Turkey produced 5.865 million tonnes of crude steel in January-February 2020, up by 12.7% from 5.203 million tonnes produced in the corresponding period the year before, according to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD). The rise in output was largely attributed to the significant decrease in production in Turkey in the second half of 2018 and all of 2019. The decline in Turkey's crud...Read More
Amazon is putting new grocery delivery requests on a wait list as demand skyrockets Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), is up 1.5% at $2,073.47 amid news that the e-commerce giant will create a wait list for new shoppers trying to use their online grocery delivery service, as more customers turn to such services due to coronavirus-related lockdowns. Amazon also said it will adjust hours in some of its...Read More
Disney is furloughing 43,000 workersWalt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is down 2% to trade at $102.38 at last check, despite receiving a $2 target price raise by Guggenheim to $100. Meanwhile, the worldwide entertainment company is furloughing 43,000 workers, effective April 19, after closing resorts last month due to the coronavirus pandemic. Taking a look at the charts, Disney stock just breached famili...Read More
Christmas of 2019 I had advised to invest in gold and silver for Easter of 2020. Now I am asking to invest in gold and silver this Easter for Christmas of 2020. Overall gold and silver will continue to rise till Christmas. Even if the corona virus pandemic gets over and a vaccine is found (before Christmas of 2020), gold and silver will continue to rise. There is an over $40 price difference bet...Read More
Credit Suisse upgraded Dunkin Brands to "outperform" from "underperform" Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) is unable to extend last week's rally this morning, down 0.6% at $57.64, despite Credit Suisse issuing a double-upgrade to the doughnut specialist to "outperform" from "underperform." The analyst also cut its price target to $67 from $73, but added that the company's business model is one...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 13 that are worth another look.Argentinian crude steel production fell by 26.7% year on year in March due to the closure of most plants during a mandatory quarantine enforced by the federal government to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, national steel chamber Acero Argentino said.A total of 222,020 tonnes of copper sc...Read More
For example, the VIX's 50 area marked peaks on multiple occasions since the late 1990's, with the one previous exception to last month being since October and November 2008. When the 50 area was taken out in 2008 and last month, it signaled more damage to come. Bulls hope that last week's move back below the 50 area last week signals that the worst is over, or at least near over. However, there...Read More
All but one of Fastmarkets' aluminium scrap price assessments fell on Thursday April 9 while the Covid-19 pandemic-driven market slowdown continued to affect the US scrap business."[This] certainly is an unusual time. I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime," one US scrap consumer source said. "Hopefully the May 4 start-up for many automakers will happen."Fastmarkets assessed the mixed l...Read More
Operations at the Antamina zinc and copper mine in Peru have been suspended as part of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to one of its joint venture partners, Teck Resources Ltd.The Vancouver, Canada-based company said Antamina - in which it has a 22.5% stake - has been allowed by the Peruvian government to change out its previously reduced workforce, which has been in place at the...Read More
Chinese-Australian miner MMG has withdrawn its copper production guidance for the La Bambas copper mine in Peru as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic but is maintaining guidance for its Dugald River, Rosebery and Kinsevere operations. Las Bambas - one of the world's biggest copper mining facilities - had been expected to produce 350,000-370,000 tonnes of copper in 2020. In 2019, Las Bambas pro...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 13 that are worth another look.Argentinian crude steel production fell by 26.7% year on year in March due to the closure of most plants during a mandatory quarantine enforced by the federal government to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, national steel chamber Acero Argentino said.A total of 222,020 tonnes of copper sc...Read More
"Fear is our greatest enemy, and hope is our greatest weapon against the disease." Robert Merivel, played by Robert Downey Jr. in Restoration (1995), a film set against the backdrop of 17th century England, during the time of the Great Plague of London, 1665-1666 "The rules are simple. At least that is how my brother sees it. One, avoid the infected at all costs. Their breath is highly contagio...Read More
Strengths? The best performing precious metal for the holiday shortened week was silver, up 7.26 percent, likely on the waves of money printing that's just getting started. Gold rose above $1,700 an ounce for the first time since 2012 on Tuesday after March's panic selling to raise cash has subsided. ETFs backed by gold added 263,504 troy ounces on Wednesday, bringing net purchas...Read More
By Stefan Gleason"All of the projection models were wrong. All of them," admitted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in an interview last week with MSNBC.Governor Cuomo had been issuing frantic demands for tens of thousands of ventilators... that turned out not to be needed as the rate of new hospitalizations for COVID-19 infections in New York plunged with surprising speed.Governor Cuomo had warned...Read More
Christmas of 2019 I had advised to invest in gold and silver for Easter of 2020. Now I am asking to invest in gold and silver this Easter for Christmas of 2020. Overall gold and silver will continue to rise till Christmas. Even if the corona virus pandemic gets over and a vaccine is found (before Christmas of 2020), gold and silver will continue to rise. There is an over $40 price difference bet...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic may have just sealed the fate of already-struggling aluminium smelting capacity. At under $1,500 per tonne, aluminium cash prices on the London Metal Exchange are at levels last seen in 2015 and not far shy of the lows seen during the 2008-09 financial crisis. Estimates are that as much as half the world's smelters are now under water, meaning cuts and/or closures are inevita...Read More
A much vaunted infrastructure bill could be back on the agenda again while the United States moves to shore up its economy and stem job losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic.US President Donald Trump said in a post on social media platform Twitter earlier on Tuesday March 31 that the bill would be the fourth part of the government's stimulus measures to handle the impacts of the virus."With interest r...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's also created a problem. The one-two punch demand and supply shock that the virus has created is putting the mining sector under extreme pressure. With banks even more reluctant than before to provide capital to the mining sector amid the tumultuous global financial backdrop, corporates...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market moved up on Monday April 13, with a persistent tightness in the supply of low-alumina and high-grade products from Brazil bolstering prices. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.60 per tonne, up $0.83 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.26 per tonne, up $1.06 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $74.62 per to...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Monday April 13, with sentiment lifted by strengthening futures, although some buyers decided to hold back amid mills' rising output.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,320-3,350 yuan ($472-476) per tonne, up 50-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,230 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said that spot prices in t...Read More