Base metal markets have become more mixed this week with copper and tin running higher, zinc, lead and nickel consolidating just above low ground and aluminium oscillating sideways.Broader markets that have been seeing more risk-on are now consolidating while they wait for some key political decisions on the United Kingdom's general election, and its ramifications for Brexit, and on the United Sta...Read More
The approval of ?,?3.2 billion in subsidies by seven European Union members could generate a major mineral supply and processing chain to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in Europe. The decision, announced on Monday December 9 by the European Commission, effectively greenlights a major collaborative project designed to strengthen European battery production.This "Important Project of Common Europ...Read More
Element 25 Limited (ASX: E25) https://www.element25.com.au/ owns 100% of the Butcherbird Project that hosts Australia's largest onshore manganese resource. The project is located in a low-risk mining jurisdiction, in Western Australia, near excellent infrastructure. It contains around 263 Mt of manganese ore, with exceedingly simple geology. We learned from Justin Brown, Executive Director of Elem...Read More
I think it was three years ago now, I was in Toronto giving a talk for the MoneyShow. A few speakers and I went to dinner afterwards.The food was great, the waitresses had talent, and the place was jumping. But what struck me was that each server had a small card scanner on her hip.It printed the bill, you gave her your card, and off you went in less than 30 seconds.There was no tired ritual with...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have continued to bounce around the $28-per-hundredweight ($560-per-short-ton) level in a quiet pre-holiday spot market.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.96 per cwt ($559.20 per ton) on Tuesday December 10, down by 0.6% from $28.14 per cwt on December 9 but...Read More
When people talk about "precious metals," they're generally referring to four chemically similar elements on the periodic table: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.These are elements that, in their metallic forms, have served a dual function in society:As money and/or wealth storageAs critical industrial componentsAs a result, these metals have become fashionable as jewelry.Gold is the most wel...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe edged higher on Tuesday December 10, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?433.08 ($479.14) per tonne on December 10, compared with ?,?432.75 per tonne on Monday.The index is based on deals for the material heard at ?,?430-435 per tonne ex-works, and workable prices...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates have increased this week as suppliers raised their offer prices on costlier raw materials, market sources said on Tuesday December 10.Offers for hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China were at $460-470 per tonne cfr UAE, while Indian and Japanese material was offered at $470-480 per tonne cfr UAE, according to the sources.Some sources believed that the...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates remained unchanged over the past week, but are expected to increase soon in the wake of rising steel billet and scrap prices, sources said on Tuesday December 10.Billet importsFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Jebel Ali, UAE, was $445-460 per tonne on December 10, up from $425-435 per tonne last week.One UAE cu...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up further on Tuesday December 10 on early gains in the futures market, though sentiment among participants remained bearish. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,910-3,940 yuan ($555-560) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,650-3,690 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneSellers kept raising their prices after rebar futures climbed steadily in the m...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, beams and other long steel products. ...Read More
Sellers in the United States' ferrous scrap market will likely enjoy a third consecutive price increase in January, with domestic steel mills continuing to strike post-market deals above December levels in order to secure enough material to cover their programs."Fundamentally, business isn't really that much better but the mills beat the prices down so hard that scrap just dried up. They basically...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to buy deep-sea scrap on Tuesday December 10, pushing up prices ahead of the winter holiday period in the United States and Europe, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel producer in the Northern Turkey booked a cargo from the US on Tuesday, comprising 33,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $295 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $300 per tonne and 2,000 tonn...Read More
Iron ore seaborne prices eased a little on Tuesday December 10, but some market participants remained optimistic that steel mills' restocking will likely lend some support.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.57 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.66 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.48 per tonn...Read More
CIS billet offers for foreign customers surged on Tuesday December 10, following the increase in scrap prices in the global market.Offers for CIS-origin billet, particularly from Russia, were within the range of $405-415 per tonne fob Black Sea, depending on the producer, up from $400 per tonne fob last week. Some steelmakers were offering material at $410 per tonne fob even last week,...Read More
Gold closed down as much as 1.21 percent Friday on a blowout jobs report that seemed to alleviate investor fears of an impending economic slowdown. The U.S. added as many as 266,000 jobs in November, beating expectations of 180,000, while the unemployment rate ticked down to a 50-year low of 3.5 percent.The yellow metal remains on sound footing, though, and over the next 12 to 24 months, I see i...Read More
"Smoot and Hawley ginned up The Tariff Act of 1930 to get America back to work after the Stock Market Crash of '29. Instead, it destroyed trade so effectively that by 1932, American exports to Europe were just a third of what they had been in 1929. World trade fell two-thirds as other nations retaliated. Jobs evaporated." Elaine Chao, American politician, U.S. Secretary of Transportation 2017-,...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold is near a seasonal bump to the upside. $1,459.80 would be a negative turn in short-term picture. Downside bias but swingline just below..Read More
Traders just booked profit in short positions in gold and silver. They are sitting on cash at the moment. News will be the key. Trade deal with China is not signed yet. I will not rule out further escalation of trade war with China as US economic numbers have beaten Chinese in November. Trump is at an advantage (with China) on the trade war in the short term. Trade war will be pain for every nat...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates remained unchanged over the past week, but are expected to increase soon in the wake of rising steel billet and scrap prices, sources said on Tuesday December 10.Billet importsFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Jebel Ali, UAE, was $445-460 per tonne on December 10, up from $425-435 per tonne last week.One UAE cu...Read More