Steel slab export prices from Brazil showed a steep increase in the week ended Friday December 11, with sellers achieving higher deals because of the positive trend in the flat steel markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, reached $650-670 per tonne on Friday, up by $60-70 per tonne from $590-600 per tonne a week earlier.As a result of recent pric...Read More

Chinese rebar exporters were more active this week amid an increase in overseas prices that made China-origin cargoes more attractive to potential buyers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,200 -4,230 yuan ($642-647) per tonne, up by 130 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 3,840-3,870 yuan per tonne, up by 140 yuan per tonneThe May rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Excha...Read More

Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS), China's second-largest steelmaker, has increased its purchase price for December-delivery silico-manganese to 6,350 yuan ($971) per tonne, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 10.The latest price is 270 yuan per tonne higher than the mill's purchase price of 6,080 yuan per tonne for November-delivery cargoes. HBIS' price, which applies to car...Read More

Rails made from "green steel" by Liberty France, a subsidiary of the Liberty Steel Group, have been approved for use on the French rail network by national service supplier SNCF R?(C)seau, the company said on Thursday December 10.The key focus for Liberty after it acquired the operations in August this year was to connect the Ascoval steelworks near Saint-Saulve with the Hayange rail mill in Mosel...Read More

Sector expert Michael Ballanger maintains the "golden bull is back," and in this missive he outlines the reasons why. As this is being penned, I am seated in my den just after 7 a.m. looking out into the pitch darkness of an early December morn and the only light is a reflection off the cool waters of the lovely swamp Lake Scugog emanating from the bustling metropolis known as Port Perry...Read More

Peter Krauth explains why he believes silver is heading into a massive bull market. It's getting harder with every passing day to find cheap assets.Stocks, bonds, real estate, they're all pretty pricey. And yet, no one seems to care.Instead, the masses, and asset managers, appear determined to keep pushing them higher.In recent days, the S&P 500, the Dow 30 and the Nasdaq all set new records....Read More

ArcelorMittal has signed a binding agreement with Invitalia, an Italian state-owned company, forming a public-private partnership for the Taranto flat steel plant in the south of Italy, formerly known as Ilva, the steelmaker said late on December 10.The investment agreement will result in a recapitalization of AM InvestCo, ArcelorMittal's subsidiary, which signed the purchase agreement for Ilva's...Read More

Historyis full of intriguing sayings coming down to us from other cultures that informour thinking and behavior."Managinga large state is like cooking a small fish." – Lao Tzu."Astitch in time saves nine." – A 1700's sewing reference."Healingis a matter of time; sometimes a matter of opportunity." – Hippocrates.OneI especially like tra...Read More

Aluminium primary foundry alloy (PFA) premiums in Europe rose for a fifth consecutive month on Friday December 11 due to stronger demand, while the premium in the United States was steady despite stronger demand in that market as well.EuropeDemand in Eastern Europe continues to improve along with primary aluminium premiums.But the move was capped by low liquidity, with participants focusing on lon...Read More

Steel slab export prices from Brazil showed a steep increase in the week ended Friday December 11, with sellers achieving higher deals because of the positive trend in the flat steel markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, reached $650-670 per tonne on Friday, up by $60-70 per tonne from $590-600 per tonne a week earlier.As a result of recent pric...Read More

A persistent global uptrend and a quick shift to negotiations for March-shipment cargoes, in some cases, continued to drive import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America significantly upward during the week to Friday December 11.A few Chinese mills took the unusual decision to change their offer prices twice in the week. Demand remained strong, but market participants started to become caut...Read More

The UK market for steel scrap deliveries to domestic steelmakers for monthly contracts increased for the second month in a row in December, against rallying European export markets and tight flows of scrap into British yards, industry sources said in the week to Friday December 11.The British market has also been affected by surging costs for containers for the export of metal goods internationall...Read More

Vaccines are coming. But so is the debt crisis. What does it imply for gold?COVID-19 cases are still rising at an alarming rate in the United States. As the chart below shows, the rolling 7-day average of new daily infections stays above 160,000. It means that the immediate economic outlook is rather dark. The short-term economic slowdown is good information for the gold market.But there is also b...Read More

When making decisions regarding thegold mining stocks sector, some will choose to follow price actions whileothers will use indicator tools. The Gold Miners Bullish Percent Index ($BPGDM)is one such tool, essentially being a gauge of overbought and oversoldconditions for the gold mining sector with readings plotted on a range between0 and 100. Anything below 30 suggests oversold conditions while r...Read More

Our advanced Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) modeling system is showing some interesting future trends for both Gold and Silver. The rally in precious metals has really just started if our ADL system is accurately predicting future price trends.Over the past two years, we’ve highlighted a number of ADL research posts that have proven to be incredibly insightful regarding future market price...Read More

            It was only afterhe entered politics that President Donald Trump began to fully grasp the bias, dishonesty,and fakeness that runs throughout the so-called mainstream media.Butgold bugs and sound money advocates have long known to distrust the reportingof establishment news sources.Journalists’anti-gold and anti-Trump biases c...Read More

Peter Krauth explains why he believes gold is the best COVID insurance policy. Bailouts and stimulus are not the best solution to the Covid pandemic.What is? Possibly…insurance.I know it's far from perfect, but I think it could still be the best overall option.On some level, it's surprising that the role of insurance has gotten so little attention in this crisis.After all, us and future gen...Read More

Zinc showed the biggest fall in its three-month price on the London Metals Exchange at the 5pm close on Friday December 11, with other base metals ending the week around established highs after days of rallying to new year-to-date peaks.The LME base-metals complex was boosted during the week by positive sentiment, driven by an expectation that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the United Sta...Read More

Gold Stocks remain in a correction, even if the October 29 lows continue to hold into December. Corrections are a function of price and time, and often in this sector, a correction can continue in terms of time, well after a low in price is made. But I digress.The most significant and most consistent moves to the upside usually occur after a crash or after a major breakout. Gold and silv...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices stayed on an upward trend on Friday December 11, despite environmental restrictions being imposed on steel mills in the steelmaking hub of Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $160.13 per tonne, up $3.55 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $160.41 per tonne, up $3.62 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grad...Read More