains 3 Points

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) bounced off last month’s three-year low with a three-point increase to 86. All prices in the index increased by more than 3%.

LME aluminum prices increased in December and surpassed $1,830/mt in early January.

Now analysts are watching to see if lackluster demand will allow recent increases to stick.

SHFE aluminum prices hold sidewaysSHFE aluminum prices continued to move firmly sideways during the past month, still moving below the CNY 14,500/mt price level.

While recent lows remained somewhat higher during December, price highs have not yet exceeded September’s levels. However, SHFE prices did not drop as far back as LME prices over the course of the year, with annual lows for 2019 occurring in January.

Analysts do not anticipate a significant uptick in demand until after the Lunar New Year. This year, the holiday commences fairly early (on Jan. 25).

Based on flat demand growth, reflected in the failure of prices to push above the critical CNY 14,500/mt price level and due to new capacity developments, SHFE aluminum prices look set to continue moving sideways (at least for now). [Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Aluminum MMI collects and weights 12 global aluminum price points to provide a unique view into aluminum price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the Aluminum MMI, how it's calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.

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Monthly Copper MMI Rises to 76

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Copper Monthly Metals Index (MMI) increased by three points this month to 76, the highest value seen since hitting 78 in May. Individual price increases in the Copper MMI basket fell in the range of roughly 1-6%.

LME copper prices managed to regain the $6,200 level but proceeded to move sideways from there due to a lack of further indications regarding a pickup in demand.

From a longer-term perspective, copper prices do not appear particularly strong, but they have not dropped all the way back to 2016 price levels — indicating some level of supply dynamics is still at work and supporting prices.

Overall, recent weekly trading volumes looked positive overall but muted from a volume perspective, indicating limited support at this time for the recent uptrend (reflected in the sideways turn in the second half of December).

SHFE copper prices finally break six-month sideways trading bandLike LME prices, SHFE copper prices broke out of a short-term sideways trading band that formed in June and are now trading higher.

Breaking the next critical resistance level of CNY 50,000/mt will provide a clearer signal that higher prices will hold throughout Q1 2020. [Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Copper MMI collects and weights 12 global copper metal price points to provide a unique view into copper price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the Copper MMI, how it's calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.

CopperMMI

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Monthly Stainless MMI Ticks Up 1 Point

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Stainless Steel Monthly Metals Index (MMI) gained one point for a January reading of 75.

Just a few months back, in September 2019, the index hit a five-year high of 91.

LME nickel prices increased again in the second half of December after finding support just above the $13,000/mt price level.

The return of some limited momentum coincided with the announcement that Indonesia will double the royalty tax on nickel exports this year, with a new rate of 10%, as we noted in the January 2020 MetalMiner Monthly Outlook report.

Additionally, the market will remain in deficit during 2020, albeit somewhat narrowed, according to forward projections from the International Nickel Study Group (INSG). This will also help support prices, especially as the INSG sees demand levels for the metal continuing to increase in 2020. The ICSG estimates total global usage of 2.52 million tons, compared to 2.45 million tons during 2019, according to projections released in October 2019.

SHFE nickel prices find new price bottom in DecemberSHFE nickel prices hit a new short-term bottom before taking a sideways turn.

In addition to mild price support from Indonesia’s export royalty increase, Chinese stainless steel producers continued to stockpile the metal, according to press reports.[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Stainless MMI collects and weights 12 global stainless and nickel price points to provide a unique view into stainless price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the Stainless MMI, how it's calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.

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StainlessMMI

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Monthly Raw Steels MMI Jumps 3 Points

Source: MetalMiner IndX. The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) showed some strength again this month with another three-point increase, rising to 72.

U.S. HRC and scrap prices increased quite a bit, while LME billet prices also registered double-digit increases.

Key forms of steel increased across the board in the first half of December 2019. Plate prices increased the most, with prices spiking a couple of times during the month.

However, HRC, CRC and HDG increases lost some steam later in December.

Still, CRC and plate prices managed to match values hit during Q3 2019, while HRC and HDG prices did not reach quite as high as they did during Q3.

