Spot payables for cobalt intermediates held steady week on week, although buying interest has thinned compared with the beginning of June and May's restocking. Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China was assessed at 65-66.5%of the standard-grade metal price (low-end) on FridayJune 19, unchanged since June 5.The spot market has been less busy since the start of J...Read More

The Attorney General of Switzerland has begun criminal investigations into Glencore's business practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the company said on Friday June 19.Baar, Switzerland-headquartered Glencore said it had been informed today that the investigation had commenced due to "failure to have the organizational measures in place to prevent alleged corruption," it said."G...Read More

There was a noticeable dip in trading in the Turkish deep-sea markets in the week ending Friday June 19 although prices remained firm. Slower buying activity was also noted on the Taiwan, Vietnam and Indian markets amid the possibility of lower prices. The US market was the expectation to this.  Purchases begin to slow on Turkish marketUS export market reports deals from West and East coastVi...Read More

German diecaster DGH Group has begun insolvency proceedings, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets understands that the insolvency action pertains to three group companies - DGH Heidenau, DGH Hof and DGH ZIT - with appointed insolvency administrator Franz-Ludwig Danko currently considering potential restructuring options.The company, headquartered in Donha, Ger...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market at the end of the week in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Steelmakers in the country have been quiet most of the week, having booked only two deep-sea cargoes on Monday, with most of the market participants believing that prices have reached a peak.On Monday...Read More

Markets were mixed again this morning, Friday June 19, while participants wait to see if second waves of Covid-19 are going to derail the V-shaped recovery in asset markets.Needless to say the V-shaped recoveries in prices seem to be ignoring the current depressed state of demand and the forecasts for 2020. Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly firmer this morning, while pre-market major wester...Read More

Nornickel has completed the first phase of cleaning a massive oil spill in its key mining division, an incident it recently told investors signaled no immediate danger to its mines."We have collected more than 90% of the spilt fuel and 70% of contaminated soil, thus winding up the first stage of the long-term plan to eliminate the consequences of the HPP-3 incident," Sergey Dyachenko, first vice p...Read More

Spot payables for cobalt intermediates held steady week on week, although buying interest has thinned compared with the beginning of June and May's restocking. Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China was assessed at 65-66.5%of the standard-grade metal price (low-end) on FridayJune 19, unchanged since June 5.The spot market has been less busy since the start of J...Read More

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

The Chinese domestic spot lithium price fell further on Thursday June 18 with thin downstream buying leading to more pressure and lower prices, while prices in the rest of the world kept flat, sources said.China's battery-grade lithium carbonate prices fell again after a week of stabilization.China's lithium hydroxide market declined due to quiet buying.Asian battery-grade lithium prices range bou...Read More

Flat steel import prices increased week on week in South America while the continuing global uptrend made offers from China, Japan and Brazil more expensive.Buyers were starting to reject the current price increases, however, due to end-user demand recovering largely at a slow pace after countries enforced restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19. Some previously reported offers were being rev...Read More

The ultra-wealthy have a lot in common. They're typically hardworking, smart, and personable. They tend to be independent thinkers and good salesmen. They also tend to read a lot.Warren Buffett is said to read for as much as 80% of his day. Bill Gates says he reads 50 books a year. Jeff Bezos clearly has some love of books. Remember, Amazon began as an online bookstore.Steve Siebold, the author of...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe have been under pressure from low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?390 ($436.37) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?2.14 per tonne from ?,?392.14 per tonne on Thursday June 18.The index was also down by ?,?6.25 per tonne week on week and...Read More

Brazil's steel use dropped by a quarter year on year in May, after Covid-19 restrictions led to a slump in both supplies and demand, the country's steel association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said this week.Apparent steel consumption in the country totaled 1.35 million tonnes in May, down by 24.8% year on year from 1.79 million tonnes in May 2019, the institute said on Thursday June 18.Flat-roll...Read More

In this week's Insights newsletter, we make the case for healthcare stocks. They could look particularly attractive if the broad market continues to rally even as the economy experiences headwinds from COVID-19. Our insider of the week is CEO of a small Canadian biotech stock that has been soaring. Finally, our broadcast of the week is a free Real Vision Daily Briefing episode that explains why t...Read More

We released our INK Edge Top 20 Gold Report today where we continue to assess the Fed's zombification of corporate America. Eventually, the zombies will come for the greenback, and that will be a positive for gold and bitcoin. Right now, however, the market is in the grips of an investor euphoria over Fed stimulus. The same stimulus that is breeding this new population of zombies who will likely...Read More

Brazil's steel use dropped by a quarter year on year in May, after Covid-19 restrictions led to a slump in both supplies and demand, the country's steel association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said this week.Apparent steel consumption in the country totaled 1.35 million tonnes in May, down by 24.8% year on year from 1.79 million tonnes in May 2019, the institute said on Thursday June 18.Flat-roll...Read More

Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland increased on Friday June 19, after a public holiday, due to rising feedstock costs and good end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Buying activity started to recover this week after long public holiday in Poland, sources said.Demand form key rebar-consuming construction sector remains solid, they added, but a slowdown is expected in the&...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices moved up again on Friday June 19 due to higher trading activity, but market participants were not bullish on another price rise next week. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($506-510) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) - weekly assessment: 3,630-3,670 yuan per tonne, down by 50-60 yuan per tonne Eastern China's rebar prices h...Read More

There was a noticeable dip in trading in the Turkish deep-sea markets in the week ending Friday June 19 although prices remained firm. Slower buying activity was also noted on the Taiwan, Vietnam and Indian markets amid the possibility of lower prices. The US market was the expectation to this.  Purchases begin to slow on Turkish marketUS export market reports deals from West and East coastVi...Read More