China will ban the import of all solid waste from 2021 for environmental reasons, but ferrous scrap will not be affected by the move.Well-placed sources with deep knowledge of government policy told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1 that the ban - announced by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment a day earlier - does not affect imports of the steelmaking raw material.Import restrictions imposed s...Read More

There are many crosswinds for the markets to contend with this morning, Wednesday July 1, with better manufacturing data in Asia and interest rate cuts in China, but a deteriorating Covid-19 situation - especially in parts of the Americas - and raised geopolitical tension over Hong Kong.China's Caixin and Japan's manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) climbed to 51.2 from 50.7 and 40.1...Read More

Spot availability for cobalt hydroxide remained tight in late June, with many suppliers sold out for July cargoes and taking time to gauge how much material they will be able to offer in August amid shipment uncertainties from South Africa, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China stood at 65-67% on Wednesday July 1, unchanged since...Read More

We learned from Dr. Daniel Bullard, CEO of Arcanum Alloys that they are looking to change the way that steel is manufactured. Arcanum Alloys has developed a breakthrough technology to drive revolutionary performance and margins in numerous metal alloy markets. They are currently commercializing two products that are using Surface-Optimized Diffusion Alloy technology (SODA). One is a stainless stee...Read More

We hit another milestone in June.Today, the count of COVID-19 cases here in the U.S. has officially risen above 2.5 million.Things can always get worse, right? Keep whispering that mantra under your breath, it'll help.If you're like me and trying to find any silver linings during this crisis, all you need to do is know where to look.Fortunately for me, the answer was sitting right behind me.A few...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Wednesday July 1. Key driversCobalt prices edge closer to $14 per lb while sellers revise price expectations in an effort to lock in spot sales after a protracted period of thin demand. Demand is still reportedly firmer than in April and May, on balance, made up of...Read More

From the low-price environment and lithium's extended supply chain to the emergence of standardized battery-grade compounds, here are the key themes that dominated the conversation among panelists during Fastmarkets' webinar on "How Covid-19 has affected lithium markets" on June 23.Lithium production unhinderedLithium production has been free from any significant disruptions caused by Covid-19, an...Read More

European producers of hot-rolled coil have achieved a transaction price increase supported by the lack of import offers and a degree of demand improvement, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.The definitive decision in the EU's safeguard measures review on June 30 will also support domestic prices, market sources said. The European Commission has decided to replace yearly country-specific...Read More

Canadian oil & gas stocks have been consolidating over the past month while other economically-sensitive stocks in the mining area have been soaring. If the global economy continues to recover over the summer, investors could warm up to the Energy sector again. Today on INK Ultra Money, we look at a Canadian junior producer where insiders have been buying the dip over the past month.Insider buyin...Read More

Domestic prices for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Europe were largely unchanged in most regions over the past week, supported by improving demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, remained at ?,?420-440 ($472-494) per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.The assessment was b...Read More

Domestic steel rebar prices have ticked upward in the south of Europe, supported by improved buying activity, but were steady in the north, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?420-435 ($472-488) per tonne on July 1, compared with ?,?410-425 a week earlier.Italian producers i...Read More

The price of steel hollow sections in Europe moved up on Wednesday July 1, following feedstock price rises. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?550-560 ($617-628) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?535-550 per tonne a week earlier. The price rise came after producers of hot-rolled coil, the feedstock material for sections, anno...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 1 that are worth another look.Brazilian iron ore pellet producer Samarco is on schedule to resume operations by the end of 2020 despite health and safety measures taken to prevent Covid-19 from spreading among workers, the company told Fastmarkets on July 1.Industry associations up and down the steel and metals supply chain...Read More

Brazilian iron ore export volumes increased by 1.3% year on year in June, according to figures released by the country's economy ministry on Wednesday July 1.Shipment volumes totaled 30.05 million tonnes last month, compared with 29.66 million tonnes in June 2019.Exports also rose by 40% from May's total of 21.5 million tonnes.In May, there were concerns about the supply of iron...Read More

Turkish steel producers have resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases for August shipments after achieving lower prices, sources said on Wednesday July 1.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 16,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $256 per tonne, 6,000 tonnes of shredded at $261 per tonne and 8,000 tonnes of plate and structural scrap (P&S) at $266 per tonne cfr. The cargo...Read More

Stefan Gleason, Money Metals ExchangeAs third quarter trading kicks off following a tumultuous first half of the year, investors are hoping for an auspicious July.Both stocks and precious metals posted impressive advances in the second quarter. The S&P 500 finished the April-June period with a gain of nearly 20%, its best quarterly performance since 1998. The Dow Jones Industrials, meanwhile, po...Read More

By: Jan Nieuwenhuijs, Voima GoldAn interview with the gentlemen behind the website "WTF Happened in 1971?" The last remnants of the gold standard were abandoned in August 1971, when President of the United States Richard Nixon decided to close the gold window (foreigners couldn't redeem dollars for gold at the Treasury anymore). From 1945 until 1971, the U.S. dollar was backed by gold, and serv...Read More

I've been wondering what might provide the catalyst to push the Dow above 30,000, and this may be it, from Bloomberg: "A strain of virus spreading in Chinese pigs has shown it can also infect humans, with researchers suggesting that another pathogen with pandemic potential waits in the wings behind Covid-19." There's no telling how much stimulus we'd see if a new virus takes wing before we've...Read More

Industrial metal demand and energies demand will be much higher than the second quarter. World will never be in lockdown mode for the rest of the year. Cities, localities, districts may be locked down but never a nation. Demand for metals and energies will be there. Pace of demand will vary each month in every nation. Human have to live with COVID. Wearing mask and other precautions need to be t...Read More

Max Keiser has a virtual sitdown with Patrick Bet-David to talk blockchain, cryptocurrency and bitcoin. Max Keiser is an American broadcaster and film-maker. He hosts Keiser Report, a financial program broadcast on RT. He presents a weekly show about finance and markets on London's Resonance FM, and writes for The Huffington Post. Keiser invented "Virtual Specialist Technology," a software system...Read More