The price of ferrous scrap imported into India moved up again this week ahead of a seasonal slowdown for the European holiday season, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 6.Fastmarkets' steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva was $286.46 per tonne on Friday, up from $282.56 per tonne one week previous.One deal was heard for shredded material into India at $291 per tonne this w...Read More

Asian equities and most of the base metals are in positive territory after United States President Donald Trump sounded more positive on a US-China trade deal when he said talks are "moving right along".With the news flow on trade ebbing and flowing, the day of reckoning is likely to be whether Trump follows through with his threat to put 15% tariffs on another $160 billion of Chinese imports from...Read More

Sir Brian Bender has seen three London Metal Exchange chief executive officers, the sale to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and a great number of other changes over more than nine years as the exchange's chairman, he told Fastmarkets in an interview, but the open outcry system will remain for as long as members support it. Bender was on holiday in Australia when a headhunter emailed to ask whether...Read More

Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse (in-whs) basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for standard-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb.Click here for...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

The world's largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, set the share price for the company's much-anticipated IPO yesterday at 32 riyals (about US$8.50), which will raise about $25.6 billion in new capital. That would put the value of Saudi Aramco at around US$1.7 trillion and make it the largest IPO ever.The pricing of Saudi Aramco's IPO beats out the previous record holder, Alibaba Group, by a good mar...Read More

The pace of decline in the Chinese domestic battery grade lithium carbonate price has accelerated entering December with increasingly lower offer prices in the spot market from Chinese producers eager to destock in the week ended Thursday December 5. China's battery grade lithium carbonate price downtrend has accelerated due to lower spot offer prices and sporadic downstream buying. The techn...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe edged up on Friday December 6, but transaction prices are expected to soon rise more significantly, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?432.6 ($478.11) per tonne on December 6, edging up from ?,?431.63 per tonne on Thursday.The calculation is based on "workable" pri...Read More

Indian importers have started booking hot-rolled coil after a break of three months, after the latest round of domestic price increases made HRC imports commercially viable.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel HRC, import, cfr main port India, was $480-485 per tonne on Friday December 6, compared with $450-455 per tonne last week. The latest assessment is based on South Korea-origin HRC import bookin...Read More

In this week's newsletter, we make the case for rising inflation expectations and discuss the implications for stocks. That is also the theme in the broadcast of the week. Meanwhile, our insider of the week is a CFO who has helped stick handle recent acquisitions which have contributed to a blow-out quarter. Click here to read. Read More

Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), increased in the week to Friday December 6, and most producers stopped accepting new orders because they are planning to raise prices further, sources told Fastmarkets.Steel prices have increased due to higher raw materials and hot-rolled coil prices, they added.Fastmarkets' daily inde...Read More

Brazil's domestic rebar price was unchanged in December while market participants braced for an upcoming hike in January amid higher demand.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic monthly, delivered Brazil at 2,220-2,320 Reais ($528-552) per tonne on Friday December 6, unchanged from the previous month but up by 1.7% from 2,165-2,300 Reais per...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices continued dropping on Friday December 6 as mills maintained high levels of production over the week. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,900 yuan ($549-554) per tonne, down 70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,630-3,670 yuan per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonneRebar output at major Chinese mills totaled 3.63 million tonnes over the week ended Thursday, up 70,0...Read More

Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 346,52555,82093,891203,920526,707644,336676,418 Change from Prior Reporting Period 21,2392,16836912,37229,69233,98032,229 Traders 20552745053280158 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 56,68024,598701,016 -2,232-48131,748 non reportable positionsChang...Read More

Gold has been correcting following last summer's powerful bull-breakout upleg. Since peaking, gold has inexorably drifted lower in a well-defined downtrend. Traders are wondering when this necessary and healthy sentiment-rebalancing selloff will bottom, paving the way for gold's next upleg. But this correction still has a ways to run, according to speculators' gold-futures positioning wh...Read More

Jordan Roy-Byrne CMT, MFTAA few weeks ago we noted the bullish setup for 2020.Macro developments, one way or another will tend to favor Gold. There isn't a realistic scenario that isn't Gold bullish.Note the comments from various Fed-heads last week. They are laying the groundwork to target higher than 2% inflation and won't consider raising rates anytime soon.And if they have to resume cutting...Read More

Latest transaction: rebarRebar East China, domestic, grade...Read More

- Gary SavageGold market update: Signs of a similar H1-2019 pattern? Similar pattern emerging to earlier this year with gold now reversing higher with higher lows and higher highs -- we are starting to stair-step up. Banks going to get stuck in another short squeeze? All the poor saps who sold out at the intermediate bottom..December 5th video update.Gary Savagehttp://blog.smartmoney...Read More

Gary TanashianWe all know that the gold and silver Commitments of Traders are very extended and at levels of commercial net shorts and large spec net longs that tend to be in place at tops in the metals. Well, the metals topped in the summer, so what does that tell us?For one thing it tells us that bull market rules are different from bear market rules as per this post from August as gold was to...Read More

Originally published on Sat Nov 30 for members of ElliottWaveTrader.net: I want to take you back a bit in time so you can develop the appropriate perspective of a bottoming process in the metals market. - Avi GilburtFor those of you that were with us back towards the end of 2015, you may remember that I was being quite vocal of the fact that I was heavily buying mining stocks. In fact,...Read More