An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to increase the pricing frequency of its cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, to twice weekly from weekly.The cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end), is currently published weekly, on Wednesdays.Following an initial consultation with the market, and a review of typical...Read More
Key data from the Friday March 27 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers The cobalt metal price took a break from its persistent downturn amid the supply disruptions following the 21-day lockdown in South Africa, which started midnight on Thursday March 26. Producers have attempted to raise offers while traders continued to destock...Read More
The demand for precious metals has hit fever pitch amid economic uncertainty and price volatility as millions around the world awaken the gold bug within.But there's one big problem: delivery.Social distancing, business closures, government lockdowns, and grounded airplanes are significantly disrupting gold's global supply routes. And it has resulted in long shipping delays, low inventories, canc...Read More
ArcelorMittal will idle the No3 blast furnace at its integrated slab and flat steel Tubar??o facility, in the country's southeastern Esp?-rito Santo state, because of impacts from the spread of the novel coronavirus, the company said on Friday March 27.The blast furnace at the Tubar??o unit, which has capacity to produce 2.8 million tonnes of crude steel per year, will be halted in early April for...Read More
European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have not changed despite the decline in import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 27.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was unchanged day on day at ?,?473.00 ($518.70) per tonne on March 27.Friday's index was calculated based on offer prices heard at ?,?470-480 per tonne ex-works as well as "work...Read More
The price of hot-rolled coil exported from India plunged by $60 per tonne in the week ended Friday March 27, with the country going into compete lockdown on the Wednesday to try to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel HRC, export, fob main port India, at $390-395 per tonne on Friday, down from last week's assessment at $450-455 per tonne."The domestic...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. Use coupon code SPRING20 for a $100 discount off a new 2020 membership (renewals will be at the regular price unless cancelled before the end of term).1. Insiders bet on pharma industry innovator - INK ResearchAs big pharma races to find a solution or COVID...Read More
European flat steel producers have reduced output, and some of them have stopped operating certain equipment, in their attempts to balance supply and demand after multiple automotive producers suspended their operations because of the Covid-19 pandemic.All the major steel coil producers in Northern Europe - including ArcelorMittal, Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter and Tata Steel - have taken steps to cut...Read More
Prices for domestic and imported steel beams remained unchanged in the United States in March, even as demand faltered and new orders sagged.With precautions taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 creating delays in the supply chain in some areas, market participants expressed heightened uncertainty about the outlook for this market. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel beams 8 x 8-...Read More
Algerian steelmakers Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) and El-Hadjar Iron & Steel Complex have stopped crude steel production because of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 27.The country's authorities have issued a decree calling on companies to reduce their non-essential workforces by at least 50% to limit the spread of the virus. The decree came into force on...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States dropped again in the week to Friday March 27, but not as much as buyers anticipated because material availability fell considerably due to heavy sales to China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $320-325 per tonne on Friday compared with $330-340 per tonne one week prior."Scrap is falling in April by $3...Read More
The price of austenitic alloy steel scrap in Europe plunged this week because of a sharp drop in demand, despite a lack of availability, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 27.The low demand has stemmed from a mixture of closures and reduced output rates at stainless steel mills, meaning a reduction in their feedstock requirements. In Italy, all mills have suspended operations following a gov...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India plummeted this week after the announcement of a 21-day lockdown across the country, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 27.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $247 per tonne on Friday. This was down by $44 per tonne from $291 per tonne one week earlier and at its lowest since October 24, 201...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 317,40535,48950,438154,761456,470522,604542,397 Change from Prior Reporting Period -18,885-1,270-3,626-28,187-54,782-50,698-59,678 Traders 18073785254268172 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 51,32131,528573,925 -8,847133-59,545 non reportable posit...Read More
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:What the heck are those mysterious "exchange for physicals," the mechanisms by which contracts to buy gold on the New York Commodities Exchange are neither fulfilled by delivery on the Comex nor settled for cash there but transported for supposed delivery elsewhere?The mechanism long has been incorporated by the Comex trading system but was described as an "emergency...Read More
Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report There's more evidence finally surfacing in the media of the dire energy predicament the world is now facing. The negative ramifications of peak oil and the falling EROI were going to hit the world economy within the next 2-5 years, but the global contagion has sped up the process considerably. Unfortunately, the world will never return back to the energy co...Read More
Dave Kranzler, Mining Stock JournalThe Government and the Federal Reserve are exploiting the virus crisis to implement another bailout - or attempted bailout of the "Too Big To Fail Banks." The stimulus Bill approved 96-0 by the Senate gives the Fed a $454 billion taxpayer funded "slush fund" for Wall Street bailouts. Just as troubling, the Bill suspends the Freedom Of Information Act for the...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinRead More