Global manufacturers are waiting till end February to decide on their outsourcing strategy. If there is supply disruptions from China from March onwards then they will look to India and other Asian nations for their supplies. US economic numbers are not affecting gold price. Trend of all metals and energies on or after 18th February will be the key. China will fully reopen by then. There will be...Read More

Turkish pipe export prices have gone down over the past month on falling raw material prices and limited demand, sources said on Wednesday February 12.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel structural pipe, export, S235JR grade, EN10219, 2mm wall thickness, fob main port Turkey, was $510-515 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $545-550 per tonne in early January.The steel pipe producers in...Read More

As the thirdmost-consumed metal on earth, behind iron and aluminum, copper is all aroundus. Found naturally in the earth’s crust, copper was among the first metalsused by early humans, dating back to the 8th century, BC.  Three thousandyears later homo sapiens figured out how to smelt copper from its ore, and toalloy it with tin to create bronze. Bronze was useful for tools and weapons,...Read More

Amid the worries about the coronavirus and its impacton the global economy, the US yield curve has briefly inverted again.Recession, anyone? And what exactly does the inversion imply for the goldmarket? Yield CurveInverts AgainOoops, it happened again – the yield curve has inverted! Please takea look at the chart below. It shows that at the turn of January and February, the spread between 10...Read More

Demand for aluminium and steel coil in China has come under strain while the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) crisis has allowed the gears of the country's automotive sector to grind to a halt.Many manufacturing plants across China - including those in the automotive segment - have paused operations in the past two weeks to February 12 after the government extended workers' Lunar New Year holiday to...Read More

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China has weakened the country's rebar market in recent weeks, sending prices to their lowest in close to three years. Fastmarkets' February 11 assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, ex-whs eastern China was 3,380-3,420 yuan ($485-490) per tonne, down 250-260 yuan per tonne from 3,640-3,670 yuan per tonne on January 23 - the last...Read More

Gold will outperform the S&P 500 Index in 2020. That's one of several projections made by CLSA in its just-released "Global Surprises 2020" report.The Hong Kong investment firm has an impressive track record when it comes to making market predictions last year it had a 70 percent hit rate so it may be prudent to take this one seriously.CLSA's head of research Shaun Cochran: "If investors are con...Read More

David HaggithThere is, at least, one highly recognized economist who agrees with me that a recession started forming in the summer of 2019 and is still emerging, in spite of the Fed's strongest efforts to stop it David Rosenberg:We recall all too well the euphoria that followed the early 2001 and late 2007 Fed rate cuts and curve-steepening shifts, that then switched to malaise as the recess...Read More

Craig Hemke, TF MetalsAs you know, we've been following the palladium story for over two years now. It is very important to understand that this is NOT a speculative, COMEX story. Instead, this is a physical supply story that emanates from London. To that end, today let's review the COMEX data to see how The Banks are responding in this futures-only market.Let's begin with the chart below. This...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold has a lower highs and lower lows over the short-term. Choppy action. We are at the 18-dma, the battleground..Read More

Global manufacturers are waiting till end February to decide on their outsourcing strategy. If there is supply disruptions from China from March onwards then they will look to India and other Asian nations for their supplies. US economic numbers are not affecting gold price. Trend of all metals and energies on or after 18th February will be the key. China will fully reopen by then. There will be...Read More

India's recently announced national budget got a mixed response from the country's steel sector, with some describing it as "disappointing" while others said it was "promising," sources told Fastmarkets.The Indian government's $428 billion budget for 2020-21 was presented on February 1.Part of the budget concerned the soon-to-be-launched National Logistics Policy, which will include various infras...Read More

Outokumpu chief executive officer and president Roeland Baan will step down in May, the Finnish stainless steelmaker said on Friday February 7.He will continue in his role as the company's ceo until May 15, 2020. His successor has not yet been named by the company.Baan joined Outokumpu in January 2016....Read More

The three-month price of copper on the London Metal Exchange edged higher at the close of trading on Wednesday February 12, staying firmly above the $5,700 per tonne support level despite low turnover, while nickel similarly held above nearby support.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,764 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $5,783 per tonne but topping T...Read More

Contango has returned to the price of tin, but the spot markets have remained quiet on muted demand and uncertainty about the implications of the outbreak in China of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).London Metal Exchange tin price still down from earlier in the year, with coronavirus spreading.Tin imports to China largely halted; premiums flat in Taiwan, too.United States sees modest spot trade over...Read More

The price of steel mesh-quality wire rod was unchanged in Europe while market participants waited to see how the monthly European ferrous scrap prices would settle, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, remained at ?,?460-470 ($502-513) per tonne on February 12, the fourth conse...Read More

The downward price trend in the European domestic steel rebar markets was largely halted this week while participants waited to see where monthly ferrous scrap prices would settle, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 12.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?450-470 ($491-513) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 12 that are worth another look.China may not be the big steady steel rebar buyer that most of us in the market thought it was, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said on February 5 with regards the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Major Chinese copper smelter Daye Nonferrous,...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 11 that are worth another look.A block on the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement process has paralyzed progress in steel cases, including those pertaining to Section 232, which could result in a disparity between steel prices in the United States and those in the rest of the world, according to two trade expe...Read More

Trade disputes and geopolitical uncertainties had already made the prospects for global economic growth uncertain. A coronavirus has now added to the challenges facing financial markets.The epicenter of the virus is Wuhan, an important commercial hub in China that is home to 11.9 million people, including the country's largest student population. It is also a manufacturing hub, with around 500 fac...Read More