The copper concentrate market continued to be active this past week although treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) were unchanged after a marked drop two weeks ago. What you need to know High swells in Chile causing disruptions to January shipments there. Smelters in China continue to buy at lower levels, especially for March. Traders continue sharp bets on small tonnages tendered...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday January 22.USAThe US manganese alloys markets continued their uptrend this week while thin available inventory and renewed demand strength continue to drive price strength.Lagging US imports and global production cutbacks have been credited with creating the present shortage of material on the groun...Read More
Latest analysis from recent activity on the CME's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam. Key data Jan 20, 2021, 30 tonnes (10 tonnes each for March ($17.95 per lb), April ($18.00 per lb), May ($18.05 per lb)) Jan 11, 2021, 15 tonnes (5 tonnes each for February, March and April, all at $17.45 per lb)&n...Read More
Buyers of steel scrap in global markets were holding back from purchasing new cargoes in the week to Friday January 22, amid a sharp decline in prices and with more material being offered, and were hoping to re-enter the markets only after they have hit a bottom.Turkish import prices slump following fresh dealsUS sales to Turkey, Bangladesh show weaker pricesLower offers from Japan keep Vietnam bu...Read More
The price range for UK-origin light iron has widened downward in the week ending Friday January 22, with the lower end of the range falling because weaker export prices into traditional markets have put pressure on domestic prices in Britain, trade sources said.This downward pressure was mitigated, however, by relatively tight supplies coming into yards, as a result of reduced arisings from the au...Read More
The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan plunged by more than $50 per tonne on Friday January 22, following a sharp correction in the international scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $430.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $480.38 per tonne a week earlier.There wer...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part down on Friday January 22, after having been up across the board a day earlier, while markets generally seem to be taking a breather after the enthusiasm the US presidential inauguration brought. Republicans in US Congress thought to be willing to work with President Joe Biden on his $1.9 trillion...Read More
I looked across the green felt poker table at Jimmy Nepple, a wily Irishman from the rough-and-tumble city of Newburgh, New York, and said, "I call."Pushing all my chips into the pot, about $400 worth, I stood up."Flip 'em," barked Jimmy.I turned over my two kings and stared coolly into his beady black eyes. Jimmy started laughing - softly at first, but then more and more maniacally. If you didn'...Read More
Chinese lithium spot carbonate prices have started to move higher and this is likely to underpin a recovery across the whole lithium complex, according to William Adams, Fastmarkets head of battery raw materials research and base metals."The Chinese spot price has led [lithium] prices on the way up and led prices on the way down, with the cif Asian prices and the Europe and North American prices f...Read More
Latest analysis from recent activity on the CME's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam. Key data Jan 20, 2021, 30 tonnes (10 tonnes each for March ($17.95 per lb), April ($18.00 per lb), May ($18.05 per lb)) Jan 11, 2021, 15 tonnes (5 tonnes each for February, March and April, all at $17.45 per lb)&n...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States again edged lower, even as buyers have continued to struggle to find spot tonnage at the domestic mills.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $55.04 per hundredweight ($1,100.80 per short ton) on Friday January 22, down by 0.85% from $55.51 per cwt the previous day and 3.30% lower than $56.92 per cwt a week prior.I...Read More
Import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America softened in the week ended Friday January 22 with some Chinese mills accepting lower bids from clients."Some small-sized, privately owned mills in China are taking lower bids as long as they're in cash payment, in order to fund [their operations]," one trader source told Fastmarkets."Last week and this week," a source at a mill added, "we saw a...Read More
Harley Schlanger's work can be found at LaRouchePAC.com and The Schiller Institute.Read More
For Part 1 of this interview, CLICK HEREWhether or not bitcoin should be a reserve currency should be left to the free markets to decide, said Ron Paul, former Congressman and host of the Liberty Report.0:00 - Bitcoin as reserve currency?4:35 - Gold price fixing?6:50 - Foreign policy8:49 - Censorship11:37 - Advice for the younger generationsDr. Ron Paul is a physician and former twelve-term congre...Read More
Link to Viewer Submitted Questions: https://www.itmtrading.com/blog/futur...Lynette Zang has held the position of Chief Market Analyst at ITM Trading since 2002. Ms. Zang has been in the markets on some level since 1964. Her mission is to convert financial noise into understandable language. She has been a banker, a stock broker and studied world currencies since 1987. She believes strongly that w...Read More
Editor's note: This podcast will be behind a paywall starting in February.*The interview begins at 04:21Bill and Grant welcome Paul Singer, Founder, President, Co-Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Elliott Investment Management L.P.Among the topics covered in this extremely rare and endlessly fascinating conversation are Paul's thoughts on the importance of understanding m...Read More
According to this chart, there's an absolutely enormous gap between US government spending and US government annual tax revenues. This explains why the US federal government budget deficits are so large. The largest in over 75 years to be exact. Biden is not in office for a week and the Fed's official balance sheet already increased by ~$81 billion in the last week to a record $7.4 trillion. The F...Read More
Economist Danielle DiMartino Booth sits down with Vikram Mansharamani to talk about a wide range of topics from Big Data and how they are tracking people, India as a growing power, Bitcoin and gold comparison, China, Taiwan and US relations, why we should push to explore more in space and on the moon, a third political party and the belief people have in the US dollar as the reserve currency. Oder...Read More
2020 will forever live in history books as the COVID-19 year. More than the health crisis, it has brought on an economic crisis that will greatly impact the future. What did people do to survive it? What lessons can we learn from those who did that will help us face the challenges that are to come? Patrick Donohoe has someone with the answers. In this episode, he sits down with none other than Jam...Read More