Gary TanashianThe simple answer is that is what they are doing, inflating.The slightly less simple answer is that they inflated in 2001 and it worked (for gold, silver, commodities and eventually stocks, roughly in that order). It also worked in 2008-2009 (for gold, silver, commodities and eventually stocks, roughly in that order).The more complicated answer is that we are down a rabbit hole of...Read More

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, as they say, and the past number of days have been nothing if not total confirmation of that adage. As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. stood at more than 143,000, with New York City appearing to have become the new global epicenter of the pandemic. Hospitals in the hardest-hit areas of the countr...Read More

Jordan Roy-Byrne CMT, MFTAThe historic action of the precious metals sector over the past few weeks has continued.The strong recovery in GDX, GDXJ, and Silver has potentially invalidated the technical breakdown that occurred during the crash. It appears to be a failed breakdown.Furthermore, Gold was looking vulnerable on the weekly, and monthly chart yet was able to slingshot back to $1700/oz. I...Read More

Gary Savage Perma-bears are going to wrong. This is why:Read More

Ira EpsteinGold still has a bullish pattern in the short-term. Support around $1595..Read More

Range bound trade in gold and silver will be broken by tomorrow and a new range will be formed. A new month and a new quarter high on economic optimism but low on confidence. Uncertainty on global economy and inability to prevent coronavirus spread has resulted in gold remaining firm and crude oil and industrial metals trading with a softer bias. Spot gold should have broken past $1700. By the s...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's also created a problem. The one-two punch demand and supply shock that the virus has created is putting the mining sector under extreme pressure. With banks even more reluctant than before to provide capital to the mining sector amid the tumultuous global financial backdrop, corporates...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange broadly closed up from values at the previous day's kerb on Tuesday March 31, buoyed by residual optimism following the release of positive manufacturing data from China earlier the same day.The Chinese purchasing managers' index (PMI) was up to 52 in March from 37.5 in February, considerably better than the 44.9 forecast for the period,...Read More

Imports of refined tin into China increased by more than 800% year on year during the country's imposed Covid-19 lockdown over the January-February period, recent customs data from the country shows. China's domestic economy was brought to a standstill at the start of the year after the outbreak of the coronavirus restricted domestic trade, stymied production and crippled industrial activity. Subs...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market stabilized on Tuesday March 31 after the prior day's loss of more than $3 per tonne, attributed to a rebound in China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) and a slight boost in trading volumes. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.32 per tonne, up $0.34 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.08 per tonne, up $0....Read More

Silver looks set to drop hard over a short to medium-term time horizon. Here's why...by Clive Maund of Streetwise ReportsWhichever way you cut it, silver's chart looks bearish for the short to medium term, but against this we must set its rapidly improving COT structure and the mega-bullish silver to gold ratio (by all past standards).Silver's 7-month chart is a rather grim picture. On it we see t...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Although China is slowly returning to pre-outbreak activity, the same cannot be said for the rest of the world, which is grappling with the Covid-19 outbreak, with a fifth of the global population and counting under lockdown. Average blast furnace activity in China is recovering but iron ore demand from outside China is expec...Read More

European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were almost unchanged day on day in a slow market, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 31.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was fairly stable at ?,?472.86 ($522.84) per tonne on Tuesday, down by only ?,?0.27 per tonne day on day from ?,?473.13 per tonne on March 30.Tuesday's...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange broadly closed up from values at the previous day's kerb on Tuesday March 31, buoyed by residual optimism following the release of positive manufacturing data from China earlier the same day.The Chinese purchasing managers' index (PMI) was up to 52 in March from 37.5 in February, considerably better than the 44.9 forecast for the period,...Read More

Imports of refined tin into China increased by more than 800% year on year during the country's imposed Covid-19 lockdown over the January-February period, recent customs data from the country shows. China's domestic economy was brought to a standstill at the start of the year after the outbreak of the coronavirus restricted domestic trade, stymied production and crippled industrial activity. Subs...Read More

Xin Guobin, Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has urged regional officials to speed up the introduction of policies to boost automobile consumption. Speaking at a press conference during China's Manufacturing Industry Resumption Meeting on March 30, Xin said MIIT are "actively cooperating with relevant ministries and commissions to study policies and suggestions for st...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Tuesday March 31, with upward price action supported by an 8,825-tonne fresh cancelation, while strong Chinese purchasing managers' index (PMI) data bolstered the base metals complex. Zinc's underlying price on the LME was recently seen at $1,888.50 per tonne, while turnover was high at more than 2,000 lot...Read More

China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rebounded to 52 in March, after 35.7 in February, which means 52% of purchasing managers reported conditions were "better" in March than they were a month earlier. This has provided some support to the base metals this morning, Tuesday March 31.Asian-Pacific equity indices and pre-market western futures were mixed. Japan's preliminary...Read More

Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest may put a complete stop to slab production at its Azovstal facility in Mariupol if quarantine measures in Italy, where two of the company's rolling mills are located, are extended after April 3, the company said on Tuesday March 31."If measures are prolonged at Italian assets, and the European market remains unstable, Metinvest expects production cuts at its Ukrainia...Read More

Flat steel output in Turkey will decrease in April due to maintenance breaks by two major producers.Colakoglu's flat steel production division will shut down for maintenance from April 13 to 25. The company has capacity for 4.5 million tonnes per year of hot-rolled coil production.Iskenderun Iron and Steel (Isdemir), a company belonging to Erdemir Group,...Read More