Bismuth prices are being driven higher by a supply shortage in China that has resulted from environmental crackdowns in the country. "Due to the upcoming environmental protection policy, many manufacturers have suspended their production and it is hard to locate proper goods," a producer source in China said.Metal Bulletin assessed bismuth free market in warehouse prices at $5.20-5.40 pe...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part stronger this morning, Friday March 16, with all of the metals, except tin, showing average gains of 0.4%. Copper is up by 0.5% at $6,956 per tonne, while tin is off by 0.1% at $20,970 per tonne.Volume has been light with 4,565 lots traded as of 06.29am London time. This follows a day of weakness on Thursday, with the complex cl...Read More

Import volumes of stainless steel into the United States from European mills are likely to fall sharply once US President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariffs on imported steel are imposed, Danish distributor Damstahl said this week.The 25% tariff on imported steel will come into effect on Friday March 23 at 12:01am New York time.Around 350,000 tonnes, or 60% of total flat stainless steel imports in...Read More

Domestic stainless steel prices in China continued to slide over the past week with stockists making a push to destock.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless CRC in the major market of Wuxi was 14,500-15,300 yuan ($2,294-2,420) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday March 15, widening downward from 14,600-15,300 yuan per tonne a week earlier. Stockists have...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday March 16:Aluminium scrapCast: ?,?1,170-1,240 per tonne from ?,?1,180-1,250 per tonneMixed turnings...Read More

The UK inter-merchant price range for austenitic alloy steel products rose by ?10-20 per tonne this week, with the nickel price strengthening over the week, sources said on Friday March 16.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for inter-merchant 18/8 scrap solids in the UK was ?960-1,000 ($1,340-1,396) per tonne delivered on Friday, compared with ?950-980 per tonne on March 9."The nickel pri...Read More

Supplies of cobalt and lithium, key for making the batteries that power electric cars and mobile phones, are likely to be limited by 2050, German researchers have warned.According to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) study, published this week in the journal Nature Reviews Materials, a shortage and price increase of cobalt are likely to occur in about thirty years, especially since deman...Read More

Anglo American's De Beers, the world's largest rough diamond producer by value, and its partner in Gahcho Ku?(C) mine, Mountain Province, are seeking to acquire a Canadian explorer and so expand their jointed operation in Canada's far north.Toronto-based Kennady Diamonds (TSX-V:KDI) owns the Kennady North project, located immediately adjacent to the De Beers/Mountain Province mine.If the proposed...Read More

Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper producer, reaped the benefit of climbing prices for the red metal last year even as production costs rose, and is ready to post a profit of $2.88 billion for 2017, the company's chairman has revealed.Speaking to investors and students at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Chile, Oscar Landerretche said Thursday the preliminary results...Read More

Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM)(LON:FQM) denounced that some workers and leaders from an outside union have been carrying out protest actions since March 9, 2018, which have "reduced the level of work being performed on the [Cobre Panama] project."The information was provided by First Quantum in a media statement and also during a press conference held today by representatives of M...Read More

https://www.azcentral.com/With the impending closure of the Navajo Generating Station coal-fired power plant near Page in December 2019, hundreds of power plant workers and coal miners will need new jobs. Arizona’s copper mines could offer them opportunity.Thanks to rebounding copper prices, copper mines across Arizona have hundreds of job openings today. The major companies, Freeport-McMoRa...Read More

Mike "Mish" Shedlock a registered investment advisor, representative for Sitka Pacific Capital Management and he operates one of the most popular websites about the economy and investing online: MISH'S Global Economic Trend Analysis.Read More

Read Chris' latest article: https://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/113845/russia-didChristopher Martenson is a former American biochemical scientist. Currently he is a writer and trend forecaster interested in macro trends regarding the economy, energy composition and environment. He is the founder of PeakProsperity.com. As one of the early econobloggers who forecasted the housing market collapse and...Read More

Some steel product prices in the United States have risen in response to the looming introduction of 25% tariffs on imports, while sentiment in steel markets outside the US has been dampened by fears of potential shifts in trade flows. US president Donald Trump signed the 25% tariff into law on March 8 after the conclusion of his government's Section 232 investigation, and from Friday March 23 the...Read More

Iron ore output at Anglo American's Brazilian Minas-Rio operation is still halted after a slurry pipeline rupture, but shipments are not expected to be affected, it told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 16."So far, there is no impact forecast," the miner said. "There are around 700,000 tonnes of iron ore stocked, which is a sufficient volume to meet the shipping schedule of the next vessels."The com...Read More

New long steel capacity in the pipeline in the Philippines may well disrupt trade flows in Asia once they come on stream, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.This is because the Philippines could reduce its reliance on imports, which would result in seaborne cargoes being diverted elsewhere in the region. Major Philippine rebar producer SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp plans to increase its c...Read More

Wolf Richter is the founder of Wolf Street Corp and the publisher of WolfStreet.com. Wolf has over twenty years of C-level operations experience, including turnarounds and a VC-funded startup. He has a BA, MA, and MBA (UT at Austin). In his prior life, he worked in Texas and Oklahoma, including a decade as General Manager and COO of a large Ford dealership and its subsidiaries. Read More

The gold miners’ stocksremain deeply out of favor, trading at prices seen when gold was half or even aquarter of current levels.  So manytraders assume this small contrarian sector must be really struggling fundamentally.  But nothing could be farther from thetruth!  The major gold miners’recently-released Q4’17 results prove they are thriving.  Their languish...Read More

On Thursday crude oil wavered between smallgains and losses, but finished the day only 23 cents above Wednesday closingprice. Such small daily changes that we observe recently don’t look too encouragingfor oil bulls or for the bears. However, to dispel boredom, we rummaged deeper inthe charts and we found something that may interest both sides of the market’sbattle. Curious?Nevertheles...Read More

We have seen downgrade after downgrade on Barrick Gold (ABX) for years. Many keep looking lower and lower, with some even considering that this stalwart in the miners’ complex may even go out of business due to its debt load.However, back in 2015, it was one of the first miners to bottom. In fact, when we saw the potential bottoming of ABX in 2015, we actually opened our EWT Miners Portfolio...Read More