Apr 01, 2021 Guest(s): Mark Skousen Increased business to business (B2B) activity is expected to boost gross domestic product by a "substantial" amount this year, said Mark Skousen, editor-in-chief of Forecasts & Strategies.What you discovered for the fourth quarter [GDP data] that was just released is that the supply chain is growing substantially faster than final output or consumption by...Read More

It is shaping up to be a year of significant deficit in the copper market as tighter-than-expected supply struggles to keep up with a radically improved demand outlook, the chief executive officer of diversified mining company Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) said.This demand is underpinned by unprecedented levels of so-called green stimulus as economies rebuild infrastructure to take account of dec...Read More

Low-carbon aluminium value-added products continue to trade at a small premium in Europe, though such premiums are not achievable for primary aluminium, participants told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product, Europe at $10-15 per tonne on Thursday April 1 from $5-15 per tonne premium on March 5. Deals were reported to Fastmarkets for aluminium...Read More

Aluminium's and nickel's prices bounced back slightly at the close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday April 1 from Wednesday's figures, but aluminium and zinc showed losses over the week of nearly 2%, while other base metals continued to consolidate.Nickel's three-month price showed the biggest increase in the base-metals complex on Thursday, up by 0.9% to $16,214 per tonne, back...Read More

Adam HamiltonArchivesApr 01, 2021 The silver miners' stocks have mostly consolidated high over the past half-year or so, mirroring resilient price action in the metal they produce. But this relative strength has been overshadowed by the extended correction in gold, which forced gold stocks lower. The resulting bearish sentiment engulfed silver stocks, leaving them out of favor. But their recently-...Read More

Spot copper concentrate processing charges dipped further in the week to Thursday April 1 with more smelters accepting terms below $30 per tonne / 3 cents per lb.  Fastmarkets calculated its benchmark copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index, cif Asia Pacific at $24 per tonne / 2.4 cents per lb on April 1, setting another record low. Offers to smelters dropped to t...Read More

Fastmarkets has launched four implied prices based on the weekly published copper concentrates treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index, with data available from April 2021.The derived prices are: MB-CU-0508 copper concentrates TC implied smelters purchaseMB-CU-0509 copper concentrates TC implied traders purchaseMB-CU-0510 copper concentrates RC implied smelters purchaseMB-CU-0511 copper con...Read More

Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco has reached a 36-month labor agreement with the management and the workers union at its Radomiro Tomic copper complex, the company said this week.There was a consensus on no wage increases and a term bonus of 4.16 million Chilean pesos ($5,729), the company said on Wednesday March 31.The deal also includes incentives for different goals, such as overcomi...Read More

Vancouver, BC - Venzee Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: VENZ) ("Venzee" or the "Company") a smart tech platform that automates the distribution of consumer-facing product information to retailers, is pleased to announce the Company has received over $1.6M from the exercise of warrants in Q1 2021.According to Venzee Technologies COO, Peter Montross, "In addition to the $2.1M in financing closed last Decem...Read More

The rally in the antimony price reached a celling and began to trend downward with no signs of a rebound for the time being, with producers in China and traders in Europe destocking material at lower levels amid little buying appetite.That said, external factors, such as upcoming environmental inspections in Hunan, China, and delays caused by the blockage of the Suez Canal could halt the decline,...Read More

The price of alloy-grade cobalt has risen above that for its standard-grade counterpart for the first time in six weeks, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 1, with cheap standard-grade parcels available from sellers looking to take profit.This situation bucked a recent trend where standard-grade metal had been trading mostly at a premium due to strong demand for briquettes downstream.Broken catho...Read More

The spot price for light iron steel scrap in the United Kingdom went up during the week to Thursday April 1, climbing with domestic dealers competing more keenly for supplies against firmer demand for exports out of Europe to the key overseas buyer, Turkey, sources have told Fastmarkets.The price was up mostly in areas close to UK ports, where domestic steel scrap demand was strongest from major s...Read More

Offer prices to the key import steel scrap market in Bangladesh have gone up over the past week, but demand for scrap material was low ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 1.Import markets across Asia have received higher offers for steel scrap this week, with strong rebar and billet markets giving many steelmakers excellent margins and more room t...Read More

Funding will come by reversing some of the cuts to the corporate tax rate enacted by his predecessor Donald Trump, bumping it to 28% from 21% (Trump reduced it from 35% to 21%) as well as forcingRead More

Steel mills around the world are buying ferrous scrap at higher prices, spurred by rebounding downstream steel prices in the rebar and billet markets.Turkey sees price rebound and correction in one weekUS sees sales to Turkey, AsiaVietnamese mills increase bidsChinese buyers also raise bidsTight scrap supplyin TaiwanIndian prices higher on good sentiment.TurkeyA major Turkish steel mill supported...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly weaker this morning, Thursday April 1, and those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were more mixed, while markets contend with cross winds.United States treasury 10-year yields remain upbeat, as does the dollar China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) at 50.6 showed slower growth in March, compared with 50.9 in Februar...Read More

The price of alloy-grade cobalt has risen above that for its standard-grade counterpart for the first time in six weeks, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 1, with cheap standard-grade parcels available from sellers looking to take profit.This situation bucked a recent trend where standard-grade metal had been trading mostly at a premium due to strong demand for briquettes downstream.Broken catho...Read More

Britishvolt, a United Kingdom-based lithium-ion battery producer, has initiated fundraising plans in the United States to support its gigaplant project in Northumberland, UK, it said on Thursday April 1. The company aims to raise ?300 million-350 million ($413 million-482 million) by the end of the summer and to start production at its Blyth, Northumberland plant in the fourth quarter of 2023. Br...Read More

A summary of China-headquartered Ganfeng Lithium's 2020 annual report, released by the company on Wednesday March 31.In briefTotal Revenue: 5.52 billion yuan ($841.2 million), up by 3.41% year on yearRevenue in domestic Chinese market: 3.92 billion yuan, up by 11.89% year on yearRevenue in international market: 1.60 billion yuan, down by 12.79% year on yearNet profit: 402.22 million yuan, down by...Read More

The import market for flat-rolled steel came to a stop in South America in the week to Thursday April 1, with mills in China mills mostly withdrawing from exports, or refraining from offering to the region.The trigger for this was the doubt in the East Asian country about its final decision on an export tax rebate cut, market participants told Fastmarkets.Some Chinese steelmakers did offer exports...Read More