The equity markets barometer suggests concerns over the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have picked up again over the past 24 hours, with Asian equities weaker this morning, Friday February 21, as are most of the metals.We said on Thursday that markets were focused on coronavirus developments more so than the impact to supply chains, but it seems that traders are now getting m...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday February 21.China The Chinese ferro-silicon spot price remained as high as in the previous week with major alloy producers holding their offer prices at 6,800 yuan ($966) per tonne. Cross-provincial transport has slightly improved in the past week. Market participants expected a downtrend in the spo...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ended Friday February 21.China The seaborne price of low-grade manganese ore was static, with buyers resisting attempts by some producers to raise offer prices, amid high inventories and weak demand. The seaborne price of high-grade manganese ore rose after some deals were concluded at higher offer levels, with l...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have increased day on day due to better demand from distributors, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 21.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?483.99 ($522.49) per tonne on Friday February 21, up by ?,?2.92 per tonne from ?,?481.07 per tonne on February 20.The index was calculated ba...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil increased in the week to Friday February 21, amid improving demand and low stock levels, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, some coated coil producers still had a shortage of hot-rolled coil - the base product for coated flat steel - so were reluctant to give discounts.Domestic pricesLocal producers were offering...Read More
Hot-rolled coil import prices decreased in Turkey during the week ended Friday February 21, with demand remaining moderate due to low domestic stock levels across the country, market participants said.Scrap prices continued to increase during the week, with the Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey, reaching $273.48 per tonne on February...Read More
Polish domestic rebar prices were stable during the week to Friday February 21 after a decrease the previous week, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, ex-works Poland, was unchanged at 2,050-2,150 zloty ($517-543) per tonne on February 21. This follows a decline to this level on February 14 from 2,150-2,200 zloty...Read More
Higher raw materials costs in the global market, particularly for scrap, spurred some Egyptian rebar producers to raise their offers to domestic customers during the week to Thursday February 20.Ezz Steel was offering rebar at E ?10,100 ($646) per tonne, up from E ?9,900 per tonne a week earlier, although it was ready to give an E ?80-per-tonne discount if a firm bid was made.Suez Steel announced...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market declined during the week to Friday February 21 because of low-priced Japanese billet transactions and competitive offers for Chinese billet.But market sentiment turned positive towards the end of the week, with sources saying that prices are likely to have bottomed out for now.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was unchanged in the week ended Friday February 21, stable for a second week amid steady demand and regular increases in European scrap export prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?70-90 ($90-116) per tonne on Friday....Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India surged this week on freight rate increases and a rising Turkish scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 21.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $303.09 per tonne on Friday, up by $16.13 per tonne from $286.96 per tonne one week ago.Deals for shredded at the start of the week were...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices continued to surge on Friday February 21, with mills booking more cargoes for March shipment, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel producer in the Izmir region booked a US cargo comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $280 per tonne, 10,000 tonnes of shredded at $285 per tonne and 2,000 tonnes of bonus at $290 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Iskender...Read More
Higher raw materials costs in the global market, particularly for scrap, spurred some Egyptian rebar producers to raise their offers to domestic customers during the week to Thursday February 20.Ezz Steel was offering rebar at E ?10,100 ($646) per tonne, up from E ?9,900 per tonne a week earlier, although it was ready to give an E ?80-per-tonne discount if a firm bid was made.Suez Steel announced...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market declined during the week to Friday February 21 because of low-priced Japanese billet transactions and competitive offers for Chinese billet.But market sentiment turned positive towards the end of the week, with sources saying that prices are likely to have bottomed out for now.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast...Read More
Harry's eyes these days are on the Fed's balance sheet, and they'll continue to be, as we march forward through this repo and coronavirus crisis...Harry Dent is a Fortune 100 consultant, new venture investor, noted speaker, bestselling author, and the founder and senior editor at Dent Research, where he dedicates himself to identifying and studying demographic, technological, and geopolitical tren...Read More
Eric Sprott has more than 40 years of experience in the investment industry. In 1981, he founded Sprott Securities (now called Cormark Securities Inc.), which today is one of Canada's largest independently owned securities firms. In 2001, Eric established Sprott Asset Management Inc. Over the years, Eric has personally been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including one of Investor Dig...Read More
Chinese citizens get beaten, detained by police for not wearing a facial mask.Source: Chinese social mediaRead More
Police: No individual is allowed to spread information on the internet about the contagion if the information has not been approved by the authorities. Woman inside: Which agency are you referring to when you say "authorities"?Police: Go check the public notices. You are not allowed to spread any information. If you continue to do so and cause certain social impact, legal action will be pursued. Y...Read More
How bad is the coronavirus pandemic in China? It's worse than the Chinese government knows and worse than the world believes. Here are the official statistics on the coronavirus (technically COVID-19) as of today: Continue...Read More