Week in Review: Oil stabilizes; copper output slips; steel capacity utilization retraces
The oil price’s stabilization, copper mine production and more — before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was.
This week, Stuart Burns analyzed the oil market, which has seen price stabilization over the last three-plus months.
However, less-than-uniform adherence to OPEC’s previously agreed upon oil output cuts have combined to depress additional upward momentum.
“Elements of game theory have long plagued OPEC’s attempts to control oil prices,” MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns wrote this week.
“The incentive to cheat is huge. The sense by many smaller players that they suffer from output agreements more than the “big boys” breeds a sense of resentment at times.
“That is particularly true among parties that have little else in common other than a desire to maximize oil revenues.”
The Brent crude oil price ticked up Thursday, reaching just under $42 per barrel.
In case you missed them, here were the metals storylines on MetalMiner this week:
Week of Sept. 20-24 (oil price stabilizes, copper mine production and much more)
- MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns on India’s efforts to increase surveillance of aluminum and copper import levels.
- Oil prices have stabilized over the last few months around $40 per barrel, but some OPEC countries have not stuck to previously agreed upon output reduction targets.
- U.S. steel capacity utilization dipped slightly last week, falling to 64.5%.
- MetalMiner’s “should-cost” models shed light on how much metals buyers should expect to spend on their aluminum, carbon steel and stainless steel.
- India became a net exporter of steel to China during the April-August period.
- Copper mine production fell 1% during the first half of 2020, per the International Copper Study Group.
- Increasing costs and general uncertainty are giving importers fits. Meanwhile, the pandemic has actually proved to be a profitable time for shipping lines.
The MetalMiner 2021 Annual Outlook consolidates our 12-month view and provides buying organizations with a complete understanding of the fundamental factors driving prices and a detailed forecast that can be used when sourcing metals for 2021 — including expected average prices, support and resistance levels.
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