Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 9 that are worth another look.South American flat steel import prices were mostly stable week on week as market liquidity dipped in the continent amid lockdowns and weakened demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The aerospace industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with companies in the sector forced to take drast...Read More
Chinese traders are ramping up bids for physical copper in a bid to secure units before an expected cut to valued-added tax (VAT) in April. The Shanghai copper market is betting on China's current 13% VAT being reduced as part of a raft of economic policy measures set to be considered when China's National People's Congress, the state legislature, returns later this month. This would echo a simila...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held above the $5,000 psychological mark on Thursday April 9, closing at $5,002.50 per tonne in a day with a turnover of just above 11,600 lots.The copper price reached an intraday high of $5,070 per tonne following a fresh cancellation of 300 tonnes, despite the low material turnover ahead of the long Easter weekend (Friday April 10-Monday April...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Thursday April 9 despite moderate trading activity, with sentiment improving on gains in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,270-3,280 yuan ($463-464) per tonne, up 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,200 yuan per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said trading activity on Thursday was just moderat...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices increased on Thursday April 9 amid reports of a drop in inventory levels at mills and the spot market. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,400-3,430 yuan ($481-486) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,350-3,380 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneSteel stocks continued to drop over the past week due to good demand. Data showing this decline releas...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: OversoldAluminium has been the hardest hit base metal over the past week, after relentless selling pressure took it to fresh multiyear lows while its LME peers generally consolidate or try to rebound. Aluminium is seeing far less in the way of supply restraint or disruptions than the other metals. But this market...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This week Fastmarkets' analysts and price reporters shared their views and recent findings in a webinar revealing some distinct fundamental tensions for steel, refining alloys and, of course, steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore.While the outlook for chrome and manganese ores and alloys is balanced, as far as market pa...Read More
Prices for bulk cargoes of deep-sea ferrous scrap imported into Bangladesh increased by $10 per tonne over the week to Thursday April 9, with suppliers in the United States raising their offers in response to lower material availability.Bangladesh import prices were also raised by continued demand for steel scrap in the country, despite the nation's recently-imposed lockdown, with at least one ste...Read More
The gold rally continues to pick up steam, driving the share prices of top gold stocks to new multi-year highs.Gold surgeAt the time of writing, gold trades at US$1,730 per ounce. A year ago, investors paid close to US$1,300. The rally started near the end of May and initially ran through the summer of 2019.Fears surrounding the trade war between China and the United States fuelled most of the gai...Read More
Teck currently has four steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley region of British Columbia. Credit: Teck ResourcesTeck Resources is facing allegations of putting workers at risk of contracting covid-19 and spreading the virus into the nearby communities by keeping coal operations open in the east Kootenay region of British Columbia.According to The Globe and Mail, a local resident wrote a le...Read More
Like any sport, investing strategies need to adjust depending on the situation. When it’s time to play offense, pull the goalie and go for it. When it’s time to play defense, collapse to the net.Right now, we’re in an obvious defensive environment. The preservation of capital and corporate survival have become key priorities for many companies. Just a few months ago, many high-fl...Read More
Thor-Kallestad, founder and CEO, Datacloud. Image from Datacloud. Seattle-based mining technology company Datacloud has partnered with Trevali (TSX:TV) on orebody evaluation at their Caribou mine in New Brunswick, Canada and at Rosh Pinah in Namibia, using cutting edge technology to provide information on ore-waste boundaries and to identify mineralized zones. The Caribou zinc-lead-silver mine is...Read More
Proposed Black Butte copper mine in Meagher County, Montana. Credit: MTDEQ The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MTDEQ) has issued a positive Record of Decision (RoD) to Sandfire Resources America (TSXV: SFR), granting the company an operating permit for its proposed Black Butte underground copper mine.Concurrently with the RoD, the company has also received its preliminary air quality...Read More
Northwest British Columbia. Stock image. The mining industry is fraught with capital cost overruns. A quick internet search will turn up many examples. The results quickly high-light that as many as two-thirds of mining projects see cost overruns. Moreover, the researcher can see that it is a decades-long problem. That is, the industry doesn't seem to be getting better at their cost...Read More
It's clear now the coronavirus will leave many permanent effects on society and be remembered for generations.Like 9/11 or the financial crisis of 2008, we will tell future generations about a time before coronavirus ("B.C.") and compare it to the new social order.Many have already begun speculating about what a post-lockdown world will look like. Speaking on a Wall Street Journal podcast, the Dir...Read More
Gold COT Report - FuturesLarge SpeculatorsCommercialTotalLongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort279,88030,93829,821118,885394,496428,586455,255Change from Prior Reporting Period -7,6492,258-2,523-9,198-17,546-19,370-17,811Traders19259695553276154 Small Speculators (C) GoldSeek.com LongShortOpen Interest 51,46424,795480,050 3,7682,209-15,602 non reportable positionsChange...Read More
Gold investment demand is soaring in the wake of the COVID-19 stock panic! Investors are rushing back into gold to diversify after seeing mind-boggling central-bank money printing and government spending. Since that epic monetary inflation won't be unwound, and investors were radically underinvested in gold before the panic, this trend is likely to persist for years. It will catapult gold...Read More
By Gary Tanashian[edit] It goes without saying that gold miners and the royalty companies that live off them will be shown to have been impaired like many other companies by the coming Q2 numbers due to shutdowns. An emailer questioned my view on this and it has been one of my personal caution points. Markets should be looking ahead, but during this euphoric sentiment release across broad market...Read More
By David HaggithToday the bulls did it again. This market remains deeply entrenched in denial, soaring even as unemployment soars higher toward the grand summits of the Great Depression and with certain knowledge that many jobs will not return.The U.S. stock market secured another strong advance on Thursday, despite an economic bombshell of historic proportions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...Read More
By Mike GleasonWild price action and unprecedented interventions once again characterized this holiday-shortened trading week.Oil prices whipsawed lower Thursday on concerns about expected oil production cuts from Russia and Saudi Arabia. But the general trend for most other assets, including metals and equities, was up - way up.Stocks finished out the week with the major averages posting their...Read More