It’s crunch time for gold and the U.S.Dollar Index (USDX), as they find themselves at a crossroads. As of Wednesday,the USDX is holding its lows but wants to move up, thus invalidating itsbreakdown. And gold? Well, gold did gain a bit today, but it’s essentiallyjumping up in an elevator that’s moving down – it just doesn’t have enoughsteam to break out.While it’...Read More

Although the apparent results of the 2020 election are still being contested, members of the global ruling elite are already looking forward to a post-Trump era in American politics – and a post-vaccine world economy.They have encapsulated their policy agenda for 2021 and beyond into two words: “Great Reset.”The notion of a Great Reset comes directly from the World Economic Forum...Read More

ArcelorMittal is to increase its official spot offer price for second-quarter rolling hot-rolled coil across Europe to ?,?650 ($788.56) per tonne ex-works effective immediately, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 4.They added that the traditional gap between offers in Northern and Southern Europe has now disappeared altogether.Offers of hot-dipped galvanized coil also moved up to ?,?...Read More

An acute shortage of containers and new rule changes by container lines have combined over the past week to again raise containerized shipping costs for commodity market participants.Trading sources told Fastmarkets that container lines have not only continued to raise freight rates but have also introduced additional measures that will serve to make life increasingly difficult for companies invol...Read More

German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp is conducting a joint feasibility study with energy company STEAG to develop a hydrogen hub to be used in green steel production at its Duisburg site, the company said on Thursday December 3.The study will focus on construction of a water electrolysis plant at the STEAG site in Duisburg-Walsum by Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, the structuring of energy supply...Read More

Steel slab export prices from Brazil soared in the week ended Friday December 4, rising above $600 per tonne fob when producers with low availability raised their prices and focused on high-paying markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was $590-600 per tonne fob on December 4, up by $60-75 per tonne from $515-540 per tonne on November 27.The asse...Read More

The uptrend in flat-rolled steel import prices in South America persisted during the week ended Friday December 4, with offers from China, Japan and Brazil all at higher levels than previously for February-shipment cargoes.But at the same time, market participants were still seeing much lower bids, citing the rising costs of steel products as a major problem this year."[This uptrend is] creating b...Read More

The price of domestic hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased further day-on-day on Friday December 4, supported by a general shortage of flat steel, sources told Fastmarkets.European mills also increased official offers.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?575.00 ($697.58) per tonne on Friday December 4, up by ?,?5.00 per ton...Read More

The price for pig iron exports from Brazil increased again during the week to Friday December 4 mainly because of a global uptrend, although trade from the country was muted over the week.Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, at $420 per tonne on Friday, up from $405 per tonne a week before.No new sales were heard from the south of Brazil during the w...Read More

Gary Nagle will become the new chief executive officer of Glencore when Ivan Glasenberg retires during the first half of 2021, the company said on Friday December 4. Nagle is currently global head of Glencore's coal industrial business based out of Sydney Australia, and will return to Switzerland to begin a transition to the new role.After 18 years as Glencore CEO, Glasenberg will step down f...Read More

Nearly two months after Chinese steel mills were verbally notified to halt imports of Australian coal, market participants and industry analysts tell Fastmarkets about the consequences of the ban and their predictions for its future. Utilities companies and steel mills in China were verbally notified during the Golden Week holiday (October 1-8) to stop importing Australian coal with immediate...Read More

China's Baowu Steel Group Corp, the world's largest steelmaker, will continue with its merger strategy over the next few years, which cound result in a increase in its steelmaking capacity to 200 million tonnes per year, the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) reported recently.The steelmaker's capacity exceeded 100 million tpy in September when it merged with Chongqing Iron & Steel Co, making i...Read More

They will have to deliver physical silver they have possession of Or BUY BACK a substantial amount of COMEX Silver Contracts triggering the...by Bix Weir of Road to RootaHow will the 8 or less silver short riggers get rid of over 350M oz of Comex Silver Short positions? Were they mandated by the DOJ settlement to square their books by the end of the December? To do this they will either have to de...Read More

Iron ore prices surged further on Friday December 4, supported by active long positions in futures markets and steady drawdowns in port inventory, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $145.01 per tonne, up $7.93 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.36 per tonne, up $7.38 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $132.83 pe...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices fluctuated across the board in the fob market on Friday December 4 due to the latest changes in supply, while the cfr market was flat.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.62 per tonne, down $0.46 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $168.78 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $92.97 per tonne, up $2.17 per tonneHard coking...Read More

The main global scrap markets continued to move higher in the week to Friday December 4, with most markets continuing regular purchases of material. Turkish steel mills continue to pay higher pricesUnited States market remains subdued post-holidayVietnam reports higher pricesTaiwan market reports optimistic sentiment and tight supplyIndian market expresses uncertainty over higher pricesTurkeyTurki...Read More

ArcelorMittal is to increase its official spot offer price for second-quarter rolling hot-rolled coil across Europe to ?,?650 ($788.56) per tonne ex-works effective immediately, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 4.They added that the traditional gap between offers in Northern and Southern Europe has now disappeared altogether.Offers of hot-dipped galvanized coil also moved up to ?,?...Read More

Miner Vedanta's Gamsberg zinc processing plant in South Africa could restart milling operations in the week beginning Monday December 7, Fastmarkets has learned from informed sources.Milling operations at Gamsberg were currently "under planned maintenance" but were "expected to restart next week," a source who claimed direct knowledge told Fastmarkets on December 3.All mining activity has been sus...Read More

The London Metal Exchange base metals complex ended around its recently established highs, with nickel making the largest rise of around 3% on Friday December 4. LME nickel's three-month price closed at $16,399 per tonne at 5pm on Friday, a 2.8% increase from its Thursday close of $15,954 per tonne and up 0.8% from the beginning of the week.  The metal had a rocky week, closing at $16,27...Read More

An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Susan Zou, Sybil Pan, and Sally Zhang in Shanghai, Carrie Shi in Beijing, and...Read More