News of a Europe-origin cargo of ferrous scrap booked at lower prices by a Turkish steel mill came to light on Monday August 12, only the second such cargo to be traded this month, sources have told Fastmarkets.News of the cargo came to light late on Friday after the deadline for the indices on that day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices picked up some strength on Tuesday August 13 amid early gains in the futures market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($517-521) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,610-3,640 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneRebar futures picked up late on Monday and stayed high for the rest of the day. The most-traded October contract stay...Read More
PRIVATE BLOG - The Gold RallyPrivate blog posts are exclusively available to Socrates subscribers. To sign-up for Socrates or to learn more, please visit Ask-Socrates.com.https://ask-socrates.com/Read More
China's shock currency devaluation last week begs the following questions: Is China a rising giant of the twenty-first century poised to overtake the United States in wealth and military prowess? Or is it a house of cards preparing to implode?Conventional wisdom espouses the former. Yet, hard evidence suggests the latter.Your correspondent in the world famous Long Bar on the Bund in Shanghai, Chin...Read More
Markets are still digesting last week's Chinese devaluation that sent the Dow crashing over 700 points last Monday.And as everyone knows by now, the Trump administration labelled China a currency manipulator.The ironic part of it is that China has been manipulating its currency to strengthen it against the dollar.Here's the dynamic you need to understand…The Chinese yuan is softly pegged to...Read More
Silicon prices in the United States logged their 17th consecutive month of declines in August, a trend sources attributed mostly to surplus supply.Fastmarkets' price assessment for silicon, ddp US, dropped to $1.01-1.07 per lb on Friday August 9, down from $1.05-1.10 per lb on July 10 and its lowest since the price stood at $1.01-1.03 per lb in February-March 2017.The price had climbed to $1....Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ended Friday August 9. US Key drivers Excess supply endures, with contracted material, silicon-rich scrap alternatives and grade 5-5-3 increasingly coming to the United States from numerous overseas suppliers. Business remains subdued for automakers, lowering their demand for secondary aluminium...Read More
It's happened several times in the last couple of months - someone approaches me, clipboard in hand, and asks if I'm a California voter. Then, barely waiting for my response, they start asking me to sign a petition related to rent control.The first time it happened, at my local organic market in Santa Barbara, I just politely said "no thanks."The most recent time, at a professional women's surfing...Read More
Under the cloud of the continuing US/China trade dispute, which has no end in sight and is weighing on global economic activity, market sentiment is subdued. But numerous events are buffeting prices - with nickel supported by short-covering and fresh buying against concerns about present and future supplies, while copper mine supplies may be affected by strikes at ports in Peru. Zinc and tin, rema...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week ended Friday August 9. China Key drivers The price of antimony MMTA standard-grade II, ddp China ended a month of stability last week, dropping after some domestic suppliers lowered their offer prices to secure sales. Concerns over the possible outflow of antimony stocks held in Fanya Metal Exchange warehouses in the nea...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Austrian steelmaking group Voestalpine for the first quarter of its 2019-20 year, April 1 to June 30.In briefEarnings were down due to the fallout from international trade conflicts and the growing weakness of the global economy, which affects Europe's export-oriented industries.Profit margin came under presure from strong increases in...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market softened over the past week in line with weaker demand, in turn fueling expectations of further price weakness in the near term.In Europe, however, the ferro-silicon market was steady after recording a small bounce in the prior week after suppliers held their offer prices ahead of expected uptick in demand. Chinese market prepares for further losses Europe awaits r...Read More
The upward momentum in global ferro-vanadium markets stalled in the week ended Friday August 9, with prices in Europe and China edging down. Chinese, European FeV prices edge down after spot activity slows V2O5 prices weaken in China while European market continues to riseUS ferro-vanadium prices soften amid renewed activityAfter rising for three consecutive weeks, the export price for ferro-vanad...Read More
UG2 chrome ore prices broke their four-week rally after the depreciation of the Chinese yuan raised purchasing costs for the country's importers. UG2 chrome ore prices down by $1 per tonne in China Domestic, imported ferro-chrome prices hold in China Low-carbon ferro-chrome prices halt their decline in Europe High-carbon ferro-chrome prices unchanged in Europe US high-carbon ferro-chrome market re...Read More
The Colorado School of Mines "M" is visible far beyond Golden in the Denver metro area, but did you know there are 1,653 LED light bulbs illuminating the mountainside emblem?And that it takes five 55-gallon drums of whitewash to freshen it up every August as part of the annual M Climb? The 2019 M Climb will be held the morning of Friday, Aug. 16, with Mines President Paul C. Johnson, faculty and...Read More
More than a decade since Ecuador opened its doors to mining, the Andean country is beginning to see the results.In July, production began at the country's first large-scale mining operation: the Chinese-owned Mirador mine.Located in southern Zamora-Chinchipe province, the open-pit operation is expected to produce almost 100,000 tons (90,700 tonnes) a year of copper in concentrate over the next thr...Read More
The S&P/TSX Composite Index posted a 0.43% gain to 16,341.30. Spot gold finished the trading week at US$1496.20 per oz., up US$56.20 per oz., or 3.9%. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index gained 6.41% to end at 252.39, while the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index lost 5.42% to 94.51, and the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index lost 0.16% to 76.06.Wheaton Precious Metals rose $2.12 to $36.64 per share. Wheaton anno...Read More
The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 0.49% to 592.82 during the trading week.SilverCrest Metals recorded the biggest value gain, rising $1.08, or 15.3%, to $8.16 per share. The company announced a bought-deal financing by underwriters National Bank Financial and Desjardines Capital Markets that will raise $22 million through the issuance of 3.76 million shares at $5.85 per share. To keep its 9...Read More
Darren BlasuttiIn this episode, acting editor-in-chief Trish Saywell interviews Americas Silver CEO Darren Blasutti on macroeconomics, silver prices and the economic challenges facing silver miners. Blasutti says many silver companies will need much higher prices before they can realize greater profits because of an excess of high-grading at low prices. He also discusses developments at the compan...Read More
"We are delighted to welcome @NaturalArgoCEO Samantha Hyde to the Future of Mining EMEA stage. @NaturalArgois The forefront of #innovative, nontoxic recovery #mining #technology #futureofmining #FOMEMEA @futureofmining https://t.co/OIeKsH6p8z"Read full newsRead More