Adam HamiltonArchivesOct 16, 2020Today's beaten-down US dollar is a major short-term risk for gold. For decades this yellow metal has often inversely mirrored the fortunes of the world's reserve currency. Dollar trends are important trading cues for highly-leveraged gold-futures speculators, who wield outsized influence over gold prices. So an overdue mean-reversion rebound rally erupting in the U...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap for November shipments at slightly higher prices in the working week to Friday October 16, easing the oversupply in the United States. Improving buying interest for finished steel supported scrap imports into Southeast Asia.Turkish steel mills replenish scrap stocks on strong export salesTurkish bookings welcomed in US due to oversupplyRecoverin...Read More
The price of shredded scrap imported into India inched upward on Friday October 16 after the downward price trend in the market reversed, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $308.62 per tonne on Friday, up from $305.74 per tonne one week earlier. This was the first upward movement after four consecutive weeks of...Read More
Indonesian authorities have extended the deadline for scrap sellers to comply with new, strict import regulations until the end of the year, leading to a burst of activity in the market, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 16.Rules concerning the registration of scrap exporters to Indonesia came into force on September 30, causing many deals to be canceled because some exporters...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME and the SHFE were mixed this morning, Friday October 16, but overall were holding up well despite growing concern over the spread of Covid-19 across Europe and the United States. Despite the spread of the pandemic the markets seem to be assured that more stimulus will be forthcoming. EU passenger car registrations climbed 3.1% in September, compared with last year, bu...Read More
An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate price rose for the first time since May 2019 after increased buying last month diminished the availability of cheaper material when market participants returned from the National Day holiday.China's battery-grade lithium carbonate price broke 13 weeks of stability by narrowing up by 1,000 yuan per tonne. China's lithium hydroxide market fell slightly aft...Read More
Many analysts and commentators are speculating the price of gold could jump following a "blue wave" victory for Democrats next month.London's Financial News reports, "A Democratic sweep could lead to a 2%-5% spike in gold prices on the back of a 'knee-jerk' move toward a weaker U.S. dollar and lower yields, according to JPMorgan metals analyst Natasha Kaneva."However, while I think there's a good...Read More
Prices of flat-rolled steel imports in South America mostly moved upward in the week to Friday October 16, amid higher offers from Chinese mills and deals being settled at higher levels.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, was $530-565 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $530-560 per tonne a week before.Chinese offers were reported mo...Read More
Indian mills were holding back their hot-rolled coil export offers because domestic prices for the commodity were still strong because of production shortfalls, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 16.The price of steel hot-rolled coil (commodity), export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $510-515 per tonne on October 16, unchanged since last week in the absence of new export off...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a steel hot-rolled coil import (Japan, Korea, Taiwan-origin), cfr Vietnam, $/tonne price assessment, to add value to its coverage of the flat steel sector in East Asia, after feedback from key market participants.The proposed price assessment will increase the transparency of steel hot rolled coil prices in Asia, given the premium that Japan, Korea, Taiwan-o...Read More
Brazilian flat and long steel producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will increase its prices in November for flat steel products by 7.5-10%, and for rebar by 10%, because of recovering demand and the high prices of imported material."The current premium [the difference between prices of domestically produced and imported material] for hot-rolled coil is a negative 5-10%, which allows us t...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were largely stable in the week to Friday October 16, with buyers skeptical about new price rises, expecting instead that demand from end-user sectors would slow down on seasonal factors, sources have told Fastmarkets.During the assessment week, buying activity in Poland's rebar market was reported to be only moderate, sources said."The restocking [drive] is o...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices inched up from their downtrend on Friday October 16, sources said, adding that the expected increase in weekly iron ore port inventory and supply in the fourth quarter limited the increment in iron ore prices. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.08 per tonne, up $0.38 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.64 per tonne, up $0.60 per t...Read More
Brazil's export pig iron market was quiet during the week to Friday October 16 because suppliers have full order books and expected higher prices in the Chinese market.Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, at $352-355 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week because no trading activity was reported.Pig iron offers from the south of Brazil were repo...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap for November shipments at slightly higher prices in the working week to Friday October 16, easing the oversupply in the United States. Improving buying interest for finished steel supported scrap imports into Southeast Asia.Turkish steel mills replenish scrap stocks on strong export salesTurkish bookings welcomed in US due to oversupplyRecoverin...Read More
The price of shredded scrap imported into India inched upward on Friday October 16 after the downward price trend in the market reversed, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $308.62 per tonne on Friday, up from $305.74 per tonne one week earlier. This was the first upward movement after four consecutive weeks of...Read More
The CIS export billet market was largely quiet in the week to Friday October 16 due to a mismatch between sellers' and customers' price expectations.Offers of CIS-origin billet were heard mainly within the range of $410-415 per tonne fob Black Sea, but some suppliers were seeking even higher numbers, according to market participants' reports.Meanwhile, customers' prices ideas rarely exceeded $400...Read More
In a liquidity crisis, everybody sells everything, explains best-selling Currency Wars author Jim Rickards. "But if you're losing money in stocks, people sell gold to make the margin calls," he says on why we may see dips in the gold price. "So, gold does go down, but strong hands are watching and they come in and buy." Rickards is forecasting a major bullish forecast for gold. With prices closer...Read More