The prices of steel billet and rebar in Egypt were stable in the week ended Thursday August 1 on weak demand, due to continuing uncertainty over the country's import duties."Offer prices are high, but nobody wants to book [material] before the duty situation is finalized," a local market source told Fastmarkets.In April, Egypt imposed a temporary additional import duty on rebar and billet in respo...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 1 that are worth another look.Multi-year lows in smelting income have sharply reduced China's production of intermediate copper products, which are primary smelting products and feed to produce copper cathodes, forcing dozens of domestic refineries to search for these materials overseas. Zinc was lower at the close...Read More

This August marks the 24th year anniversary for http://www.GoldSeek.com, a gold news and financial information website established in 1995. Today GoldSeek.com is ranked as one of the most visited gold websites in the world.GoldSeek.com is headquartered in Colorado with its international team in other parts of the United States, Canada and the Czech Republic. The site has grown to receive o...Read More

Unemployment in the U.S. is at a half-century low and the S&P 500 is trading at near-record highs. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve today trimmed interest rates for the first time since the financial crisis on stalled manufacturing growth and an anticipated world economic slowdown.The easing cycle may be the catalyst gold needs to outperform the market and retrace its monster bull rally in the...Read More

- Ronan Manly, Bullion StarThe US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today announced a 0.25% cut in the influential US federal funds rate from a target range of 2.25% - 2.50% to a target range of 2.00% - 2.25%, a move which was closely watched and widely signaled, but which was the first such fed funds rate cut in over 10 years.As an official interest rate which affects...Read More

Stock market indexes are currently at record or near record highs, even as the chances for recession within the next 1-2 years seem to be rising. So how great would the losses be from these record heights, if the business cycle continues and we get another round of recession and bear market?As explored in this analysis and as shown in the graph above, there is a strong case that a new recession...Read More

Gold and silver fell after the Federal Reserve stance on interest rate cut. There can be more fall today and tomorrow as well. Friday's US July nonfarm payrolls needs to come in below 100,000 for gold and silver bulls to revive. For now gold and silver bears have an upper edge. Traders and markets were way ahead on interest rate cut stance. The Federal Reserve chairman muted all those who were...Read More

London-based Appian Capital Advisory, investment advisor to metals and mining focused private equity fund Appian Natural Resources Fund, has appointed Paulo Castellari, a former Anglo American Brasil chief executive officer, to lead the firm's Brazilian operations. Appian owns Minera????o Vale Verde in Brazil, a company developing the copper-gold Serrote da Laje project, and Atlantic Nickel, opera...Read More

A 10% month-on-month drop in Shanghai-bonded copper stocks in July has been more than offset by climbing exchange stocks, which have dampened any supportive effect on copper prices in China. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks fell to an eight-month low in July, reflecting much less refined copper imports so far this year. Nonetheless, increasing copper stocks in London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futur...Read More

Multi-year lows in smelting income have sharply reduced China's production of intermediate copper products, which are primary smelting products and feed to produce copper cathodes, forcing dozens of domestic refineries to search for these materials overseas. "I have got inquiries for blister copper from eight refineries in just a week. I haven't seen anything like that before. It's such a shame th...Read More

Zinc was lower at the close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday August 1, falling by some 1.3%, although nickel eked out some gains above $14,500 per tonne. Zinc and lead futures were the day's underperformers, closing at $2,404 per tonne while and below resistance at $2,000 per tonne respectively. The zinc-lead price differential, or switch, continues to narrow from earlier this y...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday August 1, tracking a downtrend in the futures market.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.68 per tonne, down $1.47 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $114.18 per tonne, down $1.47 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.88 per tonne, d...Read More

Stainless steel prices in East Asia declined over the past week with demand remaining sluggish after producers raised their offers in response to a strengthening nickel market.For instance, Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco) and Tang Eng Iron Works - two major mills in Taiwan - announced at the end of July that they would increase their offers for grade 304 stainless hot-rolled and cold-rolled product...Read More

Gold prices have traded sideways in recent days, driven by a "wait and see" approach among market participants.The risk of speculative profit-taking in Comex gold is elevated at this juncture.But central bank and ETF gold buying should remain buoyant in H2 2019.BAR: While weakness cannot be ruled out early in August, we think that BAR will post a monthly gain in August - our target is at $14.55 pe...Read More

Are we at increased risk for a short-term sell-off, or is a short squeeze coming? Here's the outlook for silver in the month of August...by Chris Marcus via Arcadia EconomicsDisclaimer: This report contains strategies that could be risky for certain investors and is presented as research for further investigation. As always, you are trading and committing capital at your own riskCurrent Silver Mar...Read More

This one simple reason may explain why silver was steadily "sold" overnight and into this morning...UPDATE: This post was originally titled "Opportunity Knocks: Smart Money Investors Look To 'Buy The Dip' As Silver Price Falls To $15".Is this post already out of date?Here are gold & silver's intra-day charts, at 2:24 p.m. EST:Why is this happening?In my opinion, the cartel knew the Tweet was comi...Read More

For central banks, gold is now equivalent to cash.European Central Banks end their gold selling agreements after 20 years, a bullish sign towards the acquisition of more gold.European financial regulators are also defining gold as equivalent to cash in their currency control framework.While they will never publicly admit it, their actions recognize gold as money. They just won't let the people...Read More

With today being the last trading day of July, it's a good time to consider seasonal trading ideas for August. Fortunately, traders don't have to veer into the unfamiliar in search of exchange traded funds with solid August track records. The SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +2.40%, the world's largest gold-backed exchange traded fund, is up 11.32% year to date and 1.34% this month, gains that could be exte...Read More

A summary of ArcelorMittal's financial results for the second quarter of 2019.In briefSecond-quarter earnings dropped due to combination of declining steel prices and higher raw material costs, the world's largest steelmaker said on Thursday August 1.Fastmarkets' price assessment of steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe averaged ?,?492.69 ($548.34) per tonne in the second quarter of 2019...Read More

A 10% month-on-month drop in Shanghai-bonded copper stocks in July has been more than offset by climbing exchange stocks, which have dampened any supportive effect on copper prices in China. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks fell to an eight-month low in July, reflecting much less refined copper imports so far this year. Nonetheless, increasing copper stocks in London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futur...Read More