One of the greatest fortunes in history was built by Henry Ford.At its peak, his wealth surpassed $200 billion in today's dollars.To throw a little perspective on this, just keep in mind that it would take the combined net worths of BOTH Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg to barely top this feat.It was all thanks to the Model T.By 1925, Ford's Model T accounted for 40% of all cars sold in the United S...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil increased over the week to Wednesday August 12 in Northern and Southern Europe, despite the seasonal market slowdown, sources have told Fastmarkets.Steelmakers have been seeking to achieve further price rises, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?417.27 ($490.54) per...Read More

Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Southern Europe were stable over the week to Wednesday August 12, although Italian re-rollers continued to push for a price rise.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was unchanged over the week at ?,?450-470 ($529-553) per tonne on August 12.The assessment was based on deals heard in early August at ?,?...Read More

While it is often obvious who the losers are in a market rout, the winners can sometimes be harder to recognize. Technology stocks were the clear big dollar losers on Tuesday, falling almost on queue after back-to-back warnings from INK in our market report Monday and Charlie McElligot on INK Ultra Money yesterday (premium). Some of the winners, as it turns out, are leveraged to the economy. Copp...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 12 that are worth another look.ABN Amro will end its financing activities of commodity clients globally, it said on August 12.The London Metal Exchange's latest data shows a rise of 109,968 tonnes of off-warrant...Read More

Consumption of steel end-products by Turkey increased by 8.7% year-on-year in January-June 2020, while crude steel production decreased by 16.3% compared with the first six months of 2019, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said on Tuesday August 11.The TCUD believed that the decline in production was a consequence of exports decreasing as a result of quota regimes in external markets...Read More

A summary of the financial results for Egypt's biggest steelmaking group, Ezz Steel, for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2020.In briefEarnings were down because "the negative effect of Covid-19 damped the positive volume trend [seen by Ezz Steel] at the beginning of the first quarter of 2020... Export quantities suffered the most," according to Paul Chekaiban, chairman and managing director...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 12 that are worth another look.ABN Amro will end its financing activities of commodity clients globally, it said on August 12.The London Metal Exchange's latest data shows a rise of 109,968 tonnes of off-warrant...Read More

Domestic ferrous scrap prices in Germany have increased month on month so far in August, supported by a recovery in international raw material prices and solid demand from German mills, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 12.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap No E3 (old thick steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Germany, was ?,?225-240 ($265-282) per tonne on August...Read More

Steel producers in Turkey continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market and maintained their focus on the finished long steel markets, sources said on Wednesday August 12.Turkish steelmakers have booked a number of cargoes in recent weeks, with the latest transactions for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US and Baltic Sea done at $285 per tonne cfr.But the mills went quiet in the deep-sea markets...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Wednesday August 12 following early hour futures losses, however, demand was stronger than in the past two days, sources said.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,610-3,640 yuan ($519-524) per tonne, down by 30 yuan per tonneBuyers raised their procurement rates at lower prices to replenish their rebar inventories. Construction sites, for example, typically...Read More

Richard Duncan is an author & economist who has worked as an equities analyst in Hong Kong, served as global head of investment strategy at ABN AMRO Asset Management in London, worked as a financial sector specialist for the World Bank in Washington D.C., and headed equity research departments for James Capel Securities and Salomon Brothers in Bangkok. He also worked as a consultant for the IMF in...Read More

Ely Gold Royalties purchased these properties from prospector Ken Snyder. Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (ELY:TSX.V; ELYGF:OTCQX; I4U:FSE) announced in a news release that through its subsidiary, Nevada Select Royalty, it agreed to acquire three net smelter returns (NSR) royalties on Nevada properties from prospector Ken Snyder for a total consideration of $350,000 in cash. The transaction is expected t...Read More

Magna Gold plans to commence exploration and drilling at the property immediately. Magna Gold Corp. (MGR:TSX.V; MGLQF:OTCQB) entered an agreement to acquire from a private party 100% interest in the Los Muertos silver-gold project in Sonora, Mexico, it announced in a news release."Los Muertos exactly fits into our exploration pipeline profile," Magna Gold President and CEO Arturo Bonillas said in...Read More

The extraordinary run up in precious metals markets continues as silver makes some truly epic percentage gains while gold pushes further into record territory. As of Friday morning, gold prices had pulled back but are still up 3.1% for the week to trade at $2,044 per ounce. Gold is advancing now for the ninth consecutive week, with the biggest pops occurring over the past three.Silver, meanwhile,...Read More

This week gold priceshave smashed one record after another, well surpassing the previous high set in2011, of $1,920 an ounce. At time of writing, spotgold’s last bid was $2,064.10.The usual suspects arebehind the surge, ie., worrisome covid-19 infections, geopolitical concernsespecially US-China tensions over trade (PresidentTrump tried to force China-owned TikTok into selling its US op...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 10 that are worth another look.Production activity has come under threat at Belarus Steel Works (BMZ) with workers protesting against the result of the country's presidential election on Sunday August 9.Liberty House Group,...Read More

For a long time, pundits talked excitedly about the rapid, V-shaped recovery. I never shared this view, finding it too optimistic and without basis in reality. Like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, I hate being right all the time, but it really seems that I was right about this issue. According to the July World Flash report by IHS Markit, we can read that “the new wave of infections has redu...Read More

Steel market participants anticipate China's "dual circulation" policy will to boost steel demand for the remainder of 2020, with the more self-reliant economic model aiming to offset slowdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and US-China political tensions. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in late July that China will focus on a "dual circulation" development model, which ensures a more sel...Read More

Fastmarkets is proud to launch its first monthly Ferrous Analytics report, which will help subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, as well as key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia.Readers will find raw material-finished steel spreads, iron ore differentials and scrap differentials all calculated and condensed...Read More