Brazilian steel demand decreased further in April, demonstrated by lower volumes of flat-rolled products sold in the market and despite a recovery in the long-rolled market, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday May 23. Steel demand has now fallen for two consecutive months, following a drop of 1.6% in March. Steel apparent consumption was 1.67 million tonnes in April,...Read More
The weakening of Turkey's lira against the US dollar has pushed up the domestic prices for rebar and wire rod despite sluggish demand over the past week, sources said on Thursday May 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey on Thursday was TRY3,330-3,420 ($547-561) per tonne ex-works, up from last week's TRY3,250-3,350 per tonne ex-works.The mills in the Izmir region we...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices went through corrections on Thursday May 23 after jumping to more than $105 per tonne cfr China a day earlier, but Chinese steelmakers' demand for the material remained robust.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $103.79 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.99 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $101.98 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.99 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-L...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, Global Ore, three 170,000-tonne shipments of 62% Fe Pilbara...Read More
Ex-China seaborne coking coal spot prices fell further on the back of a lower offer, while in China bullish sentiment kept prices largely firm.In the ex-China market, a cargo of branded materials was offered at $207 per tonne fob Australia during the day on trading platform Global Coal, $1 per tonne down from a day earlier."The descent in the screen offer is in line with the market situation. Our...Read More
The continued consolidation of the Indian steel industry is a "right step" in restoring growth and credibility to the domestic markets, Nathani Group's Zain Nathani said at the BIR 2019's World Recycling Convention & Exhibition in Singapore this week.The vice-president of BIR's ferrous division said bankrupt mills such as Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy, Essar Steel and Usha Martin have all f...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Thursday May 23, with nickel leading the charge lower amid persistent macroeconomic uncertainty and strength in the dollar.Ongoing trade tensions between China and the United States and concerns that a prolonged spat between the two may hamper global economic growth continued to exert downward pressure o...Read More
The Chinese domestic cobalt sulfate price hit a fresh low for 2019 mid-week amid persistent selling pressure among producers who are mostly struggling to break even, sources said.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for Chinese cobalt sulfate fell to 44,500-45,500 yuan ($6,444-6,589) per tonne on Wednesday May 22, down from 46,000-48,000 yuan per tonne previously. This placed the assessment at its...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices widened upward over the past week amid continued strong demand fromend users. The Fastmarkets MB domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,000-14,300 yuan ($2,027-2,070) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday May 22, widening up 200 yuan per tonne from a week earlier......Read More
The United States' reduction of tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25% from 50% last week will only partially reopen the US market to Turkish mills, who should avoid raising prices if they are to successfully regain a share in that market, several sources told Fastmarkets this week. The US has lowered its tariffs on steel imports from Turkey to 25% effective Friday May 17. Duties had been at...Read More
This is big, really big. I can't say that it's a surprise that Glencore might want to partner with First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V: FCC) / (QTCQX: FTSSF), but it would be by far the best possible outcome for management's strategic review of its 100%-owned refinery in Ontario. Shareholders & prospective investors were understandably growing nervous about First Cobalt's ability to deliver the restart fund...Read More
After peaking at a record high of over US$1,600 an ounce in late March, 2019 precious metal palladium has come off the boil, losing almost 18%. This has impacted palladium miners, with Canada's largest North American Palladium (TSX:PDL) losing 4.5% over the last year.Improving outlook for palladiumThe decline in the value of palladium has gone against many analysts' forecasts, where it was predict...Read More
If you’re invested in precious metals or mining stocks, you’ll want to pay attention.Sandstorm Gold (TSX:SSL)(NYSE:SAND) is a metals streaming company. That means it provides financing to mining companies so that they can get their projects into production.In exchange for the upfront financing, Sandstorm secures a certain percentage of the output at a fixed (often very discounted) pri...Read More
This is big, really big. I can't say that it's a surprise that Glencore might want to partner with First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V: FCC) / (QTCQX: FTSSF), but it would be by far the best possible outcome for management's strategic review of its 100%-owned refinery in Ontario. Shareholders & prospective investors were understandably growing nervous about First Cobalt's ability to deliver the restart fund...Read More
Elon Musk sent out an internal email to employees on Thursday in which he makes the highly dubious claims that the Company has 50,000 new orders for the Model 3, the Company has a "good chance" of exceeding Q4's record deliveries and the production of the Model 3 is close to 1,000 per week.Regardless of the veracity of the production numbers, the new orders and Q2 deliveries assertions are lik...Read More
The company, which is chaired by former St Barbara boss Tim Lehany, launched a A$16.3 million capital raising at the start of this month to progress its Goschen zircon and rare earths project in Victoria towards production.Last week it reported increased interest in the offer due to the US-China trade war."Since our last capital raise in March 2019, the market has become more savvy, and we're seei...Read More
The U.S. economy has seen one of the greatest periods of growth ever under the Trump administration.But the ride might be coming to an end soon.Last month, the U.S. Commerce Department revised fourth quarter GDP growth down from 2.6% to 2.2%. The change stems from weakness in consumer spending, investment, and housing - all of which came in lower than initially thought.Economists are saying a lag...Read More
Copper Fox Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUU) (OTC Pink: CPFXF) is focused on the exploration and development of copper properties in Canada and the United States. At PDAC 2019, we learned from Elmer Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, that they have four copper projects and a significant investment in a publically traded company that spans the copper space from early stage exploration to very advanced...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 203,628114,82383,533167,827275,765454,988474,121 Change from Prior Reporting Period -22,73312,9984,7748,383-20,862-9,576-3,090 Traders 17781835058261193 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 53,65534,522508,643 224-6,262-9,352 non reportable positionsC...Read More
By Robert LambourneThe statements of account for March and April 2019 recently published by the Bank for International Settlements indicate that the bank is still actively trading gold swaps, which the bank uses to gain access to gold held by commercial banks. The statements also show that there has been a large decline in gold swaps entered by the BIS in the two months, about 215 tonnes.This is...Read More