The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Price uptrend stumbles, but expected to resumeAs we expected, Chinese export and domestic steel prices moved upward in June, settling within the 2% range of our forecasts. Rebar prices trended downward in the second half of the month while heavy rains and floods in parts of the country meant that some construction sites had...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In previous reports, we noted that upside risks to our forecasts existed. These were based on Chinese steel production, and in turn alloy consumption, outperforming our expectations.Chinese crude steel production is rising each month in a year-on-year comparison, prompting our revised view that Chinese alloy consumption will...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' teamof analysts are ready to view.Chinese crude steel production outperformed our expectations with its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Crude steel output was up by 2.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 503 million tonnes, and we have revised upward what was initially a more bearish forecast for this year. We now estimate that product...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prolonged flooding in China could limit the use of construction steel and drag down demand for steel rebar in the short term, which in turn could damp the demand for iron ore. So far, it has been reported that steel mills in the affected regions have continued to operate as normal. The floods have, however, caused a few days...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In a webinar we conducted on Asian ferro alloys, our research team discussed the Chinese authorities' announcing some major infrastructure investments that will increase demand for steel and steel raw materials, including iron ore. Our research shows that the recent infrastructure investment announcements are equal to about...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More
Venezuela's interim president, Juan Guaid??. (Image by Renew Europe, Flickr). A decision regarding Canadian miner Crystallex's request to sell the shares of PDV Holdings, the parent company of refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is owned by Venezuela, was expected by the end of July. Now it is likely to be made sometime in August. This, after US Justice Department lawyers asked District Judge L...Read More
Hydrogen tank for the Toyota Mirai. (Reference image by Mario Roberto Dur??n Ortiz, Wikimedia Commons). Researchers from the Czech Republic and Russia have developed a new material that uses gold, platinum and chromium to generate hydrogen molecules from fresh, salt, and polluted water by exposure to infrared sunlight.The objective behind this development is that the solution becomes another gree...Read More
YESTERDAY in GOLD, SILVER, PLATINUM and PALLADIUM25 July 2020 -- SaturdayThe gold price traded quietly and unevenly sideways until around noon China Standard Time on their Friday. It was sold down to its low tick of the day by shortly after 1:30 p.m. CST -- and its subsequent rally was capped just minutes after 9 a.m. in London. From that point it was sold lower until around 11:45 a.m. BST....Read More
Chris MarcheseChief Mining Analyst, GoldSeek & SilverSeek Ticker- TSX; EDV.TO, OTC; EDVMF52-Week Range; CAD $15.68-$36.62, US $11.02-$27.60Shares Out; 163.077m sharesEndeavour Mining is a West African focused gold producer. Following a recent acquisition, it is now the leading West African producer with an excellent stable of assets and run by a very capable management team. The company recen...Read More
The Critical Investor examines Golden Arrow Resources' swap of one South American gold project for another, and discusses the company's prospects for becoming a "multi-bagger." Because Golden Arrow Resources Corp. (GRG:TSX.V; GARWF:OTCQB; G6A:FSE) renegotiated their Indiana gold project in Chile not too long ago [with] very favorable terms, I was surprised to recently read about the company dropp...Read More
European leaders stroke a historic deal that could be a game-changer and provide a support for the euro and gold against the U.S. dollar.Historic deal. Pivotal moment for Europe. On Monday, the EU leaders agreed on a massive economic stimulus plan, after a long and crotchety summit. If passed through the European Parliament and ratified by all EU states, the European Commission could borrow 750 bi...Read More
YESTERDAY in GOLD, SILVER, PLATINUM and PALLADIUM25 July 2020 -- SaturdayThe gold price traded quietly and unevenly sideways until around noon China Standard Time on their Friday. It was sold down to its low tick of the day by shortly after 1:30 p.m. CST -- and its subsequent rally was capped just minutes after 9 a.m. in London. From that point it was sold lower until around 11:45 a.m. BST....Read More
Chris MarcheseChief Mining Analyst, GoldSeek & SilverSeek Ticker- TSX; EDV.TO, OTC; EDVMF52-Week Range; CAD $15.68-$36.62, US $11.02-$27.60Shares Out; 163.077m sharesEndeavour Mining is a West African focused gold producer. Following a recent acquisition, it is now the leading West African producer with an excellent stable of assets and run by a very capable management team. The company recen...Read More
There's even the possibility of silver going as high as $300 in the near future...Keith Neumeyer interviewed by Josh Sigurdson of World Alternative MediaJosh Sigurdson talks with Keith Neumeyer about the rise of silver and the potential for the precious metal to reach more than $100 an ounce! There's even the possibility of silver going as high as $300 in the near future simply based on the gold/s...Read More
RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's sales plunged 71% in the first fiscal quarter as the coronavirus continued to reduce foot traffic and tourism.Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for more than a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 76% in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales of gold priced by weight slid 72%, while purchases of fixed-price jewelry...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' full-year sales dropped to their lowest level in almost a decade as the coronavirus aggravated an already weak rough market.Revenue fell 36% to $295.8 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, reflecting sluggish rough prices between July 2019 and February 2020 and a significant downturn during this year's Covid-19 pandemic, the company explained. Sales volume dec...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), which has worked to improve conditions for small-scale diamond miners for more than a decade, has merged with Resolve, an organization engaged in tackling social, health and environmental challenges.DDI will become a division within Resolve, called DDI@Resolve, with DDI executive director Ian Rowe serving as its director. DDI chairman and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is embarking on a huge modernization program that will affect all aspects of the business, CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a letter to staff.The move, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will include reviewing the way it sells rough stones, according to a report on the Bloomberg news website.It raises the possibility that the company's long-held tradition of holding Sight...Read More
(IDEX Online)- Troubled Petra Diamonds has blamed the coronavirus pandemic for a 36 per cent drop in sales.The UK-listed miner is currently seeking a buyer as it faces mounting debts and says it's been dealt a significant extra blow by the combination of COVD-19, an already weak market and a series of power cuts affecting its mines in South Africa."The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 has sig...Read More