Despite the short-term price increases, steel prices — particularly HRC and HDG — have yet to break out of the longer-term bearish price downtrend. Nor have recent price increases shifted the longer-term trend to sideways (CRC and plate).

For example, in the HRC chart above, we see lows getting progressively lower. Meanwhile, late in December, HRC had not quite regained the “high” price from around August.

As of press time, at least one producer attempted an additional early January price increase on HRC, up to $640/st. Nucor announced early January 2020 price increases on HRC, CRC, and HDG of $40/st, marking Nucor’s fifth price increase since October 2019.[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Raw Steels MMI collects and weights 13 global steel and raw material price points to provide a unique view into global steel price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the Raw Steels MMI, please drop us a note at: info@agmetalminer.com.

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Monthly Rare Earths MMI Gains 1 Point

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Rare Earths Monthly Metals Index (MMI) ticked up one point for a January reading of 20.

Malaysian regulators opt not to increase Lynas’ processing limitLynas Corp., the largest rare earths firm outside of China, announced in December that Malaysian regulators did not increase the firm’s lanthanide concentrate processing limit for calendar year 2019.

The Australia-based miner and processor operates a refinery in Kuantan, Malaysia. Last year, the Malaysian government granted Lynas a six-month renewal of its license to operate in the country.

However, regulators opted not to extend the firm’s permitted lanthanide concentrate processing limit for 2019.

“The regulator has provided Lynas with a list of additional reports and management plans that the regulator now requires in order to reconsider the application,” Lynas said. “The processing limit resets on 1 January each year, and Lynas intends to reapply for an increase for CY20.

“As noted in our Quarterly Report released on 21 October 2019, production during the second 6 months of CY19 has been managed at reduced rates pending the regulator’s decision on the processing limit increase. As a consequence of the regulator’s decision, total NdPr production for CY19 will be similar to total NdPr production for CY18.”

In other news, last month Lynas announced it would build a new cracking and leaching plant in Kalgoorlie, Australia.[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Rare Earths MMI collects and weights 14 global rare earth metal price points to provide a unique view into rare earth metal price trends over a 30-day period.

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Monthly Automotive MMI Jumps 3 Points

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Automotive Monthly Metals Index (MMI) picked up three points, rising to a January MMI reading of 89.

U.S. auto salesGeneral Motors reported it delivered 2.89 million vehicles in the U.S. market in 2019, up 12.7% compared with 2018.

“We’ve focused our resources on what our customers want – crossovers and trucks – and that has paid off,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “In addition to our industry leading crossover sales, our full-size truck franchise is unmatched. We’re pleased with our full-size pickup launch and we look forward to launching our segment-leading, all-new full-size SUVs in 2020.”

However, in the fourth quarter GM’s sales fell 25% year over year due to the 40-day United Auto Workers strike, the automaker said.

GM touted its sales of more than 1 million crossovers for the second year in a row, with deliveries in 2019 up 12.7% to 1.17 million.

Ford, meanwhile, sold 601,862 vehicles in the fourth quarter in the U.S., down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Truck sales, however, were up 15.9%. Ford car sales were down 41.0%. For the full year, Ford’s 2019 sales of 2.42 million vehicles marked a 3.0% year-over-year decrease.

Fiat Chrysler saw its fourth-quarter sales dip 2.0%, down to 542,519 vehicles. Full-year sales of 2.20 million vehicles marked a 1.0% year-over-year decline.

[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Automotive MMI collects and weights 7 metal price points used in automotive production to provide a unique view into automotive metal trends over a 30-day period.

AutomotiveMMI

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Monthly Construction MMI Gains 1 Point

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Construction Monthly Metals Index (MMI) picked up one point for a January MMI reading of 79.

U.S. construction spendingSpending on construction in the U.S. during November 2019 reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,324.1 billion, according to the most recently available data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The November total marked a 0.6% increase from October’s revised estimate of $1,316.8 billion and a 4.1% increase from November 2018’s $1,271.4 billion.

Meanwhile, through the first 11 months of 2019, spending amounted to $1,201.6 billion, down 0.8% from the same period in 2018.

