* $1,860/OZ could be a test for gold - analyst * Eurozone economic recovery stutters in August* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: in an external browser (Adds comments, updates prices)By Nakul IyerAug 21 (Reuters) - Gold fell as much as 1.6% on Friday asthe dollar bounced back, denting bullion's appeal and setting iton track for a second straight weekly decline.Spot gold f...Read More

Adam HamiltonArchivesAug 21, 2020 The mid-tier gold miners in this sector's sweet spot for upside potential have had a spectacular run since March's stock panic! That catapulted them to extremely-overbought levels, necessitating a correction to rebalance sentiment. The mid-tiers' just-reported Q2'20 operational and financial results reveal whether those big gains were fundamentally-righteous, and...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States in the week ended Friday August 21.China Domestic ferro-silicon prices held steady with firm offer pricesSome ferro-silicon smelters and silica ore plants in Ningxia province are currently under government inspection, which might impact their production and thus lead to a price upswing in the market once alloy availability t...Read More

Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index continues to set new lows and has done for three weeks in a row. Major Chinese smelters are well-stocked for the third quarter, with Collahuasi, Cerro Verde and some clean brands reported being bought in the high $40s, Fastmarkets heard.  Traders' buying levels are heard to be in a range of high $30s to low $40s,...Read More

(Corrects spelling of name in paragraph 8) * Graphic: 2020 asset performance* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020* Reuters Live Markets blog: By Elizabeth HowcroftLONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's doubts overthe U.S. economic recovery kept markets in the red on Thursday,even though European stock indexes spent the morning recoveringfrom initial losses.Wall Street was knocked from its re...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Government incentives will help solidify a future shift to cleaner energy, in addition to buffering electric vehicles (EVs) from the trend of declining sales faced by the wider automotive sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, attendees heard during a Fastmarkets webinar this week. "The question with incentives is always whether they just pull sales forward, and to some extent, we do feel like that...Read More

Asian import scrap prices continued to rise in the week to Friday August 21 amid solid demand in Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea, but buyers in Turkey remained away from the market while the Indian market softened.Turkish mills face weak lira, low long-steel demand, and want lower scrap pricesUS export markets quiet with lack of recent sales from East CoastVietnamese import scrap prices benefit fr...Read More

The price of containerized ferrous scrap imports into India was little changed this week, ending its six-week rally, following other global markets' pause in buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21. Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $309.47 per tonne on Friday, just 17 cents down from $309.64 per tonne one week pre...Read More

Markets were for the most part upbeat this morning, Friday August 21, with all of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange firmer, as were most Asian-Pacific equities, although they are firmer within consolidation patterns.But after the accelerated gains at the start of the week, with the S&P 500 regaining all the losses suffered from the coronavirus hit and with the base metals now on average...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ended Friday August 21.China Seaborne manganese ore prices slipped after sentiment was undermined by weakening domestic portside ore and spot alloy markets. Portside ore prices fell after traders lowered their offer prices to attract buying interest. Many alloy smelters, however, retreated from the market over th...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and the latest price moves.Read More

The cobalt market has consolidated recent gains and sellers are now looking at an anticipated return of consumer demand in Europe to stoke further price increases, but not all market participants are certain this will materialize. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam stood at $15.25-15.50 per lb on Friday August 21, unchanged from the previous day. The sta...Read More

In the latest Insights, we show how changing inflation expectations can have a big impact on investment returns. Our broadcast of the week features Tony Greer, editor of The Morning Navigator Newsletter, who nailed the continued stock market rally early on. He is now betting on more inflation. Meanwhile, our insider of the week could really shake up the market over the next few weeks. Click here...Read More

Import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America increased once again through the week to Friday August 21, to the levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, with October-shipment negotiations with all supplying regions being concluded at higher levels.There were reports of some deals to meet residual needs for October shipments during the period, and customers - particularly those on the Pacif...Read More

Liberty Steel Group has resumed operations at one of its blast furnaces at its Ostrava steelworks after nearly four months of downtime, the company said on Friday August 21. Liberty has restarted blast furnace (BF) No 2 at its plant in Ostrava in the Czech Republic on Friday and plans to gradually ramp up production to adapt to market demand, a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets. The BF wa...Read More

The domestic price of hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up on Friday August 21 after producers announced a rise in offers, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?433.75 ($513.83) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?1.87 from ?,?431.88 per tonne on Thursday.The index was also up by ?,?14.58 per tonne week on...Read More

Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland have been fairly stable over the past week despite somewhat slower buying, with market participants expecting to see higher prices in September because of increased scrap costs and a seasonal pick-up in demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21.Poland's rebar market was quiet during the assessment week due to the normal seasonal buying slowdown, sou...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices maintained their downward trend on Friday August 21, although trading activity picked up ahead of weekend. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,610-3,640 yuan ($523-527) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 3,650-3,690 yuan per tonne, down by 10-20 yuan per tonneSome buyers raised their procurement rates over the day on...Read More

Asian import scrap prices continued to rise in the week to Friday August 21 amid solid demand in Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea, but buyers in Turkey remained away from the market while the Indian market softened.Turkish mills face weak lira, low long-steel demand, and want lower scrap pricesUS export markets quiet with lack of recent sales from East CoastVietnamese import scrap prices benefit fr...Read More