Volkswagen has decided to temporarily suspend production in all its Brazilian plants because of the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the company announced on Friday March 19The stoppage will last for 12 days and will start on March 24. Only essential activities will be allowed in the factories."The measure aims to preserve the health of the company's employees and their...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) - a supplier of copper concentrate with high gold content to East Asia and Southeast Asia - will suspend production for 14 days from Friday March 19 to contain the spread of Covid-19. "In light of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases at the mine site and in Papua New Guinea, OTML will temporarily suspend operations for 14 days as of Friday March...Read More
Gold’s volatile little brother had aninteresting run thus far, with internet forums buoying its price. But willfundamentals prevail? Where is silver headed?“The Ides of March are come,” saidCaesar. “Aye Caesar; but not gone,” replied the soothsayer. The Ides of Marchquotation is often bandied about in financial articles midway through themonth. Caesar was assassinated...Read More
Trading activity in the United States' pig iron import market remained muted but firm during the week to Friday March 19, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $570 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Several sources put offers for material originating from the Commonwealth of independent States at $560 per tonne cfr and...Read More
A year ago this past week marked the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It also was the last full week of trading in the financial markets preceding crashes in all markets and a near-complete, albeit temporary, shutdown of economic activity.Subsequent rebounds in stocks, bonds and real estate took valuations to levels as high or higher (much higher for stocks and gold) than before the turbulenc...Read More
Sector expert Michael Ballanger considers how recent market moves have influenced investment in the precious metals markets. I had not intended to hit the keyboard today, having worked all week to prepare the Special Situations Report on my top-performing Norseman Silver Ltd. (NOC:TSX.V) (whose 65% year-to-date advance and 869% advance since the March 2020 lows has been a pleasant surprise), but F...Read More
Volkswagen has decided to temporarily suspend production in all its Brazilian plants because of the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the company announced on Friday March 19The stoppage will last for 12 days and will start on March 24. Only essential activities will be allowed in the factories."The measure aims to preserve the health of the company's employees and their...Read More
The ECB accelerated its asset purchases, but unless the Fed follows suit, gold may continue its bearish trend.On Thursday (Mar. 11), the European Central Bankdecided to accelerate its asset buying under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program :Based on a joint assessment of financing conditions and the inflation outlook, the Governing Council expects purchases under the PEPP over the next quarter...Read More
No new deals were reported in the pig iron export market from Brazil during the week to Friday March 19, with the market remaining firm.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $520 per tonne on Friday, unchanged since March 5.Offers of pig iron for May-June shipment were reported...Read More
It seems fitting that the year we are expecting to see an unprecedented rise in US government spending and money-printing to spur an economic recovery, marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the gold standard.Done at the time to fight an economic crisis, we are still feeling the effects of this disastrous decision, five decades on.In this article, we explain why President Nixon did what he did,...Read More
Import activity in the South American flat-rolled steel market was nearly at a halt in the week ended on Friday March 19 due to growing uncertainty about the existing Chinese steel export tax rebate.Many importers have temporarily stopped trading China-origin material due to information that has circulated about possible reductions on China's export tax rebate for steel products, either...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Aluminium's price on the London Metal Exchange was up 2.2% at the close to $2,265 per tonne on March 19, with the rest of the base metals complex also benefiting from a short-covering bounce on Friday.The light metal came to $2,275 per tonne on Friday at around 4:30pm, its highest level since June 14 2018, when it reached $2,280 per tonne at a time of deep trade tensions between the United States...Read More
The beneficiaries of the London Metal Exchange's proposal to close the ring, incentivize electronic trade and change its margin methodology are likely to be algorithmic traders and banks, a floor trader at the exchange said.Daniel Messinger, deputy head of trading at LME ring dealer Sucden Financial, said that these market participants already have a significant influence on LME trading."It's virt...Read More
The decision requires answering one simple question...(by Half Dollar) I've got to admit, I've been a tiny bit selfish lately.Just a little bit.You see, 'Ol Half Dollar's in the market for a new automobile, again, as one of the two teens in the house is close to getting that License to Freedom, otherwise known as a Driver's License.Let's not get it twisted, however, because a driver's license in 2...Read More
Many are unaware of the risks, especially at a time of market disruption...by John Adams and Martin North from In The Interests Of The PeopleEconomist John Adams and Analyst Martin North examine the various types of products linked to Silver. Not all are created equal, yet many are unaware of the risks within them. especially at a time of market disruption. Read the small print!FULL SHOW NOTES AND...Read More
"...it will be so sudden, that those who abandoned ship..."Michael Oliver with Chris Marcus on Arcadia EconomicsMichael Oliver: Silver to spike as system resetsTo find out why that's happening, click to watch the video now!FULL SHOW NOTES AND LINKS HERE Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese seamless linepipe prices have jumped by $120 per tonne over the past month because of rising costs. With iron ore prices remaining elevated, scrap costs on the rise, and activity at steel mills curbed by environmental measures, steel billet has become difficult to source, bolstering the prices for seamless linep...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More