Most of the global markets for steel billet showed low activity in the week ended Friday February 14, but offer prices from the main producing regions still increased, amid higher costs for scrap raw material and weak demand for semi-finished steel products.Prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey rose, but buying interest remained subdued, with customers preferring to t...Read More

Demand for rebar in China's domestic market remained weak on Monday due to a lack of manpower in downstream sectors, which continued to put pressure on prices for the long steel product.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($482-487) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,370-3,400 yuan per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneSellers in eastern China kept their offers flat amid weak deman...Read More

Chinese traders have started offering Chinese billet for export to Southeast Asia - a trade flow not commonly seen since 2017 - in a telling sign of bearish sentiment in the domestic Chinese long steel markets. The billet cargoes are priced at $415-420 per tonne cfr to the Philippines and Indonesia, and at $410-415 per tonne cfr Thailand, falling below asking prices for material from other origins...Read More

In this update we are going to review a small but important range of commodities / lead indicators which strongly suggest that the seemingly endless bullmarket in US equities is living on borrowed time and will end sooner rather than later, and given how long it has lasted and how extremely overvalued it has become, the downturn will likely start with a crash phase.Regardless of what the eventua...Read More

China's output and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell by more than 50% year on year in January 2020.China produced 40,000 NEVs in January 2020 - down by 55.4% compared with January 2019, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Sales of NEVs totaled 44,000 units in January, down by 54.4% year on year. CAAM said the decline was due to their being...Read More

General Motors (GM) does not anticipate its full-size truck production in the United States to experience any immediate effect from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China, according to a company spokesman."The situation is still quite fluid, but GM, other automakers and suppliers have begun the process of restarting vehicle and parts production in China," David Barnas, a representativ...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 17 that are worth another look.Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Monday amid the gradual return of workers after the extended lunar new year holiday in China.The European Commission has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into a number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15.The market of...Read More

In this update we are going to review a small but important range of commodities / lead indicators which strongly suggest that the seemingly endless bullmarket in US equities is living on borrowed time and will end sooner rather than later, and given how long it has lasted and how extremely overvalued it has become, the downturn will likely start with a crash phase.Regardless of what the eventua...Read More

By Dave KranzlerThe stock market is becoming increasingly disconnected from underlying main street reality. Corporate profits have been declining since the third quarter of 2018. However, pre-tax corporate profits have been declining since the Q3 2014 (this data is available on the St. Louis Fed FRED website). Real corporate profits (adjusted for CPI and including inventory write-downs and capex...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold monthly chart is bullish. Gold has been consolidating since the start of the year..Read More

GDP GenesisWe Need a Pleasure MeasureFlawed Data DependenceMy 2020 Forecast and the CoronavirusSIC Registration Is OpenThe welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of [GDP]." Simon Kuznets (who developed GDP), 1934At the risk of restating the obvious, production should result in a product the producer can recognize. That's the case even for intangible products. Artists know th...Read More

Anglo-Australian iron ore miner Rio Tinto has lowered its iron ore shipment guidance following infrastructure damage across its Pilbara operations in Western Australia. The miner now expects shipments of 324-334 million tonnes in 2020, down from a previous guidance of 330-343 million tonnes, it said on Monday February 17. "Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia, are pro...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15. "On the basis of [the European] Union interest considerations, [the EC] may have to review certain elements of the safeguard measures in order to take account of recent developments or changed circumstances. Furthermore, such a review should be...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 17 that are worth another look.Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Monday amid the gradual return of workers after the extended lunar new year holiday in China.The European Commission has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into a number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15.The market of...Read More

Most of the global markets for steel billet showed low activity in the week ended Friday February 14, but offer prices from the main producing regions still increased, amid higher costs for scrap raw material and weak demand for semi-finished steel products.Prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey rose, but buying interest remained subdued, with customers preferring to t...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have increased slightly day on day in the north of Europe, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday February 17.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?480.00 ($519.84) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?0.66 per tonne from ?,?479.34 per tonne on February 14.https://www.metalbulletin.com/My-price-book.html?price=42176The i...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday February 17, topping gains across the base-metals complex despite low trading volumes, while zinc gathered momentum over the afternoon but remained rangebound.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,812 per tonne in the afternoon, its highest level since January 24 and breaching nearby re...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 17 that are worth another look.Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Monday amid the gradual return of workers after the extended lunar new year holiday in China.The European Commission has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into a number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15.The market of...Read More

Trade disputes and geopolitical uncertainties had already made the prospects for global economic growth uncertain. A coronavirus has now added to the challenges facing financial markets.The epicenter of the virus is Wuhan, an important commercial hub in China that is home to 11.9 million people, including the country's largest student population. It is also a manufacturing hub, with around 500 fac...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products.Latest transaction: rebarRebarEast China, domestic, grade III 16-25mm...Read More