Broken down further, spending on private construction reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $985.5 billion in November, up 0.4% from October. Residential construction spending rose 1.9% to $536.1 billion, while nonresidential construction fell 1.2% to $449.4 billion.

As for public construction, spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $338.6 billion, marking a 0.9% increase from the previous month. Education construction spending hit $83.9 billion, about flat compared with October. Spending on highway construction increased 2.2% to $96.4 billion.

Billings continue recovery in NovemberIn other construction-sector indicators, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI), put out by the American Institute of Architects, checked in at 51.9 for November... [Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Construction MMI collects and weights 9 metal price points used within the construction industry to provide a unique view into construction industry price trends over a 30-day period.

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Monthly Renewables MMI Rises 2 Points

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) gained two points for a January MMI reading of 98. (Editor’s Note: This report also includes analysis of grain-oriented electrical steel.)

Several U.S. majors named in lawsuit over child mining of cobaltCBS News reported last month that several U.S. tech companies were named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging the use of child labor in cobalt mining operations in Africa.

According to the report, citing a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., the companies named in the lawsuit as defendants included Apple, Google parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell and Tesla.

According to the report, the lawsuit was brought by nonprofit group International Rights Advocates on behalf of 13 anonymous plaintiffs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A majority of the world’s cobalt — coveted for its use in a wide variety of high-tech capacities, included laptops and cellphones — is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where NGOs have positioned the spotlight on the use of child labor at cobalt mines in the country.

In November 2017, Amnesty International released a report criticizing a number of major U.S. companies for not doing enough to assure their supply chains do not include child labor.

[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE (INCLUDING GOES ANALYSIS), MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Renewables MMI collects and weights 8 metal price points over a 30-day period.

RenewablesMMI

MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. MetalMiner.com *Index had been recalibrated in May 2017 to better account for cobalt price fluctuations

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MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 14 of 16

Monthly Global Precious MMI Jumps 5 Points

Source: MetalMiner IndXSM.

The Global Precious Monthly Metals Index, a basket of precious metals, gained five points for a January MMI reading of 110.

Platinum, palladium prices rise after South Africa outagesPalladium and platinum prices received a boost last month after outages at South African mines, MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns explained.

“Power cuts earlier this year pushed the country close to recession,” Burns wrote. “The most recent outages have intensified over the last 36 hours, as heavy rains have flooded some power stations.

“Multiple failures affecting about a quarter of the country’s power plants have forced the utility to introduce severe rolling ‘stage 4’ cuts of 4,000 megawatts of power on Tuesday of last week, but it was still scrambling to fix breakdowns affecting another 15,000 megawatts — roughly a third of its generating capacity — by the end of the week.

“The rolling blackouts were escalated to stage 4 on Friday last week, with a rise to stage 6 (a complete loss of power) bringing many mining companies to a complete halt.”

Among the firms impacted by the outages was one of the world’s largest platinum producers, Sibanye-Stillwater.

Potential supply disruption in ZimbabweElsewhere in Africa, Burns delved into potential complicating factors in Zimbabwe that could throw a wrench into the PGM mining sector there.[Continued...]

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, MORE CHARTS AND ALL GLOBAL PRICES.

The Global Precious Metals MMI® collects and weights 14 global precious metal price points to provide a unique view into precious metal price trends over a 30-day period.

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Global Precious Metals MMI

December110

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About MetalMinerSourcing & Trading Intelligence for Global Metals MarketsMetalMiner is North America’s largest metals information site. This go-to resource for metal-buying organizations identifies metal market trends and price direction, provides daily metal market analysis and commentary, and offers insight and strategies to mitigate risk and reduce costs. MetalMiner is operated under management company Azul Partners Inc.

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BASIC ANALYSIS RESULTS

MATCHING: % PAYING MORE:

UNIQUE BUYERS: % PAYING SAME:

% PAYING LESS: MEDIAN:

MATERIAL:

PRICE:

304 2B Coil/0.038-0.060 mm

$1.43 on 01/01/2018 equates to a normalized price of $1.57 on 08/29/2018

896 45.41%

747 12.34%

42.25% $1.57/lb

MMI | © MetalMiner®. All rights reserved. 16 of 16

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