Through the first half of 2019, silver significantlyunderperformed gold. Put another way, gold gained relative to silver –culminating in the gold:silver ratio registering a 27-year high of 95:1. That market signal was received by the mining industry. Sincethere are few primary silver producers, and those that do mine silver alsotypically mine gold and some base metals, precious metals miners...Read More
UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers in the steel sector have gained another round of price increases for monthly settlements, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 12.December contracts were up ?10 ($13) per tonne after increasing by ?15 per tonne in November, they said.The move marks a change in the downward trend of September and October when prices fell by a combined ?6...Read More
The ISM Manufacturing index fell 0.2 point to areading of 48.1 in November. However, gold struggles to find momentum. What isgoing on exactly? U.S.Manufacturing Sector Slumps FurtherThe Institute for Supply Management announced that its index of national factoryactivity dropped from 48.3 in October to 48.1 last month. The number was belowexpectations and it also remained below the 50 threshold, in...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday December 12, breaching nearby resistance despite its largest single inflow since 2016. Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $14,100 per tonne this afternoon, a climb of 1.5% from Wednesday's closing price of $13,850 per tonne. Turnover in nickel was high over the day, with just over 9,4...Read More
When gold’s price reached $850 per ounce in January 1980, it seemed as if nothing would stop the runaway train that was headed straight for $1000 per ounce. But it was stopped, and began sliding downhill quickly.By June 1982, two and one-half years later, gold’s price had declined by sixty-five percent. At close to $300 per ounce, the price of gold seemed farther away from the $1000 ma...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been largely unchanged day on day and sentiment in the market remains positive, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 12.Domestic prices have been supported by combination of reduced output from European mills, a lack of competitive import offers and some demand recovery.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday December 12 that are worth another look.Middle Eastern steel producers need to diversify their product lines to survive weakening demand in the region, according to Saeed Ghumran Al-Remeithi, the chief executive officer of the United Arab Emirates' biggest steelmaker, Emirates Steel.China's domestic stainless steel prices dropp...Read More
Our research and predictive modeling systems have nailed Gold over the past 15+ months. We expected Gold to rally above $1750 before the end of this year, but the global trade wars and news cycles stalled the rally in Gold over the past 2 months. Now, it appears Gold is poised for another rally pushing much higher. But wait, if you’re thinking I’m just another one of those...Read More
Justwhen most traders thought that the previous week is going to end in the red forgold, something exceptional happened. The USD Index reversed after rallying,and gold rallied sharply in response. In the end, gold ended the week in thegreen by forming a clear weekly reversal. Thatwas actually the second weekly reversal that we saw recently. Why is thisimportant? Because of what happened shortly af...Read More
Crudeoil futures declined sharply on Friday. The steep slide’s result was a breakdown below the lower border ofthe rising green trend channel. As the prices closed the day below theformation, it’s clearly a bearish development. Despitethis setback, the bulls opened the week with a green gap, which has triggeredmodest improvement in the following hours. The bulls are fighting to invalid...Read More
Why Shale wasonce Viable at $45WTI but it’s not anymore. That’s why OPEC can dictate theprice again.Some shale operators now saythey can’t make money at $55; so they are cutting-back. But in 2017 when WTI averaged$50; output-growth was 60% higher than today. How come?In 2015, five-hundred frac-spreads,bought and paid for; some from profits, many at fire-sale; were idle; so day-ra...Read More
Teaser: Let’s face it, we live in a world of radical uncertainty. Yet we’re supposed to make perfectly rational decisions – so, how do we cope with the unknown? We tell narratives, and form our decisions around them! Let’s explore the narratives in the financial markets for it reveals their importance to the gold market. Let’s face it, we live in a world of radical un...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday December 12, breaching nearby resistance despite its largest single inflow since 2016. Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $14,100 per tonne this afternoon, a climb of 1.5% from Wednesday's closing price of $13,850 per tonne. Turnover in nickel was high over the day, with just over 9,4...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market saw a day of ample spot activity on Thursday December 12, with cargoes trading on both a cfr China and an fob Australia basis.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.58 per tonne, up $0.59 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $147.96 per tonne, down $0.60 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchanged...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Wednesday December 12, with another fresh inflow of 25,518 tonnes into several locations elevating a weak LME nickel stock count. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $13,775 per tonne, a drop of just 0.4% from Wednesday's closing price of $13,850 per tonne. Turnover in nickel was high o...Read More
Benchmark alumina prices for spot cargoes stabilized around $280 per tonne on Thursday December 12 while participants focus on business for 2020.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $279.46 per tonne on Thursday, little changed from $279.40 per tonne on the previous day. The index was above $280 per tonne on December 9 for the first time since November 14. Ke...Read More
Turkish steel producers have resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases after a short break for negotiations, sources said on Thursday December 12.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a 40,000-tonne US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $297 per tonne, shredded at $302 per tonne and bonus at $307 per tonne cfr.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a 30,000-tonne Baltic Sea cargo of H...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday December 12 that are worth another look.Middle Eastern steel producers need to diversify their product lines to survive weakening demand in the region, according to Saeed Ghumran Al-Remeithi, the chief executive officer of the United Arab Emirates' biggest steelmaker, Emirates Steel.China's domestic stainless steel prices dropp...Read More