Turkish exports of flat steel products fell by 46.11% year on year to 406,321 tonnes in November 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).This compares with a volume of 753,915 tonnes in November 2018, TUIK said.The decrease was also due to the fact that Turkish flat steel exports had increased by 139% year on year in November 2018.Coated flat-steel exports fell considerabl...Read More
Stocks are set to continue Friday's weaknessDow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are pointing to more losses for stocks, as tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran. This would extend the selling from Friday that was sparked by the airstrikes in Baghdad that killed Irarian military commander Qassem Soleimani, with President Donald Trump yesterday threatening sanctions on Iraq should th...Read More
We often cover the ongoing JPMorgan silver bullion saga here. It seems we have a new twist in the ongoing story since JPMorgan's takeover of the bankrupt Bear Sterns short silver position in early 2008.Late last year, in early November 2019, CBS’ 60 Minutes show did a puff Public Relations piece for the CEO of the world’s largest and Global Systematic Important Bank.Here we see 60 Minu...Read More
Gold faces big resistance between $1590-$1610 zone. Only a break of this zone will result in $1707.50 and $1822 in the near term. Short term hot money will flow into gold if it rises this week. Gold could be a Las Vegas if it rises this week. The quicker the pace of rise, the more will be short term volatility in gold. I will be closely watching the pace of rise and not the actual rise. Silver i...Read More
Declining volatility is a plus for bullsThe first two trading days of 2020 did not lack market-moving macro catalysts. The new year and new decade got off to a roaring start, as U.S. equities rallied in response to China's central bank reducing the reserve ratio for commercial banks by 50 basis points. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,234.85) advanced nearly 1% to kick off 2020 on the news, closing at a...Read More
Gold miners’ stocksblasted higher this past week, breaking out of their correction downtrend. Rapidly-improving psychology fueled suchstrong upside momentum that sector benchmarks are challenging months-old upleg highs. Most traders assume this is righteous, that goldstocks’ next upleg is starting to accelerate. But key indicators argue the contrarian side, that this b...Read More
Despite environmental issues being on the agenda, including the announced switch from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF)- to electric arc furnace (EAF)-based steelmaking process, profitability has been and will likely remain the key driver for Chinese steelmakers when it comes to choosing steelmaking raw materials, Fastmarkets analysts forecast. This has been evident in the decoupling of 62% Fe and 65...Read More
UG2 chrome ore producers achieve higher sales prices amid improved sentiment.Chrome ore prices up on higher offersAlloy downtrend capped amid stronger upstream marketJapanese, South Korean markets flat during holidaysEuropean alloy prices riseUS prices slightly firmer on thin trader inventories.Prices for UG2 chrome ore rose on Friday January 3 after South African producers increased their offers...Read More
Strengths? The top performing precious metal for 2019 was palladium, gaining 54.20 percent. In a weekly Bloomberg survey of analysts and traders, gold sentiment remained marginally bullish the first days of the New Year. The survey showed eight bullish, two bearish and seven neutral. At week-end, gold advanced toward a six-year high, climbing 1.5 percent to $1,551 an ounce in Lon...Read More
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:Our friend B.A. tonight challenges optimism among gold and silver investors that the latest crisis in the Middle East will explode Western central banking's longstanding gold price suppression policy.Ordinarily your secretary/treasurer would agree with him and change the channel from news to anything promising comic relief. After all, these geopolitical crises never...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange led gains at the close of trading on Monday January 6, closing firmly above the $1,800-per-tonne support level despite just under 30,000 tonnes of rewarranting this morning, while the light metal's forward spreads widened over the day. Aluminium's outright price on the LME closed at $1,833 per tonne, topping daily gains across the comple...Read More
Gold faces big resistance between $1590-$1610 zone. Only a break of this zone will result in $1707.50 and $1822 in the near term. Short term hot money will flow into gold if it rises this week. Gold could be a Las Vegas if it rises this week. The quicker the pace of rise, the more will be short term volatility in gold. I will be closely watching the pace of rise and not the actual rise. Silver i...Read More
In the first week of January the mood in some of the world's major steel billet markets turned bearish because of a lack of demand and weakening prices for finished long steel products.TurkeyIn Turkey, both import and export billet prices have softened over the past week, in line with falling offers for rebar and wire rod as well as poor demand.Offers of CIS-origin billet from traders were reporte...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe was stable on Monday January 6, due to limited trading activity after the holidays across Europe, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was stable day on day at ?,?439.38 ($490.13) per tonne on Monday January 6.The index was calculated based...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 6 that are worth another look.The global finished steel market in 2020 is set to be weighed down by a continuation of last year's weaker end-consumption rates, but there are bright spots coming in the longer term, Fastmarkets analysts forecast.Fastmarkets copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) index wa...Read More
Consumers are committing to lower volumes in long-term ferro-alloys contracts for 2020 compared with last year, according to market sources, creating the conditions for a busier spot market.But tightening ferro-chrome supply has also sparked concerns about over-reliance on the spot market, market sources said. Long-term contracts for ferro-alloys are usually settled against Fastmarkets' European b...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange led gains at the close of trading on Monday January 6, closing firmly above the $1,800-per-tonne support level despite just under 30,000 tonnes of rewarranting this morning, while the light metal's forward spreads widened over the day. Aluminium's outright price on the LME closed at $1,833 per tonne, topping daily gains across the comple...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices moved up on Monday January 6 with sentiment among steel mills in China and the rest of Asia reported to be positive.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $143.16 per tonne, up $3.10 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $152.12 per tonne, up $0.27 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange moved lower during morning trading on Monday January 6 despite low turnover, with price action pressured by a fresh inflow of more than 3,000 tonnes, while the LME zinc price was the most resilient over the morning period. Nickel's outright price was recently seen at $13,665 per tonne, topping morning losses with a downturn of just under 1%...Read More
AG ThorsonJan 03, 2020 07:38 AM GMTIn my article – Gold Prices Close to A Decisive Break, I described how gold was at a critical juncture. The trend broke higher a few days later and confirmed a cycle breakout. The next advance is underway, and I see significant potential in platinum as prices play catchup.Dollar BreakdownThe US dollar has rolled over and broken vital support. This sho...Read More