The lower house of the Brazilian Congress passed a personal and corporate income tax reform bill on Wednesday September 1 that included a 1.5 percentage point increase in mining royalties, while adding new commodities that will be subject to that change.The bill was approved by 398 votes against 77. It was intended to raise the Financial Compensation for Exploration of Mineral Resources - Cfem in...Read More

On August 31, New South Wales' Independent Planning Commission (IPC) announced it had blocked plans for a new coal mine in New South Wales' Southern Highlands.The IPC decided to refuse development of the $533-million Hume Coal and Berrima Rail Project due to the projects' social impact and effect on water resources. The project is incompatible with land use objectives for the area, the IPC sa...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade. U.S. equity index futures were quiet prior to release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for August Non-farm Productivity is an increase of 2.4% versus a gain of 2.3% in July. Consensus for the July U.S. Trade Deficit is $75.10 billion versus $75.70 billion in June. The Canadian D...Read More

Spot prices for Japanese exported scrap slid this week, reflecting weak demand from overseas buyers, market sources told Fastmarkets.But the end of the summer maintenance season at many domestic mills is set to shore up demand and spot prices in the coming weeks.Demand from key overseas market such as Vietnam and Taiwan remained very weak due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the former and cheaper cont...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday September 2, with the outlook remaining bearish despite a drop in steel inventories amid relatively active port trading, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao:  $142.02 per tonne,down $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao:  $142.59 per tonne,down $1.64 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qing...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal cfr price and hard coking coal fob price soared on Thursday September 2 due to sustained tight supply. And some Chinese coke producers proposed the ninth round of price hikes since the start of August.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $443.02 per tonne, up $11.99 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $403.85 per tonne, up $7.33 per...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China inched higher on Thursday September 2, after two consecutive days of moderate losses, with market sentiment improved by positive production and inventory data.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,670-5,690 yuan ($878-881) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped to an intraday high of 5,618 yuan p...Read More

Speculation as to whether China will lift its anti-dumping (AD) duty on Indonesian stainless steel arose during the week to September 2. Some market participants believe this move would reduce China's crude stainless steel production and thereby help lower carbon emissions.China has imposed AD duty on imports of stainless steel billet, slab, hot-rolled plate and coil produced in the European...Read More

"The planet needs Jerome Powell."This we learn from a certain Robinson Meyer - a staff writer for The Atlantic magazine. More from whom:Biden should renominate Powell for the climate's sake. The argument for keeping him is simple. Biden wants to do a lot of hard things to combat climate change, including passing an infrastructure bill, regulating car and truck pollution, revitalizing American indu...Read More

LME aluminium rose to a year-to-date high on Thursday September 2, while the other base metals also edged up following a bout of profit-taking activity at the end of trading on Wednesday. Aluminium's three-month price on the LME reached a new 2021 peak of $2,734.50 per tonne on Thursday morning, up 1.65% from Wednesday's closing price of $2,690 per tonne. Rising coal prices due to supply worries i...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices recovered slightly on Thursday September 2, with demand stronger than in recent days following a rise in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,210-5,250 yuan ($807-813) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded January rebar futures contract rose to 5,348 yuan per tonne on Thursday morning, up by 106 yuan per tonne from Wednesday's closing pri...Read More

Spread the loveLet me explain something. What I have pointed out about gold is that it DOES NOT rally merely because of inflation or the rise in debt. It will rally when we are looking at the collapse in confidence. The central banks have no desire to raise for their own budget will blow apart. The Fed is restrained by the ECB and the rest of the central banks pleading with the Fed on their knees...Read More

The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More

Many everyday Americans probably believe that the COVID vaccines will keep them from getting COVID. That's not true and never has been true.The vaccines do not prevent you from being infected with the COVID virus. They do not keep you from spreading the COVID virus.There have been many cases of so-called "breakthrough" infections where double-vaxxed citizens get COVID anyway. That's not uncommon.T...Read More

The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More

China's cobalt tetroxide prices drifted lower in the week to Wednesday September 1, due to weak demand from battery producers, while cobalt sulfate prices remained rangebound, with producers rejecting lower bids.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt tetroxide 72.6% Co min, delivered China fell to 275,000-285,000 yuan ($42,562-44,110) per tonne on September 1, down from 282,000-292,000 yuan per...Read More

The greatest paradox in foreign exchange markets today is the U.S. dollar (USD).U.S. fiscal responsibility is in ruins. In the past two years, the U.S. has authorized $11.5 trillion of new deficit spending and increased its base money supply by over $4 trillion. The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 130%, comparable to Lebanon, Italy and Greece, among the most profligate countries in the world....Read More

On-the-water African copper cargoes are now preferred by Chinese consumers to forward cargoes because some shippers have lost hope of finding logistics space in the next few months, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday September 1."You could 'win the game' if you could take these copper [cargoes] on-board. Then you could secure a profit," a trader source said.African countries such asZambia and Democrat...Read More

Containerized scrap buyers in Taiwan maintained their bids for the material on Thursday September 2 after deals to South Korea were concluded at lower prices this week, sources said.Lower cfr South Korea deals weigh on Taiwan pricesProduction cuts pose uncertainties to scrap demand in ChinaTaiwanTaiwanese buyers maintained bids at $445 per tonne cfr today, reluctant to increase them further after...Read More

Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KL; NYSE: KL; ASX: KLA) has released a mid-year updated resource estimate for its Detour Lake mine in Ontario, adding another 10.1 million oz. of contained gold. Measured and indicated resources are now 572 million tonnes grading 0.80 gram gold per tonne for 14.7 million contained ounces, a 216% increase. The inferred resource has grown, too. The estimate is now 1.1 millio...Read More