How often have you seen headlines like “Copper rises on strong Chinese growth” and China’s industrial profits rise the most in four years on commodity prices“? Apparently, a mutually supportive cycle of strong growth fuels rising commodity prices, and rising prices fuels strong growth. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook […]
Stuart Burns
Oil Sands Get a Makeover as Petroteq Touts New Extraction Process
Just when environmentalists and shale oil had pretty much done for any more significant investment in tar sands, a couple of ex-oil industry veterans, David Sealock formerly of Chevron, and Jerry Bailey, formerly of ExxonMobil, are out to do to oil sands what modern drilling and fracturing did to tight oil. Need buying strategies for […]
The U.S. Dollar’s Softening Lifts Commodities Prices
The dollar dropped this week and stocks pulled back following comments early this week form President Trump that reversed earlier optimism over U.S.-China trade talks later this week. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook According to the Financial Times, the index tracking the U.S. dollar was down 0.3% at […]
If You Thought the Trade War is as Bad as it Can Be … Get Ready for a Currency War
Whether by design or dint of investors’ view of a currency’s true worth in the wake of tariffs, emerging-market currencies are sliding — in some cases, fast. The Turkish lira is by far the most dramatically impacted, as the escalating tariff standoff with the U.S. has hastened an already weakening currency toward a 40% decline, […]
Are Natural Gas Prices Due for a Shakeup?
Futures markets are suggesting the currently benign level of natural gas price volatility may not remain through the winter months. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook According to the Financial Times, market volatility this year has been the lowest on record despite inventory levels falling 19.5% below average and […]
Copper Price Falls as BHP Says Deal is Reached to Avoid Escondida Strike
The breaking news this week is that Chile’s Escondida mine operator BHP has announced it looks like a strike has been averted and that a settlement plan is being put to the workers. That is good news for a market widely expected to go into deficit this year, according to Mining.com. But the prospect of […]
Tariffs Lift Prices But Capacity Utilization Remains an Issue
Even if U.S. steelmakers have been slow to add capacity following President Trump’s tariff protection, it would seem foreign steel makers are willing to commit to domestic U.S. production. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook The Financial Times this week reported on the announcement by BlueScope Steel, Australia’s biggest […]
Turkish Currency on the Slide, Economy Set to Follow
Import tariffs appear to have become the weapon of choice for this U.S. administration. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Some administrations use military power, but Trump prefers economic pressure to achieve his ends. His latest skirmish is with Turkey — not that many in the U.S. would notice […]
Russian Aluminum Giant Rusal Feels the Pain of Sanctions Crunch
The spike in aluminum prices this quarter, caused by the initial announcement of sanctions on Oleg Deripaska and his investments, is an issue anyone in the aluminum sector will be only too well aware of. Buying Aluminum in 2018? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook Prices spiked in days and were associated with a number […]
The Threat of a Trade War to the Global Economy
Many had hoped the announcement last month of 10% tariffs on China would be the signal for serious negotiations between the two trading partners, that China may come to the table and be willing to discuss some of the U.S.’s genuine concerns about theft of intellectual property and reciprocal access rights to each other’s markets. […]
