Gold investment demand is soaring in the wake of the COVID-19 stock panic! Investors are rushing back into gold to diversify after seeing mind-boggling central-bank money printing and government spending. Since that epic monetary inflation won't be unwound, and investors were radically underinvested in gold before the panic, this trend is likely to persist for years. It will catapult gold...Read More
By Gary Tanashian[edit] It goes without saying that gold miners and the royalty companies that live off them will be shown to have been impaired like many other companies by the coming Q2 numbers due to shutdowns. An emailer questioned my view on this and it has been one of my personal caution points. Markets should be looking ahead, but during this euphoric sentiment release across broad market...Read More
By David HaggithToday the bulls did it again. This market remains deeply entrenched in denial, soaring even as unemployment soars higher toward the grand summits of the Great Depression and with certain knowledge that many jobs will not return.The U.S. stock market secured another strong advance on Thursday, despite an economic bombshell of historic proportions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...Read More
By Mike GleasonWild price action and unprecedented interventions once again characterized this holiday-shortened trading week.Oil prices whipsawed lower Thursday on concerns about expected oil production cuts from Russia and Saudi Arabia. But the general trend for most other assets, including metals and equities, was up - way up.Stocks finished out the week with the major averages posting their...Read More
South American flat steel import prices were mostly stable week on week as market liquidity dipped in the continent amid lockdowns and weakened demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Market participants were generally in the dark regarding feasible prices, as buyer interest had vanished. As with May-shipment volumes, sources said imports for June shipments could also be at least half the usual orders...Read More
The aerospace industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with companies in the sector forced to take drastic measures to adapt to the new market environment.Airbus, Europe's largest airline manufacturer, has announced that will cut production of its core three aircraft models by 30%.Boeing has also suspended operations indefinitely at its United States operations in t...Read More
Aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe and the United States fell due to a lack of demand, with most automakers suspending car production in both regions.In Europe, Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 ingot premium, ddp Germany at $280-290 per tonne on Thursday April 9, down from $300-320 per tonne the month before.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 i...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held above the $5,000 psychological mark on Thursday April 9, closing at $5,002.50 per tonne in a day with a turnover of just above 11,600 lots.The copper price reached an intraday high of $5,070 per tonne following a fresh cancellation of 300 tonnes, despite the low material turnover ahead of the long Easter weekend (Friday April 10-Monday April...Read More
Chinese traders are ramping up bids for physical copper in a bid to secure units before an expected cut to valued-added tax (VAT) in April. The Shanghai copper market is betting on China's current 13% VAT being reduced as part of a raft of economic policy measures set to be considered when China's National People's Congress, the state legislature, returns later this month. This would echo a simila...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment charge and refining charge (TC/RC) index dropped below the annual benchmark level in a week characterized by force majeures and mines being put on care and maintenance. The index, which tracks spot market activity for Asia Pacific, stood at $60.10 per tonne/ 6.01 cents per lb on Friday April 9, down by 8.5% from $65.70 per tonne/ 6.57 cents per lb a week...Read More
@import url(https://ofc.rapaport.com:449CuteSoft_Client/CuteEditor/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(styles/editnewscuteeditor.css);RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, April 7, 2020, Las Vegas...Diamond prices fell in March as the spreading coronavirus led to a dramatic decline in the global economy. Diamond markets are under pressure and facing a severe liquidity crisis as jewelry...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Comment on when mining industry operations will resume is premature but what is certain is that when resumption does occur, it will not be business as usual, Minerals Council South Africa said on Thursday.Noting reports on the resumption of mining operations after 16 April, Minerals Council South Africa stated that resumption would depend on decisions that g...Read More
Brazilian export slab prices widened downward on Thursday April 9 as buyers continue to bet on future price cuts.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil widened to $310-355 per tonne on Thursday April 9, from $320-355 per tonne previously.Since early in the week, some bids for Brazilian slab were heard at $310 per tonne fob, and...Read More
Following a “depressed and opportunistic” time for its diamonds at its fifth sales cycle of this year, LSE-listed Petra Diamonds has chosen to only sell a portion of its South African goods, representing about 75% by volume, and about 50% by value.The remaining goods were exported to Antwerp and of these, about 75% were subsequently sold at the company’s Antwerp marketing office,...Read More
Brazilian domestic steel prices, including coil and rebar, remained unchanged in April as companies withdrew from price increases because of the Covid-19 crisis.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, monthly, exw Brazil, remained at 2,636-2,655 Reais ($516-519) per tonne on Thursday April 9, unchanged from the previous month.The corresponding assessment on the same date...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices bounced modestly upward on hopes of a V-shaped manufacturing recovery, but such optimism was tempered by concerns about the potentially long-lasting impacts of the economic downturn resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $24.57 per hundredweight ($491.40 per short ton) on Thursday April 9, up by...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diamond mining and marketing corporation, the De Beers Group, on Tuesday announced that it would contribute $2 500 000 across Botswana and Namibia to aid the response to the Covid-19 crisis.De Beers Group is a 50:50 joint venture partner with both Botswana and Namibia in the recovery and sorting of rough diamonds.AdvertisementIts contribution in both co...Read More
While the Covid-19 pandemic has hit domestic steel demand, it has not prevented foreign products from entering the United States, according to an advance indicator of offshore arrivals.The United States was licensed to import 2.11 million tonnes of steel products in March, up by 54.1% from 1.37 million tonnes in February and up by 2.4% from 2.06 million tonnes in March 2019, according to license d...Read More
Some Italian steelmakers have started to resume operations with the Covid-19 lockdown in the country expected to end on Monday April 13.European steelmakers have been reducing output and temporarily idling equipment due to the poor demand resulting from lockdown orders and other quarantine measures implemented across the region with the intention of preventing the spread of Covid-19.Italian long s...Read More