World trade will fall by more this year than during the downturn brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008-09 as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are felt.This is the stark assessment by the World Trade Organization, which said global goods trade could contract by as much as 32% in 2020 under its worse-case scenario of suppression measures staying in place for the whole year and limite...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets went quiet again after the strong rebound earlier in the week, with supplies tighter because of the Covid-19 pandemic, sources said on Wednesday April 8.Scrap import prices have gone up strongly amid reduced availability of material in the deep-sea market, caused by the closing of scrapyards to control the pandemic and the subsequent decreased collection v...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday April 8.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market in Europe has consolidated gains made in the first week of April, cementing prices amid new concerns about production in the UK adding to existing supply worries from key international exporter Russia. UK-based sources have doubts on near-term production due to the Covid-19 pandemic tha...Read More

Japanese scrap exporters have started to shun deals at the most recent transaction prices, they told Fastmarkets this week, with scrap collection activity slowing down and bulk scrap deals to Turkey being agreed at higher prices in recent days.The Japanese ferrous scrap market continued to fall over the past seven days, with Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port J...Read More

French mining and metals group Eramet will put on hold the construction of its Argentinian lithium production plant for an indefinite period due to the economic uncertainty sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.The company said in a statement on Wednesday April 8 that its main focus is to preserve its cash position by reducing investments against the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the global econo...Read More

To cut or not to cut, that is the question.Your answer may tell you a little bit about yourself, too. Are you a "glass half-full" type of person? Or maybe you fall on the doom-and-gloom side?Make no mistake, the market is optimistic.Barring additional meetings, this could be the last time for Russia and Saudi Arabia to shake hands until the next official OPEC meeting.Things didn't work out so well...Read More

Spot cobalt hydroxide deals are being concluded on a fixed-price basis while buyers and sellers seek to shield themselves from market volatility expected to come from measures taken to curb the global spread of the coronavirus.News late last month that South Africa would enter a 21-day lockdown created uncertainty over the supply of cobalt hydroxide in the coming weeks and months. About 65% of the...Read More

Here is what's new today on INK Ultra Money. Canadian Insider Ultra Club members have access to both premium and free content all the time.1. The straw that broke the camel's peg - Real VisionAt Real Vision, they believe that from crisis comes opportunity. That is why they have have been laser-focused on oil and energy markets and why they have brought back Alexander Campbell, CIO and founder of...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 8 that are worth another look.World trade will fall by more this year than during the downturn brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008-09 as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are felt.The fate of the steel world continues to hang in the balance: Numerous scrapyards have stopped operations, blast furnaces around...Read More

Market activity in the European hot-rolled coil market has been poor due to the effects of the measures taken to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 8.Import prices have decreased further over the course of this week, but domestic prices have been largely stable in Northern Europe, with only a few deals done.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled c...Read More

The court of Czestochowa, Poland has approved the tender conditions for the sale of struggling Polish steel-plate producer Huta Czestochowa, sources told Fastmarkets on April 8.The starting price is set at 250 million Polish zloty ($60 million) and bids to acquire Huta Czestochowa can be submitted until May 29, the source in the bankruptcy trustee office told Fastmarkets."Bids can be sub...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 8 that are worth another look.World trade will fall by more this year than during the downturn brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008-09 as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are felt.The fate of the steel world continues to hang in the balance: Numerous scrapyards have stopped operations, blast furnaces around...Read More

Steel consumption among the member-nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) was likely to decrease significantly because of curfew orders imposed in several countries.Saudi Arabia announced a 24-hour curfew in the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dharan and Hofuf, and in the provinces of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, commencing on the night of April 6.The same measures were also imposed on...Read More

David HaggithMonday was nothing but a dead-bull bounce on top of a dead-cat bounce, which means there is plenty of punishment to come. Pure testosterone drove the market's rise fed by nothing but the weak premise that New York's drop in the coronavirus death rate for a single night meant the worst is behind us. To prove how meaningless that was New York posted its highest daily increase in death...Read More

Craig Hemke, TF MetalsApril 7, 2020Just like two weeks ago, premiums are expanding again between the spot price for gold and the front month futures price. It was generally accepted two weeks ago that this was a signal of physical tightness that was soon to be resolved, because the gold was simply "in the wrong place". By this logic, it must still be.Let's start with the basics so that we're all...Read More

By Richard (Rick) MillsThe debt-to-GDP ratio is an important metric economists use for comparing a country's total debt to its gross domestic product (GDP). The percentage arrived at by dividing the country's total GDP by its total debt indicates the country's ability to pay back its loans. The higher the percentage, the higher the risk of a country being unable to pay the interest on its debt,...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold daily chart shows maybe needs more work in the $1,600's. As it builds into an uptrend. The bollinger bands are widening up on the daily..Read More

Currency is being created 'on scale never seen before in the history of mankind'Mark O'Byrne, research director at GoldCore.com told IG TV that markets are likely in a long-term bull market for gold and silver and a bear market for equities as the pandemic weighs on the global economy and creates a recession or an economic depression.Gold has made significant gains this year, with investors floc...Read More

Prices for hollow steel sections in Europe widened this week with trading activity remaining slow ahead of the long Easter weekend break, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 8.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?590-610 ($641-663) per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward by ?,?5 per tonne from ?,?595-610 per tonne o...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 8 that are worth another look.World trade will fall by more this year than during the downturn brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008-09 as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are felt.The fate of the steel world continues to hang in the balance: Numerous scrapyards have stopped operations, blast furnaces around...Read More