The European Commission (EC) has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15. "On the basis of [the European] Union interest considerations, [the EC] may have to review certain elements of the safeguard measures in order to take account of recent developments or changed circumstances. Furthermore, such a review should be...Read More

CIS rebar and wire rod producers turned bullish in the second half of February, because of a surge in scrap prices in Turkey in recent weeks.Indications of rebar offers from both Russia and Ukraine were reported at $440 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday February 17, whereas in the first week of February a major Ukrainian producer was ready to sell rebar at $420 per tonne fob Black Sea.Last week, s...Read More

A summary of state-owned Steel Authority of India's (Sail) financial results for its third quarter covering the period of October to December, and the first nine months of its financial year 2019-20.In brief Sail reports higher sales and saleable steel production in the third quarter, but lower prices hurt earnings The company said the reduction in prices has hurt the financial performance of all...Read More

Demand for rebar in China's domestic market remained weak on Monday due to a lack of manpower in downstream sectors, which continued to put pressure on prices for the long steel product.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($482-487) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,370-3,400 yuan per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneSellers in eastern China kept their offers flat amid weak deman...Read More

In this update we are going to review a small but important range of commodities / lead indicators which strongly suggest that the seemingly endless bullmarket in US equities is living on borrowed time and will end sooner rather than later, and given how long it has lasted and how extremely overvalued it has become, the downturn will likely start with a crash phase.Regardless of what the eventua...Read More

By Dave KranzlerThe stock market is becoming increasingly disconnected from underlying main street reality. Corporate profits have been declining since the third quarter of 2018. However, pre-tax corporate profits have been declining since the Q3 2014 (this data is available on the St. Louis Fed FRED website). Real corporate profits (adjusted for CPI and including inventory write-downs and capex...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold monthly chart is bullish. Gold has been consolidating since the start of the year..Read More

GDP GenesisWe Need a Pleasure MeasureFlawed Data DependenceMy 2020 Forecast and the CoronavirusSIC Registration Is OpenThe welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of [GDP]." Simon Kuznets (who developed GDP), 1934At the risk of restating the obvious, production should result in a product the producer can recognize. That's the case even for intangible products. Artists know th...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 17 that are worth another look.Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Monday amid the gradual return of workers after the extended lunar new year holiday in China.The European Commission has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into a number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15.The market of...Read More

Ferrous scrap prices in Turkey rebounded on an improvement in demand from the country's steel mills during the working week ended Friday February 14. The upturn in Turkish prices sparked a recovery in the Indian markets, while prices in the United States were set to follow.Turkish prices increase amid higher buying interestTurkish buying brings signs of recovery in US export marketLow prices for J...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have rebounded over the past week following an upturn in imported scrap values, sources said on Monday February 17.In the middle of last week, imported scrap prices increased sharply in response to improved demand from Turkish steel producers.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $274.82 per tonne on February 14, up...Read More

Most of the global markets for steel billet showed low activity in the week ended Friday February 14, but offer prices from the main producing regions still increased, amid higher costs for scrap raw material and weak demand for semi-finished steel products.Prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey rose, but buying interest remained subdued, with customers preferring to t...Read More

Demand for rebar in China's domestic market remained weak on Monday due to a lack of manpower in downstream sectors, which continued to put pressure on prices for the long steel product.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($482-487) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,370-3,400 yuan per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneSellers in eastern China kept their offers flat amid weak deman...Read More

Chinese traders have started offering Chinese billet for export to Southeast Asia - a trade flow not commonly seen since 2017 - in a telling sign of bearish sentiment in the domestic Chinese long steel markets. The billet cargoes are priced at $415-420 per tonne cfr to the Philippines and Indonesia, and at $410-415 per tonne cfr Thailand, falling below asking prices for material from other origins...Read More

China's output and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell by more than 50% year on year in January 2020.China produced 40,000 NEVs in January 2020 - down by 55.4% compared with January 2019, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Sales of NEVs totaled 44,000 units in January, down by 54.4% year on year. CAAM said the decline was due to their being...Read More

General Motors (GM) does not anticipate its full-size truck production in the United States to experience any immediate effect from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China, according to a company spokesman."The situation is still quite fluid, but GM, other automakers and suppliers have begun the process of restarting vehicle and parts production in China," David Barnas, a representativ...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 17 that are worth another look.Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Monday amid the gradual return of workers after the extended lunar new year holiday in China.The European Commission has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into a number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15.The market of...Read More

In this update we are going to review a small but important range of commodities / lead indicators which strongly suggest that the seemingly endless bullmarket in US equities is living on borrowed time and will end sooner rather than later, and given how long it has lasted and how extremely overvalued it has become, the downturn will likely start with a crash phase.Regardless of what the eventua...Read More

By Dave KranzlerThe stock market is becoming increasingly disconnected from underlying main street reality. Corporate profits have been declining since the third quarter of 2018. However, pre-tax corporate profits have been declining since the Q3 2014 (this data is available on the St. Louis Fed FRED website). Real corporate profits (adjusted for CPI and including inventory write-downs and capex...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold monthly chart is bullish. Gold has been consolidating since the start of the year..Read More