Two recent stories highlight China’s steel industry stimulus plan to minimize inefficiencies and help larger producers get bigger and smaller ones to consolidate or close in an effort to gain leverage with raw material suppliers and improve productivity. The Chinese government has created a multi-prong strategy to do so. Various efforts include the specific support [...]
As if in answer to a growing trend for aluminum semi finished products to be moved from Chinese producers to those in Russia, India and elsewhere, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced on Wednesday of last week that China will increase tax rebates on exports of some textiles, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals and [...]
We’ve talked a lot about the China SRB (State Reserve Bureau) buying up a number of metals, in particular copper and aluminum primarily as a means to prop up local producers but also for re-stocking purposes. But the SRB has also actively bought up zinc which closely follows the steel and automotive markets. Both copper [...]
It may be called the light metal but the way aluminum is defying gravity can’t last. At the same time as visible stocks are rising to nearly 3.5 million tons ” yes you read that right, check out the LME, the price has still managed to make an 8.4% gain last week. Three months metal [...]
Back toward the end of January, we authored a post whose title we ask every prospective metal sourcing client, does-your-firm-meet-or-beat-the-market?” Based on some recent prospect meetings, I’m starting to wonder if firms even care. On the one hand, one firm had gone through a lay-off, reduced hours in exchange for salary cuts and will be [...]
The practice of fixing the variable metal price portion of aluminum semi’s is well established among metals manufacturing buyers. Often termed resting orders or fixed price orders, buyers with reasonably dependable volumes will often fix prices forward if they feel there is a probability prices will increase or if they simply want to lock in [...]
We have not done too much by way of reporting some of the rare and obscure metals though we are admittedly starting to re-think that strategy given growing demand. And by no means are we expert regarding any of those metals we’ll leave that to people like Jack Lifton who seems to be somewhat of [...]
Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China’s central bank, came up with a novel idea this week reported in London’s Financial Times. Why not replace the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and with a new currency based on the IMF’s SDR’s (Special Drawing Rights). Actually it is not a completely novel idea. John Maynard Keynes [...]
