Prices in the CIS export billet market continued to slide on Wednesday April 1, in line with lower bids received amid the reduced trading activity.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $330 per tonne on Wednesday, down by $5 per tonne day on day. This price was the lowest since October 2016.Customers in the major traditional markets such as the Middle East and Nort...Read More

Key data from the April 1 pricing session in London. Key drivers Benchmark metal prices continue to come under pressure from the spread of the Covid-19 virus, its dampening effect on the global economy and weakening demand from lockdowns on...Read More

This morning we are going to look at an array of important factors pointing to another severe drop in the broad US stockmarket imminently, both factors external to it and indications on the charts for the S&P500 index (and other indices which we won't have time to look at). First it is well worth watching another classic video from Greg Mannarino posted yesterday: WOW.. ZERO Economic Activity in...Read More

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, April 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWWMEDIAWIRE -- Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE American: GORO) (the "Company") announced today that the Mexican Ministry of Health proclaimed a national health emergency with an immediate suspension order of all "non-essential" public and private sector business in order to mitigate the spread and transmission of the COVID-19 viru...Read More

By Daniel R. Amerman, CFAWhen it comes to the recession that is being created by the pandemic lockdowns - then the U.S. government and Federal Reserve have no intention of just letting the market forces play out. Instead, the intention is to contain a potential deeper round of crisis with the most extreme interventions yet. One very real possibility is for the Fed to follow the European Central...Read More

Craig Hemke, TF MetalsWith mines, mints, and refineries closed around the world due to coronavirus, the demand for physical gold has blown through the roof. This has led to some drastic measures by the CME Group, which in turn may have unwittingly sealed the fate of the COMEX and the entire fractional reserve and digital derivative pricing scheme.This latest crisis began last Tuesday, when the s...Read More

By: Gary SavageThere are one of two ways this can go here, retest the lows soon and then followed by a sustained rally. Will depend on how countries implement covid response.Unemployment report on Friday. Market might get nervous into report, but odds are better that we don't undercut prior lows if we even do go down. The other possibility is..Recorded March 31, 2020https://blog.smartmoneytracke...Read More

Stewart Thomson, Graceland Updates 1. Gold is majestically postured now, because America's government and central bank continues to borrow, spend, and print money with surreal intensity.2. The light at the end of the tunnel is a stagflationary freight train.3. Please click here now. Double-click to enlarge. A beautiful inverse H&S bull continuation pattern is in...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinI was warning for an end of the quarter volatility as we finish out the first quarter. Can't wait for gold to get out of this pattern. This is where I am concerned..Read More

Reduction or normalization in gap between spot gold and Comex gold June futures is the prime reason for gold price to fall. Delivery uncertainties are over the immediate term. I expect physical gold to be in short supply this quarter. USA, UK and Europe are in a pathetic state of corona virus. India will soon become a largest home of corona virus, thanks to a Muslim congregation where hundreds o...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 1 that are worth another look.Spain's Ministry of Industry, Trade & Tourism has finally confirmed the steel industry is considered "essential" and can continue operating, albeit at a slower pace, the Spanish steel distributors association, UAHE, said on April 1.Arconic Inc has completed its separation into two standalone co...Read More

Thomas Hodge is the new head of London Metal Exchange average price trading at commodity broker Sucden Financial, the company said in a notice on Wednesday April 1. A specialist in quantitative approaches to trading, Hodge joins from base...Read More

South Africa's 21-day lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus has highlighted the cobalt market's dependence on the shipping route out of Durban. South Africa entered the lockdown - initially for three weeks - on Thursday March 26, creating uncertainty over loading at ports, including Durban, which is frequently used for the shipment of Democratic Republic of the Congo-mined cob...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Wednesday April 1, with price action shedding some $133.50 per tonne against moderate volumes, while continued inflows saw aluminium futures dip below nearby support.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $4,800 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $4,769 per tonne, wh...Read More

Fastmarkets will suspend the publication of the first Live Futures Report of the day from Monday April 6. The first Live Futures Report of the day is currently published during the morning session of the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Fastmarkets will continue to publish the Morning View, which references both London Metals Exchange and SHFE base metals contracts, equities and foreign exchange markets...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices managed to stay above $80 per tonne cfr on Wednesday April 1 despite weakening from a day earlier amid a softening rebar market in China.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.49 per tonne, down $0.83 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.80 per tonne, down $0.28 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $71.48 per tonne, do...Read More

The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Aluminium: Downside momentum maintainedThe aluminium price has continued to decline, with LME cash even falling below the $1,500 per tonne mark at the start of this week. Downside pressure and momentum remains in the short term while ex-China demand plummets amid auto production line closures and while smelters resist capacity...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As oil price stumbles, outlook for welded markets weakensIn February, oil prices, already hit by the economic slowdown in Asia, turned lower on the failure of OPEC+ to reach an agreement on production cuts. This was enough to shake oil markets, but the collapse of global demand due to the pandemic has driven Brent below $30/...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese produ...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Coronavirus continues to shape scrap markets but tighter supply may partly offset lower demandWe have downwardly revised our ferrous scrap price forecasts for the following few months and, as a result, for the whole year of 2020, with the Covid-19 outbreak outside China stalling the markets. The Fastmarkets' daily benchmark...Read More