PORT PERRY - Ontario is expanding access to natural gas throughout rural, northern Ontario and Indigenous communities with the launch of the next phase of the Natural Gas Expansion Program.Bill Walker, Associate Minister of Energy, announced today that construction work has officially started to build a natural gas distribution pipeline and facilities to serve Scugog Island after it was granted ap...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
God bless the Russkies...Oil prices continued heading lower on Friday as OPEC failed to convince Russia to agree to the additional production cuts the cartel was hoping for.Reuters reported overnight that a "high-level Russian source" told the news agency, "Moscow would not back an OPEC call for extra reductions in oil output and would only agree to extending existing OPEC+ cuts."OPEC was reported...Read More
The battery-grade lithium carbonate price in China broke its steady streak in the week to Thursday March 5 after producers cut offers to meet cash flow needs, while European and US battery-grade prices fell by over 4% week on week.China's battery-grade lithium carbonate price fell by 2.1% after some deals were reported at lower levels this week. European and US battery-grade prices dropped to thei...Read More
Most flat steel import prices in South America have remained unchanged in the week ended Friday March 6, in a market lull before the start of negotiations for May shipments, although sellers were indicating that more expensive offers would be presented in the weeks ahead.Market participants were expecting Chinese steel demand to recover from the recent tumble cause by the outbreak of 2019-nCoV cor...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable day on day despite bullish sentiment among the region's steelmakers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 6.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?484.64 ($541.53) per tonne on Friday March 6, up by ?,?0.12 per tonne from ?,?484.52 per tonne on March...Read More
A major Japanese steelmaker is seeing limited downside for hot-rolled coil prices in Asia as a result of bearish sentiment attributed to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.It plans to offer April-shipment cargoes to buyers in Malaysia and Indonesia at $520-530 per tonne cfr. It had offered March-shipment HRC at $510 per tonne cfr Vietnam but did not sell any cargoes there."Due to the stabl...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices went down by 800 rupees ($11) per tonne in the week ended Friday March 6, with long-steel product makers slowing their purchases of semi-finished materials in expectation of further price falls.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on March 6 at 28,400-28,600 rupees ($385-388) per tonne, compared with last week's as...Read More
The price of steel rebar in the Polish domestic market dropped this week on limited demand, with buyers hoping for further decreases amid a slowdown in construction and oversupply in the market, sources said. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, ex-works Poland, was 1,900-1,930 zloty ($493-501) per tonne on Friday March 6, down by 150-220 zloty per tonn...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices edged downward on Friday March 6 following losses in the futures market, but spot market participants were not overly pessimistic. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,410-3,440 yuan ($491-495) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,270-3,320 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneA local industry information provider said late on Thursday that steel in...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States has gone up further than was expected in the past seven days, driven by a booking from Russia, sources told Fastmarkets during the week ended Friday March 6.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $360-363 per tonne on Friday, up from $347-350 per tonne the week before.A booking of Russia-origin pig iron was done in t...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India trended downward this week, with a combination of factors dampening sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 6.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $302.54 per tonne on Friday, down from $305.66 per tonne one week ago.Deals for shredded were heard at $302 and $305 per tonne from UK and...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 366,17346,44085,359178,134529,145629,666660,944 Change from Prior Reporting Period -23,166-7,034-5,3691,515-23,095-27,020-35,498 Traders 22457835854315168 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 62,31931,041691,985 -13,912-5,434-40,932 non reportable pos...Read More
- Rob KirbyIt's the wee hours of Friday morning, March 6, 2020 and I am tuned in to Bloomberg "Surveillance" business news host Mr. [CFR] Tom Keene. Global equity markets are flat on their backs, crude oil prices are collapsing to multi year lows and the $US dollar looks like it's preparing to do a swan dive into the Hudson River. Thank god we have the likes of ole Tommy Keene and the rest...Read More
By: Gary SavageI want to add a quick note on the jobs report. Today's number is important in that if the government tries to fake a good number the market will probably lose all confidence in government statistics and likely react badly. There is no scenario where the number can be good as we have already been feeling the effects of the virus scare for a couple of months. A good number will be...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinRead More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was steady in the week ended Friday March 6, marking four weeks of stability but ahead of an uncertain outcome in negotiations for monthly deliveries to British steelmakers from domestic suppliers this month, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices narrowed upward in the week to Friday March 6 while negotiations for May-shipment volumes start at higher levels, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil rose to $470-475 per tonne on March 6, up from $460-475 per tonne the previous week.Companies are starting negotiations for May-shipment offers and offe...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices went down by 800 rupees ($11) per tonne in the week ended Friday March 6, with long-steel product makers slowing their purchases of semi-finished materials in expectation of further price falls.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on March 6 at 28,400-28,600 rupees ($385-388) per tonne, compared with last week's as...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices edged downward on Friday March 6 following losses in the futures market, but spot market participants were not overly pessimistic. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,410-3,440 yuan ($491-495) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,270-3,320 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneA local industry information provider said late on Thursday that steel in...Read More