By: Ira EpsteinGold consolidating gains?Read More
Click Chart to enlargeI am resuming bitcoin coverage and will treat it as nothing special, since that's the best way to be objective when reading its charts. The one shown provided two good opportunities to get long 'mechanically' at 7481, so we'll assume that its target at 10,026 will prove just as useful as a minimum upside objective. We'll talk about buying a pullback to the red line (p=833...Read More
There can be big one way moves in gold and silver anytime. Short term traders and investors are on the sidelines. Gold short sellers are waiting for an opportunity. It remains to be seen if they fail this week. Cautious optimism in gold for now. Physical buyers of gold will be on the sidelines. In the next three weeks, there are various risk. (a) 18th June and 19th June is the FOMC. (b) 28th Jun...Read More
Detour Gold (DRGDF) should produce outsized returns in a rising gold price environment.The company's high "gold beta" provides gold price leverage.At today's gold price and FX rates, Detour Gold is poised for 20%+ returns. Investment Thesis: A handful of GDX producers have returns that are exceptionally sensitive to the gold price. We prioritize one company, Detour Gold (OTCPK:DR...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange had all closed up by the afternoon kerb on June 18 after the potential US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts inspired a bullish sentiment. The optimism for the complex may be short lived however, because market consensus has already deemed this flurry of activity as a short-covering exercise before the US Fed and Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC)...Read More
The dollar plays a direct role in the fate of gold.There is a steady inverse correlation between gold and the U.S. real interest rate.Let's look at gold, assuming that its price is a function in which the independent variables are the U.S. dollar index and the level of the U.S. real interest rate.A week ago, I published an article about gold, in which I pointed out that there are not enough driver...Read More
Fastmarkets' assessed nickel full plates cif Shanghai premium increased 69% week on week on Tuesday June 18 due to an open import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, hitting an historic high since Fastmarkets launched the premium in April 2016. Fastmarkets assessment of the low-high premium for 99.8% purity nickel, full plate, cif Shanghai surged to $350-410 per tonne on Tuesday June 18 from $2...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices soared across the $110-per-tonne-cfr mark again on Tuesday June 18 after a dip on Monday, amid bullish trading in derivatives and physical markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $112.28 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $111.08 per tonne cfr Qingdao,up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $114.46 per tonne cfr Qing...Read More
Dollar index rally will give gold a much-needed consolidation period.China's industrial slowdown should bolster safe-haven gold demand.Despite gold's headwind, mining shares still enjoy a powerful tailwind.Gold is facing renewed headwinds in the form of a strengthening U.S. dollar and a comeback in equity prices. Yet despite these obstacles, an abundance of evidence shows that investors ar...Read More
The price of steel billet exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained stable over the week ended on Tuesday June 18, while trading activity continued to be sluggish in the major sales outlets."Everyone expected demand to pick up after Ramadan, especially in the Middle East, but it did not happen," one trader said, adding that the reason for the weak buying was low finished...Read More
Gold futures finished lower on Monday, following a four-session streak of gains, pressured by uncertainty ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve that's expected to offer hints on the central bank's plan on interest rates. International trade clashes and a concern over a weakening global economy, however, limited losses for the haven metal. The yellow metal for August delivery GCQ19, -0.0...Read More
Turkish steel producers have paused their deep-sea purchases after a buying spree over the past week, sources said on Tuesday June 18.Mills started to book scrap last week following a downturn in prices due to oversupply and softening domestic values in the United States. Turkish steel mills booked eight deep-sea cargoes last week and one at the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 18 that are worth another look.Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco is running its Chuquicamata division at half capacity, due to strike action by three unions at the site in northern Chile. GFG Alliance, the parent of Liberty Steel USA, is open to possible mergers, a top company executive told attendees during a key...Read More
Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco is running its Chuquicamata division at half capacity, due to strike action by three unions at the site in northern Chile.The company is aiming to reach 60% throughput soon, Codelco said on Sunday June 16.The 3,200 employees who are members of the three unions walked out on Friday, but another 1,400 workers are continuing to run operations, Cod...Read More
Vale has suspended all nickel-processing activities at its On??a Puma plant in the Brazilian state of Para on judicial orders, it said on June 17.The Brazilian multi-metals miner gave no reason for the suspension of nickel processing, which follows the halt on all mining activities at the site in September 2017 following judicial action taken against Vale by Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutio...Read More
Fastmarkets' assessed nickel full plates cif Shanghai premium increased 69% week on week on Tuesday June 18 due to an open import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, hitting an historic high since Fastmarkets launched the premium in April 2016. Fastmarkets assessment of the low-high premium for 99.8% purity nickel, full plate, cif Shanghai surged to $350-410 per tonne on Tuesday June 18 from $2...Read More
Terrafame will be the main supplier of battery-grade refined nickel products to the European electric vehicle (EV) market when demand penetrates the continent, company CEO Joni Lukkaroinen told Fastmarkets in an interview on June 5.Finnish multi-metal company Terrafame, which is 22.7% owned by Dutch commodity trading company Trafigura, has been ramping up nickel and cobalt production for the past...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up during morning trading on Tuesday June 18, taking their cue from the Dow Jones Index which edged higher overnight in anticipation of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which gets underway today. Recent comments from Fed officials have given rise to the expectation that interest rates will be cut in the near term, prec...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States will drop as low as $500 per short ton ($25 per hundredweight) in the coming months before climbing to $720 per ton ($36 per cwt) in early 2020, according to top executives from World Steel Dynamics (WSD)."We think [the HRC price] can drop to $500 [per ton] in the months ahead, and then we'll rally to about $720 when we have the steel boom early next...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producers postponed a planned domestic price increase to July with imports into the country becoming less expensive, Carlos Loureiro, president of distributor association Inda, said on Tuesday June 18.Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) had announced a 10% increase for June, which did not materialize, sources told Fastmarkets. Now, the readjustment is looking closer to 8%, w...Read More