The battered goldstocks are bouncing hard, blasting higher over the past couple weeks! That’s despite the Fed still looking to soonstart slowing the pace of its epic money printing. Fed-tightening fears had weighted heavily onthe precious-metals realm since June. Gold stocks’ sharp rally confirms they have started mean reverting muchhigher after withering capitulation...Read More
Strong words, I know. Can I back them up? Well,what we see now – looking at various markets – does indeed look like the startof gold’s end– The Oracle in Matrix Revolutions, 2003The counter-trend rally has probably justended, and the final big downswing has probably just started. This “beginning”of the final downswing is, in my opinion, the beginning of the fina...Read More
Vietnam's Hoa Phat Steel is close to obtaining certification from the United Kingdom Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (Cares), which would allow it to sell its rebar to the key markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Obtaining the certification means that a mill is able to produce construction steel to certain standards. For instance, in Singapore, reba...Read More
As precious metals traders have waited out this extended sideways/downward price contraction in price over the past 14+ months, a very broad Pennant/Flag price formation is nearing an APEX level which suggests Gold may begin a new rally phase over the next 60+ days. Support near $1675 is a critical price level that has been tested three times over the past 8 months. The true APEX of the Pennant/Fl...Read More
Ford Motor will invest $316 million to build electric car components at its Halewood factory in northern England, it said.The US automotive manufacturer expects power unit production to begin in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year, it said in a release on Monday October 18.This vehicle transmission facility, which currently builds transmissions for several...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 19 that are worth another look.Vietnam's Hoa Phat Steel is close to obtaining certification from the United Kingdom Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (Cares), which would allow it to sell its rebar to the key markets of Singapore...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
Steel scrap prices in the main Mexican markets of Monterrey and Bajio continued their downward trend in the week ended Friday October 15, but prices diverged widely between buyers.Price cuts of 300-700 pesos ($14-34) per tonne were common last week, with some scrap buyers seeing comfortable inventory levels and steady supply.Fastmarkets' assessment of the steel scrap No1 heavy melt, consu...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has imposed a series of temporary measures to maintain an orderly copper market after wild outright and spread price moves and dwindling inventories in recent days, the exchange said.In a notice to members, the LME said its Special Committee had been monitoring the ongoing tightness in the copper market, with exchange inventories falling and nearby carries tightening. The...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 19 that are worth another look.Vietnam's Hoa Phat Steel is close to obtaining certification from the United Kingdom Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (Cares), which would allow it to sell its rebar to the key markets of Singapore...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
The collapse of the iron ore market and market turbulence over Chinese property developer Evergrande Group are adding to the economic woes caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 for much of this year.It is hard to find bright sparks in the months ahead for the ferrous supply chain, which has been buffeted repeatedly in a short span of few months, starting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's comment...Read More
China's cobalt metal price strengthened after China's National Day holiday (October 1-7) amid the rally in international benchmark metal price and a shortage of spot units. While the price gap between China domestic market and the international market narrowed, it is unlikely that the former will match the latter in the near future, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt...Read More
The bottom is surely in! Silver to da moon, or at least to $30. Right?(by Half Dollar) "Breakouts everywhere as the price of silver is surging today", that is what all of the Flip-Flopping Chart Huggers, who have been nothing but wrong about silver since late January, will say."The bottom is in", they will also say.And "blah, blah, blah" will be their rallying cry.While all I can do is sit back an...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has imposed a series of temporary measures to maintain an orderly copper market after wild outright and spread price moves and dwindling inventories in recent days, the exchange said.In a notice to members, the LME said its Special Committee had been monitoring the ongoing tightness in the copper market, with exchange inventories falling and nearby carries tightening. The...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed lower day on day on Tuesday October 19 after a strong open.The LME zinc three-month price led the decline among the base metals, closing at $3,508 per tonne - down more than 5% from $3,696 per tonne at the open."Even though we believe the LME zinc price can remain elevated...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More