Just like the precious metals market, black gold ended the previous week with a sizable upswing. The rally continued in the early Monday trading, as crude oil moved decisively above its previous April highs. The breakout above the April highs is a sign of strength, but it’s not been confirmed so far. Crude oil did close the previous week above the highest daily close of April, but it was jus...Read More
By Dave KranzlerThe chart above speaks for itself. You could not find a more bullish chart set-up in the stock market. Note that the HUI/Dow ration bottomed out in late 2019 at the same level where it bottomed in late 2000. Most investors in this sector were not around for the beginning of the precious metals bull market in late 2000. But you can see the big move that started in 2008 - for which...Read More
By Keith Weiner Suppose you wanted to run an enterprise the right way (we know, we know, this is pretty far-out fiction, but bear with us). And, your enterprise has a $1 million dollar piece of equipment that wears out after 10 years. You must set aside $100,000 a year, so that you have $1 million at the end of 10 years when the equipment needs replacing. There's a word, now archaic, to describ...Read More
Craig Hemke, TF MetalsBack in March and April, a chasm opened between the dollar price of spot gold (XAU) and the front month COMEX futures contract. So-called experts reassured us that this was simply due to "logistics" and "gold being in the wrong place". Was this true, or might it have been just another set of apologies from the usual shills?We first wrote about this issue on April 7, and it...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinSilver has spent 5 days above its Bollinger band on the daily chart. I give it at 1% chance..Read More
Swedish steelmaker SSAB plans to extend temporary layoffs for its Finnish sites until September at least in a response to a downturn in the European steel market, the company said in a release on Wednesday May 20. In April, SSAB agreed temporary layoffs at its Finnish sites averaging three weeks in April-June with its employees and announced steelmaking output cuts. With economic conditions a...Read More
Dilip Oommen, chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS), has been appointed as president of the Indian Steel Association (ISA).The decision was made in an extraordinary board meeting held on Tuesday May 19, the ISA said. Oommen takes the position from TV Narendran, CEO and MD of Tata Steel. He starts the role after more than 37 years of experience in the international stee...Read More
Production at Bosnian steelmaker ArcelorMittal Zenica has been interrupted by a strike, with unions protesting against temporary layoffs, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 19.The strikes were called on May 19 and affected all operations at the Zenica site except for the coking plant, sources said. The unions did not disclose how long the strikes will last....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 20 that are worth another look.China will maintain anti-dumping duties on some alloy steel seamless steel pipe imported from the United States and European Union for the next five years, according to the country's Ministry of Commerce.The Beer Institute has opposed a proposal by S&P Platts to impose a floor for the implied du...Read More
Cobalt has continued to trade on either side of $15 per lb so far this week, with thin spot demand, lockdowns and economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic limiting scope for gains despite some sellers holding back from the spot market. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $14.80-15.20 per lb on Wednesday May 20; the price has remained...Read More
The zinc premium in the United States moved for the first time in nine months, hitting a more than three-year low amid slack demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Zinc premiums in northern Italy, meanwhile, rose after lockdown restrictions eased.Battery giant Exide Technologies is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under US Bankruptcy Code, announcing plans to sale of its North America...Read More
The Beer Institute has opposed a proposal by S&P Platts to impose a floor for the implied duty-unpaid US Midwest aluminium premium, as well as any changes to its methodology that may alter premiums and impact contracts based on their current methodology. Mary Jane Saunders, the trade association's General Counsel, said in a letter to the price reporting agency on May 18 that the proposal was "inco...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 20 that are worth another look.China will maintain anti-dumping duties on some alloy steel seamless steel pipe imported from the United States and European Union for the next five years, according to the country's Ministry of Commerce.The Beer Institute has opposed a proposal by S&P Platts to impose a floor for the implied du...Read More
How long it will take the global economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic is anyone's guess right now.Could the world's major economic regions be in for an "LUV" recovery similar to the one they saw after the global financial crisis of 2008-09?That was the format of recovery that was expected in 2009 by former Rio Tinto chief executive officer Tom Albanese, who was at the helm of the mining g...Read More
When this day come, and current spreads may signal that it's coming sooner rather than later, the price discovered for physical gold and silver will... by Craig Hemke via Sprott Money NewsA Crisis of Confidence, Part Two - Craig Hemke (May 19, 2020)Back in March and April, a chasm opened between the dollar price of spot gold (XAU) and the front month COMEX futures contract. So-called experts reas...Read More
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSJust like we saw in gold in March, unnatural things are happening in silver right now, and widening spreads are just one of the things that have our attention...Craig Hemke of TF Metals Report interviewed by Half Dollar of Silver DoctorsBack in March, we saw some crazy developments in the paper versus...Read More
The smooth flow of material from South Africa will remain uncertain for a considerable period even after the country eased its restrictions on activity in response to the Covid-19 virus. South Africa entered lockdown on March 26, which severely tightened exports of 37% manganese ore, UG2 chrome ore and foundry grade chromite, among other materials. The government has since granted permission for m...Read More
China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) forecasts the country could post a decline of 16 million tonnes in steel exports in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets. The association convened with several major mills on May 12 to address concerns of the country's rising imports against falling exports in the steel industry, two sources familiar with the meeting said. Steel export bus...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday May 20.Please click...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price closed trading on Wednesday May 20 higher, on optimism of a possible slowing in the coronavirus-related economic downturn and while buying in the LME drove the price up and reduced arbitrage profits.LME copper's outright price closed at $5,442.50 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, climbing over 1.6% from an intraday low of $5,328 per tonne, while t...Read More