One disappointment after another in the world of trade and economic data, with the only relief coming in the form of potential for easier monetary policy, makes for a gloomy outlook.The outlook could be saved if a trade deal arrives soon, otherwise it looks like the global economy is being wounded as it suffers one blow after another.International Monetary Fund cuts its 2019 economic growth foreca...Read More
Indonesia will continue to ramp up its production of refined nickel in anticipation of demand for material to be used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, senior Macquarie consultant Jim Lennon told delegates at the 7th International Nickel Conference in Amsterdam on Thursday June 6.Macquarie has forecast that global nickel supply must grow by 1.7 million tonnes per year between 2018 and 2030. This...Read More
The Thursday Market Minute Global stocks sputtered Thursday, tugging Wall Street futures into the red, as investors held onto hopes of Fed rate bets amid a slowing world economy.President Donald Trump continues his European tour with a visit to Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, telling reporters he is ready to place more tariffs on China if necessary.European stocks booked modest g...Read More
In my March 27 editorial, "America is the Global Energy King: The U.S. is now exporting more than 12 OPEC nations produce!" I told you about a small energy company doing something revolutionary in Martin County in West Texas.I said:A breakthrough drilling technology is pumping out so much oil that the Financial Post says: "You add all the numbers up and what you start to come up with is very, very...Read More
Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an ex-works China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets price assessment for lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade, spot price range, ex-works China, yuan per tonne. Fastmar...Read More
A potential global ban on internal combustion engines (ICEs) by 2030 could facilitate a growth in nickel's share of the electric vehicle battery market to 80%, Al Bedwell of automotive intelligence provider LMC Automotive said at the 7th International Nickel Conference on Thursday June 6. The potential for a ban of traditional ICE vehicles by 2030 is driven by crackdowns on carbon emissions in Eur...Read More
European steelmakers have called for the European Commission (EC) to review its decision to liberalize its import safeguard measures by increasing quota volumes by 5% each year, Fastmarkets has learned.The current safeguard mechanism will increase the level of tariff-free quotas for each product category by 5% after each year. The first liberalization will take place on July 1, 2019 - the end of t...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices weakened again on Thursday June 6 on thin trading amid bearish sentiment and rising inventory levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,850 yuan ($556-557) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,790-3,800 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneTransaction prices fell nationwide despite mills keeping their offers steady, with buyers being r...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday June 6 that are worth another look.A potential global ban on internal combustion engines in 2030 could facilitate growth in nickel's share of the electric vehicle battery market to 80%, Al Bedwell, of automotive intelligence provider LMC Automotive, said at the 7th International Nickel Conference on Thursday June 6. A grou...Read More
Reinforcing bar prices in the United States have hit a more than 14-month low, with market sources expecting lackluster demand, abundant supply, falling scrap costs, trade-related uncertainties and slowing business conditions to weaken prices further. Fastmarkets' price assessment for domestic rebar fell to $33.50-34 per hundredweight ($670-680 per short ton) fob mill on Wednesday June 5, its lowe...Read More
International metals group Liberty House is unlikely to bid for troubled UK long steel producer British Steel, Fastmarkets has heard.Liberty House declined to comment on the subject at the time of publication."British Steel doesn't really fit in with their business model, which is based on recycling steel scrap rather than primary steel production," an industry source told Fastmarkets on Thursday...Read More
Turkish mills booked no deep-sea cargoes on Thursday June 5, due to the Eid al-Fitr public holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.The market will remain subdued for the remainder of the week while Turkey marks the end of the period of abstinence for the Islamic holy month of...Read More
Dr. Chris Martenson PhD & Chris Waltzek PhD - June 4th, 2018. * Download MP3 formatHighlightsDr. Chris Martenson of PeakProsperity.com, author of Prosper! notes the global "everything bubble." Virtually every asset class was inflated by profligate monetary policies and various fiat schemes. The global economy could be on the cusp of a 2nd Great Recession due in part to protectivist trade...Read More
Perhaps surprising no one, global manufacturers are now in contraction mode for the first time since 2012. That's according to the most recent reading of the sector's health, the purchasing manager's index (PMI), which headed lower for a record 13th straight month in May. The PMI posted 49.8, down from 50.4 a month earlier. As a reminder, anything above 50.0 indicates expansion; anything below,...Read More
Miles Franklin sponsored this article by Gary Christenson. The opinions are his.Christopher Whalen wrote "Trump is Right to Blow Up the Fed." He stated:"Anybody who cares to read the 1978 Humphrey Hawkins law will know that the Fed is directed by Congress to seek full employment and then zero inflation. Not 2 percent, but zero. Yet going back a decade or more, the Fed, led by luminaries such a...Read More
- Stefan GleasonMost Americans take food abundance for granted. Grocery store shelves are always stocked, and America's agricultural sector always grows more than enough corn, wheat, and soybean crops to keep the food production system humming along smoothly.That all could change as abruptly as the weather. In fact, historically wet conditions throughout the Midwest have put this year's spring...Read More
Although oil prices and Treasury yields have been falling an anticipation of a widely advertised economic slowdown in Europe and China, U.S. stocks are rising as though boom times lie ahead. What is going on?? It would appear that bulls simply cannot control themselves when there is talk of Fed easing. The prospect of QE3 has been in the news lately, driving a short-covering rally that has p...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold reaching into resistance areas we have seen before:Read More
Physical iron ore prices were rangebound on Thursday May 6, while the futures market experienced choppy trading.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $100.60 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.22 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $99.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.54 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $104.04 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.46 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $90.86 p...Read More
"This is big government in spades."David Stockman is a former Republican congressman from Michigan and was President Reagan's budget director from 1981 to 1985. After leaving the White House, Stockman became a managing director at Salomon Brothers, and he later founded a private equity fund. David is the founder of David Stockman's Contra Corner, and he is the author of The Great Deformation: The...Read More