Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI, numbers are at best an estimate of sentiment and an indication of business confidence about the coming months. But confidence can evaporate like dew in the sunshine. In today’s uncertain world, however, we tend to cling to any data points for a clue on how the economy is faring and […]
Stuart Burns
Under extraordinary conditions, physical gold prices at a disconnect with market prices
The usually highly liquid gold market hit turbulence last week as transport restrictions prevented contract settlement procedures at New York’s COMEX futures market. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today! The Financial Times reported the price of gold futures traded on COMEX and expiring this […]
Could we be on the way to $10 per barrel oil?
Popular investor inclination may be that after such a dramatic fall, the oil price has to bounce back, that investor sentiment on the downside was an overreaction. That inclination might also say after a chance for reflection has been allowed, prices will recover. But the reality is all we can reliably expect is a period […]
Europe’s steel industry under pressure amid falling orders, personnel challenges
Europe’s steelmakers are cutting production and idling factory lines as an industry already buckling under a severe market downturn girds itself for the economic fallout from coronavirus, the Financial Times reports. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today! Companies such as Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel […]
Finally, gravity is reasserting itself on iron ore prices
Just as we were about to go to press with an article on the surprising resilience of seaborne iron ore and coking coal prices in Asia, the market in Asia closed yesterday with heavy falls – they beat us to it. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about […]
Aluminum mills are moving down the carbon league tables
Despite a plunging LME price and dire short-term prospects for metal consumption in Europe and the U.S., aluminum mills are still following through on long-term plans to improve their environmental credentials. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today! They are doing this, particularly, to lower […]
Outlandish as it may sound, talk of negative oil prices has a message
Various reports hit the news feeds today quoting a deliberately headline-grabbing statement by Paul Sankey, managing director at Mizuho Securities, in which he is reported as saying, “Oil prices can go negative.” MetalMiner’s monthly buying outlook reports give you pricing and specific buying strategies for 10 metal types. Request your trial now. That is, they […]
If Chinese smelters don’t turn off the taps, the world could flooded with aluminum
We are not claiming any particular foresight on this, but a recent Reuters article yesterday covers a topic we wrote on last week concerning the disconnect between China’s aluminum smelters, which managed to raise output by 2.4% during the troubled first two months of this year, and the downstream aluminum semi-finished product producers, which all […]
Precious metal prices, including gold, in free fall
The price of all precious metals plummeted on Friday and again on Monday as investors sort to liquidate profitable positions to raise cash. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today! Gold, in particular, has been the victim of its own success, rising strongly this quarter […]
China’s aluminum production continues on through COVID-19 crisis
China’s aluminum output has been running flat out during the first quarter despite the coronavirus sweeping the country, Reuters reported today. Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today! China’s aluminum production rose by 2.4% year over year in the first two months of 2020, Reuters […]
