A bullish report in Reuters last week advising metal output in China was breaking records, again, looks at odds with developments this week. Relentlessly rising prices have taken a sharp about-turn, the BBC reported. See why technical analysis is a superior forecasting methodology over fundamental analysis and why it matters for your aluminum buy. Rising […]
Stuart Burns
UK steel industry pushes for protectionism — even for steels it doesn’t produce
The phrase “be careful what you wish for” is often used by those who smirk at an unexpected outcome from a decision. But some in the British Conservative party’s so-called Red Wall – those former Labour or center-left voters who swung behind the Conservative, or center-right, party in supporting Britain’s departure from Europe — must […]
Tin in extreme distress as inventory is low, logistics delays persist
When the topic of tin comes up, many people think of baked beans — well, maybe not the beans, but the tin they come in. Tinplate is a major consumer of metallic tin. However, due to technological development over the decades, many tins are now coated with resins. Those that still use tin are operating […]
Oil price could hit a different kind of peak oil in the years ahead
The oil price took a hit from rumors that a deal was close with Iran on curtailing its nuclear program, the quid pro quo of which would be easing of the oil export restrictions the US has tried to enforce since former President Donald Trump walked away from the deal in 2018. The oil price […]
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance faces scrutiny from UK’s Serious Fraud Office
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has gone public investigating charges that Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance (Gupta Family Group Alliance) holding company and subsidiaries, such as Liberty Steel, has been involved in fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering. As such, that has almost certainly put the end to refinancing efforts, at least for parts of […]
Democratic Republic of the Congo aims to assume control of artisanal mining sector
The Democratic Republic of Congo is undertaking a huge, and potentially significant, experiment, Reuters reported recently. The effort aims to clean up the DRC’s appalling reputational image as a supplier tainted with all manner of human rights abuses and lack of supply chain transparency. Reuters reports the state, in the guise of a new enterprise […]
Copper prices continue to surge — is the market in danger of overheating?
Copper prices have risen relentlessly from $4,371 per ton in March last year to over $10,450/ton now. Stories of a new supercycle put out by the likes of Goldman Sachs may have helped. However, so have massive imports by China over the last year. Reuters reports physical purchases by China, both commercial and state, hit […]
Iron ore prices hit trading limits in Asia
Iron ore prices’ relentless rise this year went into overdrive Monday, hitting a +10% limit up and prompting the Dalian Commodity Exchange to raise trading limits and margin requirements in an effort to calm speculation. Separately, the Shanghai Futures Exchange said it would set fees for closing positions on its steel rebar and hot-rolled steel […]
Silver Prices are the Loser in Green Investments
The green agenda has lifted prices across the metals sector. To what extent it has driven physical demand rather than sentiment-driven investor activity — in the form of exchange-traded fund (ETF) buying, stockpiling or exchange position building — is debatable. It’s more of the latter than the former, we would suggest, as the main physical […]
Are we headed for another supercycle?
Some of the merchant banks would have us believe we are in the grip of another supercycle. Certainly, the relentless recovery in commodity prices following last year’s lows appears graphically like a repeat of the relentless rise in prices during the last supercycle in the first part of this century. During that supercycle, support came […]
