The Chinese central government has toned down its ambitious plan to ban all solid waste imports, including metal scrap, by the end of 2020 in its recently proposed revisions to the regulation on solid waste management. The country's National People's Congress announced on July 5 a proposed revision to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollutio...Read More
In a rare move, Japan has started selling steel billet to Southeast Asia amid diving scrap prices in the country's domestic market.Steel mills in the Tokyo area have started channeling shipments of the semi-finished product to Southeast Asia, where buyers are prepared to pay higher prices than Japanese re-rollers, market sources said.While the sale of Japanese billet to Southeast Asia is not unpre...Read More
Market participants seem to be waiting for something to provide direction and that impetus is likely to come from the testimony of the United States Federal Reserve chairman later today.Market participants are counting on Fed chairman Jerome Powell to remain accommodating when testifying to Congress, with high odds that the 'insurance cut' of 25 basis points will be implemented in its July Federal...Read More
Australia's Pilbara Minerals expects production and sales of lithium spodumene concentrate to return to full capacity in the fourth quarter of 2019 and has secured a new offtake agreement with the Chinese Great Wall Motor Co. The company made the announcement on Tuesday July 9 after discussions with offtake partners Ganfeng Lithium and General Lithium. On June 17, Pilbara Minerals said it would re...Read More
Canadian crude is the story you won't hear about in today's media.I'll be the first to confess that I've been getting caught up in the headline hype recently. Last week, we talked about how the escalating tensions with Iran threaten more than one-fifth of the world's oil supply at the Strait of Hormuz.To be fair, it's kind of hard to ignore the geopolitical chaos that reigns over the Middle East.I...Read More
Australian lithium spodumene producer Altura Mining has finalized a binding five-year offtake agreement with Chinese lithium carbonate and hydroxide converter Shandong Ruifu.Altura will supply Shandong Ruifu with a minimum of 35,000 tonnes per year of 6% lithium spodumene concentrate, produced from its lithium mine at Pilgangoora in Western Australia, for a period of five years from July 2019 unti...Read More
This week's Insights newsletter shines a spotlight on stimulus. As Europe and the United States look set to provide more funds to juice their economies, Canadian stocks could benefit.Get our take on how insiders are positioning as we head into the summer in the latest edition of our free weekly newsletter (registration not required). Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe have decreased over the past week due to poor demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Buying activity has continued, however, but subject to limited demand from end-users and sufficient stocks held by buyers."Market activity is almost non-existent, and the situation is not going to change because in August the mills will go o...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate across Europe have decreased over the past week due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel, domestic, plate 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?500-520 ($560-583) per tonne ex-works on July 10, compared with ?,?515-525 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.The assessment reflected d...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices fell amid weakening futures, with traders agreeing to sell cargoes with shorter lead times at a discount to those being offered by mills. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,890-3,900 yuan ($565-566) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,840 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneTransaction prices fell across the country even though...Read More
The price of mesh-quality wire rod in Southern Europe has fallen by ?,?10-30 ($11-34) per tonne week on week, because mills in Italy and Spain lowered their offers ahead of the summer slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price of steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?470-500 ($527-560) per tonne on Wednesday, do...Read More
Domestic price ranges for hollow steel sections in Northern and Southern Europe widened further this week following pressure from decreased feedstock costs and increased import volumes, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?625-640 ($700-717) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?630-640 p...Read More
Steel H-beam prices in Northern and Southern Europe moved down this week following fluctuations in feedstock supply and uncertain market conditions ahead of the seasonal summer slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?570-600 ($639-672) per tonne on July 10, down from ?,?570-605 per tonne one...Read More
- Ed SteerYESTERDAY in GOLD, SILVER, PLATINUM and PALLADIUMThe gold price was sold lower just a few minutes after trading began at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday evening in New York. It began to recover about fifteen minutes later -- and managed to crawl higher...back above the $1,400 spot mark. The high tick was set a few minutes after the London open -- and it didn't do much from there until 'd...Read More
- Craig HemkeLast week we wrote about how The Bullion Banks manage price through COMEX contract issuance. This week, let's take that one step further to see if recent history provides any context for where we are at present in this current bull market for gold.If you missed last week's post, I strongly encourage you to read it now, as understanding the processes by which The Banks manage price...Read More
Legendary investor Jim Sinclair and his business partner Bill Holter say Gold is going much higher. It's a mathematical certainty. Sinclair says, "You need to look at gold, not a speculation, but as a savings account. If the dollar gets sliced in half, you basically double the value (of your gold) if not more. I think much more. . . . In the second reset, that will take gold to a price where it...Read More
Stewart Thomson, Graceland Updates 1. While some gold stocks (the South Africans in particular) continue to rally, bullion and most miners are staging a classic pullback after a major upside breakout. 2. Please click here now. Double-click to enlarge this important monthly gold chart. The bottom line:3. Breakouts are fun. Pullbacks are not!4. My advice to investors:...Read More
The second half of the year is setting up favorably for the precious metals sector, which was led in the first half by gold and gold mining stocks.Of course, the Wall Street-beholden financial media is largely ignoring metals and mining - preferring instead to give celebratory coverage to every move toward new highs in the Dow and S&P 500."The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 7.2% this month...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold right at 18-DMA support, battleground. Completed leg to the downside, battle underway. Gold not overbought anymore:Read More
Turkish steel producers paused their deep-sea scrap bookings again to take in the latest downturn in steel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.After a steel mill in the Iskenderun region paid $288 per tonne cfr for UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), on Tuesday July 9, the daily scrap indices went down by $14.78 per tonne.The drop was...Read More