Not before time, China’s steel industry is making some progress towards consolidation. Although both sides deny talks are taking place, a Reuters article details information received from various sources that suggests state-owned China Baowu Steel Group is in talks to take over rival local Anhui province government-controlled Magang Group. Need buying strategies for steel? Request […]
Stuart Burns
Oil Has Hit $60 Per Barrel — How Much More Can it Drop?
Brent crude has hit a new low for 2018, with the international benchmark down 3% last week to its lowest level in 13 months. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. contract, fell 4.5% to $52.09. Investors have taken fright in a relatively […]
WBMS Report Shows Metal Deficits Can’t Fend Off Falling Investor Appetite
The World Bureau of Metal Statistics’ (WBMS) most recent press release makes for curious reading. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook Covering as it does the first three quarters of this year, the January to September period, you could read the report and then ponder the recent price direction […]
Oil Price Slide Potentially Bearish for Aluminum, Other Energy-Intensive Metals
We should state from the outset that it’s not that energy costs are directly dependent on the oil price — very little electricity generation around the world, Saudi Arabia being an exception, is generated from crude oil. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook But with power making up […]
Is the Russian Aluminum Giant Rusal Off the Hook?
Reading like Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” an epic article in The New York Times explores the background and history of Oleg Deripaska’s battle to initially gain acceptance in the West and, later, to save his companies — notably Rusal and its holding company En+ — from potentially bankrupting U.S. sanctions. Buying Aluminum in 2019? Download […]
Politics or Compliance? Tariff Waiver Process Under Scrutiny
Criticism of Donald Trump’s tariff action, particularly by archrival Sen. Elizabeth Warren, is too often cast as simply political maneuvering, but there is a very real issue underpinning this current argument. That is, to be successful tariffs need to block imports and support domestic production — otherwise, what’s the point? Need buying strategies for steel? […]
The U.S. Dollar is in the Driver’s Seat for Commodities
October was the worst since 2012 for world stocks, one that casts doubt on the decade-long bull market for equities, according to the Financial Times, and by extension the fate of metal prices. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook Although China’s CSI 300 closed up 1.4% this week, […]
Alunorte Alumina Refinery’s Prospects Are Improving
Brazil’s Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, known as IBAMA, has lifted the embargo on Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery, several headlines are saying, encouraging many to think full production of alumina will start flowing from Hydro’s massive plant in the near future. Buying Aluminum in 2019? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook But while it […]
From Spitfires to Watches: REC Looks to Use Metal from Fighter Plane in Watches
Yes, yes, I know this has nothing to do with metal prices or trading fundamentals — but in my defense I will say it covers two of my passions (so just get over it, will you). Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook ThomasNet occasionally puts out some great […]
India Grapples with Repercussions of U.S. Metals Tariffs
The ripples continue to spread across the pond of international trade from President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. In a recent post from India reported in Aluminium Insider, an analysis of the scrap, primary and downstream semi-finished metals trades into and out of India reveal how economies on the other side of the globe are grappling […]
