As charges and counter-charges proliferate, and military forces are in motion, the danger of war in eastern Ukraine is increasing daily. While blaming Russia for "malign intent", the Continue...Read More

The divergence between the two Americas is growing wider. Remember Joe Biden's promise that if we just followed the voodoo for a few more months, we might be able to gather in small groups by July 4?Continue...Read More

Years of neglecting its critical metal supplies is catching up with the United States, as demand for the raw materials needed to build a new green economy that rejects fossil fuels gears up.US President Joe Biden just announced a $2.3 trillion infrastructure spending package aimed partially at shifting the US transportation system from gas and diesel-based to battery-powered, and more support for...Read More

With the high demand for bullion-priced precious metals, dealers have experienced a surge in requests from certificate owners who want to go through the process of taking delivery of fabricated coins or products. But many are having trouble fulfilling orders, says EchoBay Partners founder Vince Lanci.The silver squeeze has hence reignited the debate over whether investors should own physical metal...Read More

Prices are going up. The Federal Reserve is printing money at an unprecedented rate. The US government continues to borrow Continue...Read More

Longtime gold bashers are gloating over the precious metal’srecent price slump. Gold prices havedeclined more than 10% in the first quarter of 2021.But the perma-bears shouldn’t feel vindicated. After all, anyonewho heeded their advice missed out on gold’s record run in 2020 – and on manyyears of outperformance since 2001.While gold bugs are often accused of havin...Read More

Brazil's automotive output grew by 5.47% year on year in March, despite several plants closing toward the end of the month, national automakers association Anfavea said on Wednesday April 7.The country produced 200,340 vehicles in March, up from 189,958 units in same month in 2020 and up 1.68% from 197,035 units in February 2021, the association said."The figures in March were acceptable despite t...Read More

Biden just announced an ambitious and expensive infrastructure plan. Will it rebuild gold?Yesterday (Mar. 31), President Joe Biden announced the big infrastructure plan , the second major legislative initiative after the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan passed in early March. The proposal includes about $2.2 trillion in new spending over eight years, boosting government expenditures even furt...Read More

Peter Krauth, editor of Silver Stock Investor, discusses the macroeconomic environment for silver and why he is embracing the metal's volatility. Being a silver investor over the last few weeks has become more psychologically challenging.That's true even for us die-hard silver enthusiasts.After all silver had a standout 2020, having gained about 47% in its best year since 2010. That easily outpace...Read More

Future mobility vehicles such as flying cars and air taxis may use radically different battery chemistries and production methods to cater to their unique form factor and designs, industry pioneers Volocopter and Wright Electric told Fastmarkets. Touted as the transport of the future, these vehicles are meant to break the monotony and time wasted in rush-hour jams by providing an alternative to la...Read More

Confirmed, unconfirmed, verified, andinvalidated: breakouts and breakdowns are now ubiquitous. And the implicationsare bearish for gold.Let’s start today’s analysis with adiscussion of the key market that everyone is interested in – gold.Gold’sFailed Breakout – A Sell Sign In short, gold just invalidated its smallbreakout above the declining blue resistance line. The...Read More

Liberty Steel has resumed production at its UK special steel plant in Rotherham, the steelmaker said on Tuesday April 6.Operations at the plant were halted on March 12, the company said."We are grateful for the support from our customers and suppliers in enabling the restart and in supporting our self-help measures such as matching our current stock to customer orders and working with customers to...Read More

The Gold Miner correction was well earned, but it was not a bubbleEven today there is some pablum out there talking about how if inflation is good for gold it is especially good for gold miners. I will simply repeat once again that if gold usually does not benefit fundamentally by cyclical inflation (i.e. inflation promoted for and currently working toward economic goals) the gold miners never do,...Read More

An explosion and then a fire erupted at continuous casting machine No2 at ArcelorMittal Italia on April 5, trade union USB said.No workers were injured during the incident, the union said. Market sources told Fastmarkets that ArcelorMittal claims the fire did not have an impact on production. The steelmaker did not reply to Fastmarkets' request for comment by the time of publication.European buyer...Read More

The US dollar is the world’s reserve currency. That isn’t likely to change anytime soon.All currencies are substitutes for real money, i.e. gold.  And because all governments inflate and destroy their own currencies, any potential alternatives to the US dollar are as bad or worse.That doesn’t stop the dollar bashing, of course. In a general long-term sense, the condemnation...Read More

India's JSW Steel has beefed up its production capacity after confirming the purchase of the plate and coils division of fellow steelmaker Welspun Steel, the company has announced.The purchase agreement had been in place for two years before the rubberstamp came on Wednesday March 31, with Welspun announcing in April 2019 that it would sell the assets to JSW Steel subject to approval of the Compet...Read More

The federal government isspending and redistributing newly created cash so rapidly, it’s becomingdifficult to keep track of which trillions are going where.This week, President JoeBiden will pitch a $3 trillion “green” infrastructure package. That’s on top ofthe $1.9 trillion economic “relief” bill he recently signed into law.Next month, Biden isexpected to roll...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 7 that are worth another look.Indian suppliers exhausted their second-quarter quota for shipments of hot-rolled coil into Europe on the first day of the new three-month period, according to data released by the European Commission (EC).https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3983087/Home/India-exhausts-EU-HRC-quota-on-first-d...Read More

Mining group Rio Tinto has started production of battery-grade lithium from waste rock at a demonstration plant located at a Boron mine site in California, in the United States, the company said on Wednesday April 7.The lithium demonstration plant is part of a project intended to scale up a breakthrough lithium production process developed at the mine, Rio Tinto said. The method allows Rio Tinto t...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?  Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More