The Turkish steel scrap import market was quiet on Friday July 31 because of the Eid al-Adha religious holiday across the region, with no bookings heard and prices flat as a result.Earlier in the week and late last week, however, a number of cargoes were booked.Late on July 24, a steel mill in northern Turkey booked a United States-origin cargo comprising 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $275 per tonn...Read More
The stainless steel scrap market was stable this week amid typically quiet summer activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 31. Many market participants are absent for holidays while stainless steel mills are undergoing their usual summer shutdowns, meaning demand for scrap is low. One trader in Europe was anticipating a push in September from mills for lower...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was unchanged in the week to Friday July 31, with prices remaining firm and expectations of increases to come, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was unchanged at ?85-95 ($111-124) per tonne on Friday.Material availability kept the p...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices remained firm on Friday July 31 amid continuous supply shortages in the east of the country, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-4,000 yuan ($567-571) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,740-3,770 yuan per tonne, down 50-60 yuan per tonneSellers were offering material at around 3,970 yuan per...Read More
There was strong demand in London Metal Exchange zinc during the Asia trading hours on Friday July 31, causing the three-month price to rise by 1.3%, while an easing of LME tin's forward curve prompted similar buying momentum over the morning. Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently at $2,320 per tonne, breaking through nearby resistance and improving from Thursday's closing price of $2,286....Read More
Some hesitation in the base metals prices on Thursday was short-lived, with all the prices up this morning on Friday July 31 by an average of 0.5%, with stronger economic data out in Asia, earlier in the day, which boosted sentiment. China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) for July climbed to 51.1 from 50.9 in June. Japan's preliminary industrial production climbed 2.7% in June, afte...Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log, including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam at $13.75-14.20/lb on Friday July 31, 2020. Bid at $13.80...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log, including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
A summary of Glencore's production results for the half year ended June 30, as stated in the company's latest half year report released on Friday July 31. In brief Glencore attributable ferro-chrome production fell by 42% year on year in the first half of the year due to production disruptions in South Africa following the national Covid-19 lockdown during March and April. Smelting operation...Read More
European monthly grade-304 alloy steel surcharges for August have increased slightly from July's values because of higher nickel costs, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 31.Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304, alloy surcharge, domestic, Europe was calculated at ?,?1,345-1,367 ($1,586-1,612) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?16-24 per tonne from the July range.The average nick...Read More
A slight increase in European monthly grade-304 alloy steel surcharges for August is unlikely to result in higher transaction prices for finished stainless steel products because of a weak underlying market, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 31.Grade-304 surcharges have increased on higher nickel costs but by relatively modest amounts, with Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 3...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United States were mostly steady this past week, but overseas demand for some grades lent support to rising prices, sources told Fastmarkets. "Right now there's [a cat and mouse game] where domestic primary and secondary mills are trying to keep a happy balance between keeping some level of scrap flowing and not [becoming long on product] as finished product sales and...Read More
Chile's environmental watchdog said it would charge BHP's (NYSE, LSE: BHP) Escondida copper mine, the world's largest, with drawing more water than its permits allowed for nearly 15 years.The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) said the operation has caused a decrease in the water table levels greater than 25 cm, which is the allowed limit in the Atacama desert, the world's driest, where Esco...Read More
Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX, NYSE: KL; ASX: KLA) on July 30 reported strong financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2020, despite disruptions caused by Covid-19.Adjusted net earnings came to US$219.3 million, or 79 ? per share, double the Q2 2019 level of US$109.8 million, or 52 ? per share, and 22% higher than the US$179.2 million, or 70 ? per share, recorded for the previous quarte...Read More
Offers for deep-sea import scrap to Bangladesh rose again over the past week, leading mills to focus their attention on markets for domestic scrap and containerized import scrap, sources told Fastmarkets."The markets have turned and it's definitely a seller's market now," one South Asian trader said. "We're not giving space for buyers to come back to negotiate while the market is rising, so these...Read More
It is said that a picture is worth 1000words, and thus two pictures are worth 2000 words. The entire financial systemis fracturing and imploding, no exaggeration. The entire monetary system is beingundermined in a true Weimar sense, in reality. Such a situation almost neverhas come about without a world war. Since 2001 in the Jackass opinion, theworld financial war has been in progress with the im...Read More
The following is an update of a previousarticle: During the 2008 financial crisis the Fedsignificantly increased the US monetary base to keep the system from collapse.They are currently in a similar situation, and have done (is doing) the exactsame thing.Here is a chart of the US monetary base toillustrate the similarity: With the 2008 actions they were able to avoidthe collapse until now. Will th...Read More
Prices for round polished diamond were largely static for the "bread and butter goods" - sizes between 0.70-1.99 cts - in July. Fancies under four carats sustained a number of losses. There wasn't a single movement among one-carat rounds (1.00-1.24 cts) and slightly larger and smaller stones - 0.90-0.99 cts and 1.25-1.49 cts - barely moved. But there were discernible trends among some ot...Read More