China is both the world’s largest aluminum producer and consumer. So, not surprisingly, what happens in the Chinese market has a major impact on global aluminum prices. Buying Aluminum in 2018? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook There was a time some years ago when China’s primary aluminum market operated largely in isolation, with primary […]
Stuart Burns
European Railways Eye Plans for More Environmentally Friendly Fuel Sources
The automobile frequently comes in for criticism for its role in environmental pollution, not just in contributing to Co2 levels but more often for the output of carcinogenic particulate matter emissions, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, all of which contribute to an estimated 29,000 deaths in the U.K., according to Public Health England, 200,000 in […]
Liquefied Natural Gas Prices Hold Firm Despite New Supply
With major new projects coming onstream in Australia and the rising output from the U.S. shale producers, the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market was widely predicted to enter a period of oversupply between 2015-2020, with total supplies growing almost 50%. Buying Aluminum in 2018? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook But somewhat to everyone’s […]
Not All at the Federal Reserve Convinced of Need for Rate Rises
We tend to hear the pronouncements of the Federal Reserve and take them as the all-knowing position of the Fed chairman with the unanimous support of his or her colleagues. Yet in actual fact, even arriving at a rate setting decision, let alone scoping the media announcement afterwards, requires extensive debate and the balancing of […]
Equities Rout Hits Commodities
Metals have suffered considerable volatility this month with prices sliding, then recovering, then sliding again at the end of last week. Metals markets are not alone in this — equities have been on a slide and many are beginning to ask if this is the end of the bull market that has stretched back nearly […]
Noble Group Staves Off Collapse to Fight Another Day
Noble Group, the Singapore-listed trading group, started in 1986 by ex-Phibro trader Richard Elman, once had aspirations to rival commodities trader and miner Glencore and oil trading giant Vitol. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook But this week the firm narrowly avoided bankruptcy in a refinancing deal which sees […]
China Set to Wage Long-Term War on Smog
If you thought China’s environmental crackdown on polluting industries during this winter heating period was a one-off effort, think again. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Liu Youbin, a spokesman at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is quoted by Reuters as saying that Beijing intends to extend its policy […]
U.K. Automotive to Get a Boost to its Supply Chain
We have written before about the GFG Alliance and, in particular, within that Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Group that has bought distressed steel and aluminum assets in the U.K. over the last 10 years. Last month, Gupta’s Liberty Group announced plans to add Europe’s largest aluminum smelter in Dunkerque, France, to its portfolio. MetalMiner’s […]
Chinese Steel Prices Ease as Demand Softens in Winter Season
Normally when supply is constrained prices will rise, but China’s steel market is presently at the mercy of several dynamics. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook On the one hand, Beijing is constraining polluting industries like steel and coke production. Those same policy decisions, however, are hitting industries that […]
Is the Predicted Stock Markets Fall a Correction or End of the Bull Run?
News that Goldman Sachs is advising investors that Wall Street is set for a sharp correction should come as little surprise following five years of almost uninterrupted growth in equity markets. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook The investment bank’s prediction that a correction was a “high probability” is […]
