Mills across Europe producing hollow steel sections have continued this week to be largely unsuccessful in raising their prices for tube products because many producers are in need of bookings, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 21."They've been trying for several weeks, but they've been unsuccessful. If they don't get orders, they can't raise their prices, and they are all in urgent n...Read More

Key Metric LIBOR OIS Signals Major Credit Concerns - Widening of the spread between LIBOR OIS (overnight index swap) rate raises concerns- Spread jumped to 9 year widest spread, rising to 54.6bps, most since May 2009.- Libor recently moved to over 2% for first time since 2008- Wider spread usually associated with heightened credit concernsMajor credit concerns are back as one of the key U.S. metri...Read More

By Graham Summers The big questions being tossed around Wall Street today are: why are markets such a mess? Why are we getting these wild swings? The reality is that the markets are NOT a mess. These are actually normal healthy markets. Healthy markets move, sometimes a lot in a small span of time. The real issue is that from '09 until recently, the market was completely artificial because Ce...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) – The global demand for cobalt is expected to surge to over 200,000 mt per year by 2025, according to Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), a leading producer for battery-use cobalt that is headquartered in Luxembourg. ERG believes that cobalt is currently the commodity with the greatest potential.Most of the growth will come from lithium-ion batteries which will accoun...Read More

Domestic prices for steel beams have inched down across Europe although market participants expect to see mills raise their offer prices in the coming week after ferrous scrap prices increased.Prices for ferrous scrap in Italy increased by ?,?30 ($37) per tonne in March, while those in Germany rose by around ?,?20 per tonne."I expect to see some movement [in prices] because these guys can't keep r...Read More

"Basically... if the Federal Reserve was inflicted upon America by a foreign power it would have been considered an act of war." Join Mike Maloney and Stefan Molyneux as they explore the unintended consequences that await us due to the immoral acts perpetrated by government and the Federal Reserve System.********* Read More

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:One could spend a lifetime trying to correct the unsupported beliefs about the gold market expressed by Keith Weiner of Monetary Metals, but your secretary/treasurer has his own failings to correct, like his own omission yesterday, in "Does Weiner Really Know What Central Bankers Think Better Than They Themselves Do?" --http://gata.org/node/18115-- of another telling...Read More

Prices for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe narrowed downward by ?,?5 per tonne this week with demand and market activity weakening, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 21."The price has moved down a little due to the very cold weather and weak demand," one Southern European producer source said.Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic price assessment for rebar in Southern Europ...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) – Prices of prebaked anode will continue to tumble as supply grows after production restrictions are lifted at the end of the heating season, SMM believed. SMM sees downward room in prices, which have declined for three consecutive months. According to SMM, profit margins could be significant if current cash costs for prebaked anode are capped ...Read More

By Ronan Manlyhttps://www.bullionstar.com/Collectively, the central bank sector claims to hold the world's largest above ground gold bar stockpile, some 33,800 tonnes of gold bars. Individually within this group, some central banks claim to be the top holders of gold bullion in the world, with individual holdings in the thousands of tonnes range.This worldwide central bank group, also known as t...Read More

"under the veil of protection offered them as Primary Dealers for the Federal Reserve...price manipulation continues with no end in sight.by Craig Hemke via SilverSeekMuch has been written lately about the size and scope of JPMorgan's COMEX silver vault. We thought we'd add to that conversation today.First of all, some background.JPMorgan didn't even have a COMEX silver vault in early 2011. The ap...Read More

Weak demand for Turkish long steel products in the country's export market and Section 232 uncertainty kept Turkish steel producers out of the deep-sea scrap markets on Wednesday March 21.After stepping back from the deep-sea scrap markets on March 9, when the United States applied a 25% duty on imports of steel products following the Section 232 investigation, there has been no...Read More

By Steve St. AngeloAs investors continue to believe the stock market correction is over, the next big stop for the Dow Jones Index is 19,000. When the Dow falls below 19,000, all doubt will be removed as the best investment strategy would be to sell the rallies, rather than buy the dip. However, most investors buy at the top and sell at the bottom. So, it looks like investor carnage will c...Read More

Are you feeling lucky? We all should. Whether you're short or long gold (or you're waiting on the sidelines), the additional day of signals is truly a blessing. That is if you know what to look at. The previous days and weeks provided us with multiple signs and yesterday's price action served as the - likely final - sign before the big price move. Were you listening? Let's start today's analysi...Read More

Iron ore prices moved slightly above $67 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday March 21, tracking increases in the paper markets.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore IndexToday: $67.25 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $0.31 per tonne Month-to-date average: $72.33 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $55.56 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by...Read More

Key Metric LIBOR OIS Signals Major Credit Concerns - Widening of the spread between LIBOR OIS (overnight index swap) rate raises concerns- Spread jumped to 9 year widest spread, rising to 54.6bps, most since May 2009.- Libor recently moved to over 2% for first time since 2008- Wider spread usually associated with heightened credit concernsEditor: Mark O'ByrneMajor credit concerns are back as one...Read More

Seaborne iron ore concentrate market softened last week, albeit at a slow rate of decline than prices for fines.The weekly Metal Bulletin 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index was $94.64 per tonne cfr China last Friday March 16, down $2.93 per tonne - or 3% - compared with a week earlier. The daily Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $87.12 per tonne cfr China last week, down $3.70 per tonne...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Wednesday March 21 despite a further weakening of the futures and billet markets, with sellers of the long steel product refusing to lower their offers further amid losses.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,670-3,730 yuan ($580-590) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,850-3,880 yuan per tonne, unchanged Stockists refused to lower their...Read More

The company has started a 30,000-tonne bulk sampling programme that will run until the end of the year.Read More

Key data from the Wednesday March 21 pricing session in Europe.Ferro-titanium 70% (max 4.5% Al), $ per kg, delivered duty-paid in EuropeTodayPreviousChange to midpoint of rangeMidpoint % change4.655.3-0.075-1Titanium scrap turnings, unprocessed (max 0.5% Sn) $ per lb, cif European ports Titanium scrap turnings, unprocessed (0.5-2% Sn), $ per lb, cif European ports...Read More