Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Feb.) World Steel Association (WSA) data, released today, show that global steel output fell by 3.3% year on year in February, although this represented an improvement from the January drop of 7.1%. 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s metals imports surge at the start of the year Strong growth in China’s metals imports, which started in the final quarter of 2015, continued in January-February. Some of the buying may have been opportunistic, given low prices, but it also points... 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Fed’s apparent “dovishness” cheers the markets Commodities have benefited in the past week from a continued improvement in investor sentiment, helped by a relatively dovish statement from the US central bank which weakened the dollar further... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Is recent news out of China positive for metals? In the last week or so, we have received the short- and long-term plans of the Chinese government at the National People’s Congress (NPC) as well as activity and spending data for the first two months... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update High stocks remain a headwind for nickel prices With the stainless steel sector expected to remain in the doldrums, the prospects for nickel demand are poor. Falling production should still mean that the market deficit will deepen this year... 17th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Investors become more sanguine on China Over the last few weeks, investors have appeared to come round to our long-held view that fears of a hard landing in China were overdone. Energy and metals prices, in particular, benefited from the... 16th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Recent rally in iron ore prices likely to be short-lived The price of iron ore has strengthened significantly so far this year, and saw its largest one-day move on Monday when it rose by almost $10 per tonne. The fact that iron ore has fallen by more than... 9th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Stock movements may point to optimism about demand LME exchange stocks have generally been falling this year, while Shanghai-based stocks have been rising. We suspect that rising stocks in China are a reflection of hopes that ongoing stimulus measures... 9th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s REE exports start the year strongly China’s total rare earth element (REE) exports were lower in January and February than in December, largely due to the Chinese New Year holidays. But exports in both months were still higher than... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What should we make of the rebound in iron ore prices? The recent surge in the price of iron ore should be seen in the context of improving sentiment towards industrial commodities in general. The even larger price falls that occurred before have also... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China’s commodity imports remained robust in February China’s commodity import volumes dipped in February from a month earlier, in large part due to seasonal disruption associated with the Lunar New Year holiday. But the bigger picture is that imports of... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Tin finds favour with investors While supply is clearly tightening, the outlook for tin demand is still uncertain. As such, improved investor sentiment seems to explain much of the latest rally in the tin price, making it... 7th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Goldilocks eats the bears... Some “just right” US economic data, with activity and inflation neither too hot nor too cold, has boosted the prices of equities and commodities this week. What’s more, the gold price has resumed its... 4th March 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack A turn in sentiment or a “false dawn”? The prices of industrial metals rose in February. In the first half of the month, the combination of lower US interest rate expectations and some weakness in the dollar appeared to be supporting... 3rd March 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Will China become a major metals exporter? It is often easy to forget that China is not only the largest single consumer of metals but, in many cases, also the dominant producer. Of course, in recent years, strong growth in demand meant that... 29th February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Prices of industrial commodities may finally be bottoming out Looking past the day-to-day volatility, the prices of many industrial commodities – including oil and base metals – appear to be finding a floor. This is at least consistent with our relatively... 24th February 2016 · 1 min read
