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Added at 3.84. Good luck to all
Money for his grandkids
Added at 4.52
) - Iron ore futures in China scaled their highest in a week on Wednesday, rising for a second straight session on hopes that demand for the commodity would improve in the world's top steel producer.
The overall mood in China's ferrous futures markets was upbeat a day after President Xi Jinping's visit to Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, where the death toll from the epidemic reached 3,158 by Tuesday. ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 rose as much as 2.1% to 667.50 yuan ($95.90) a tonne, the highest since March 5, after Tuesday's 3.5% gain.
On the Singapore Exchange, however, the front-month April contract shed as much as 0.9%.
"Prices remain driven by speculation as people are hoping that demand in China would pick up after the epidemic has been put under control, but I think it will still take some time," a Shanghai-based trader said.
"Outside China, the situation is quite serious," he said.
Market fundamentals are not very encouraging, the trader added, citing China's huge inventory of steel products that is still piling up as downstream demand has yet to fully recover.
While business activities are gradually resuming in China after being disrupted for weeks by the epidemic, normality in the domestic construction sector, in particular, may not be seen until after two more months, he said.
Xi's visit to Wuhan, however, helped improve sentiment.
"China watchers (are) taking this as a sign that Xi believes victory over the virus is within reach," said Tapas Strickland, director of economics at National Australia Bank in Sydney.
Mainland China, however, reported 24 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, up from 19 a day earlier and reversing four straight days of fewer new cases, driven by infected individuals arriving from abroad. China, the coronavirus headlines were grimmer, with badly-hit Italy imposing strict measures including a nationwide lockdown as the virus continued to spread globally, causing further business disruptions.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 was up 0.8% and hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 climbed 0.4%, but stainless steel SHSScv1 was little changed, as of 0314 GMT.
* Coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 both added 0.3%.
* Industry benchmark 62% iron ore's spot price settled at $90.80 a tonne on Tuesday, rebounding after a two-day decline, based on data from SteelHome consultancy. SH-CCN-IRNOR62
($1 = 6.9607 yuan)https://au.investing.com/news/commodities-news/china-iron-ore-futures-hit-1week-high-on-demand-recovery-hopes-2067481
Few weeks old-
China has committed to buying significant amounts of commodities from the US, including energy products and steel, as part of the agreement
https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2052014-uschina-trade-deal-may-lift-special-steel-imports?amp=1#click=https://t.co/aQNfj6Uqxx
Steel imports plummet 47.5% in February
https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/steel-imports-plummet-in-february/article_8edb18cb-fa85-5903-823f-78d28ade3a98.html
Ok nevermind. Thanks for posting
3/13 is no longer relevant?
Supply disruption from Australia could be happening soon
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/pandemic-threat-very-real-says-who-as-wall-st-dives/news-story/2a5d290c00399ef8d6ddddbb484668b8
Now we need more Tariff
* Xi visits coronavirus epicentre as new infections dip
* China's iron ore port stocks down 3.4% so far this year
* Brazil's Vale says iron ore mine near dam erodes further
China's Valin Steel plans 21-day blast furnace shutdown (Recasts, adds closing prices and chart)https://in.reuters.com/article/asia-ironore/update-1-iron-ore-leaps-amid-drop-in-china-virus-cases-inventories-idINL4N2B31O2
Bullish market sentiment perks up DCE iron ore price 5% Indeed, on Tuesday financial markets generally across China – including most ferrous-related futures markets – showed considerable resilience and seemed impervious to the violent tremors in global financial markets overnight on Monday, Mysteel Global noted. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 7.8% on day, tumbling over 2,000 points to
March 9, 2020
Dear Fellow Shareholder,
In 2019 Cleveland-Cliffs set the stage for an enormous transformation that will keep this company thriving for the next century. Along with our second best financial performance in the past five years, we also laid the foundation of a strategy geared toward the future of clean steelmaking in the United States.
First, we made remarkable progress on the construction of our HBI plant in Toledo, Ohio. In 2017, when we exited our comfort zone and took on this project, we were well aware of the risks a project of this magnitude may trigger. We accepted that with the confidence that we would deliver, and that is exactly what happened in 2019. The construction of our HBI plant reached its most critical phase during the year, as we spent more than half of the nearly $1 billion total project cost, in preparation for a first-half 2020 start-up. On top of that, we also completed the $100 million-dollar upgrade at our Northshore pelletizing operation in Minnesota, allowing for that plant to supply DR-grade pellets to feed the needs of our HBI plant in Toledo. We look forward to adding to our portfolio an environmentally-friendly, high-performing, made in USA product that our evolving steel industry certainly needs.
Second, another major transformational change underway is our acquisition of AK Steel, announced in December of 2019. The addition of AK Steel makes Cleveland-Cliffs uniquely positioned to supply customized iron ore pellets, HBI, high-end carbon and stainless steels, and highly engineered steel parts in the United States. This long overdue and necessary transaction not only allows us to control our own destiny with our pellet supply, but also minimizes the influence of volatile commodity prices on our profitability, which negatively impacted us in 2019. As a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry, and with the highest automotive share of any steelmaker, the opportunities to address the fastest-growing segments of this sector are immense. We are prepared to hit the ground running when the transaction closes in March, similar to what we did when I took over Cliffs in 2014.
The evolution we have made since 2014 is remarkable. I took over a company that was fighting for survival, with a disjointed portfolio full of underperforming assets accumulated under a horribly misguided strategy. At that time, there was no assurance that Cliffs would survive, and some market and financial players were unequivocally ruling us out. Just five years later, and with a lot of strategic and hard work applied, Cleveland-Cliffs is now about to close on a $3 billion acquisition of one of the most important names in domestic steel, as well as about to start up our brand new $1 billion HBI plant.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank our employees, the United Steelworkers, our clients and our long-term shareholders for their loyalty and supporthttp://stocknewsflow.com/764065_000076406520000068_0000764065-20-000068
Low volume for a supposedly crazy day
Adding few
Thanks. RIO was not much down. Oil prices down is good for the consumers.
China Cargo Flows Rapidly Return To Pre-Coronavirus Levels
Finally, some good news about the coronavirus and global supply chains: Cargo volumes and ship calls have swiftly rebounded at Chinese ports, confirming that the cogs of global trade are grinding back into motion.
The caveat is that this was to be expected as Chinese port workers and truckers returned after an extended Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday. Inbound and outbound cargo delayed during the post-CNY period was already en route or contracted for transport.https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/china-cargo-flows-rapidly-return-to-pre-coronavirus-levels/
This year marked big shifts in seaborne trade to and from the U.S. 2020 promises to make that shift even more pronounced as ports plan to unveil new infrastructure and other projects.
The top 10 U.S. ports saw import container volumes grow 1.1% through October, according to the latest public port throughput data, reaching 17.55 million twenty-foot equivalent units. The slight growth nationwide, though, belies the diverging fortunes of the West and East Coast ports.
The four largest West Coast ports saw import volumes drop 3%, with Long Beach seeing the steepest fall at 7.7% through October, followed by Seattle-Tacoma’s 2.4% fall in import volumes. Los Angeles, the largest U.S. container port, saw essentially flat import volumes this year.https://www.freightwaves.com/news/southeast-ports-big-winners-in-2019-due-to-shift-in-container-imports/amp?__twitter_impression=true
Looking at BHP on ASX...we may see this below $4.5
Iron ore -2.6% to $US90.19 a tonne
Dalian iron ore -2.2% to 650 yuan
March 09
Iron ore prices look set to continue this week’s rally after Vale, the big Brazilian miner was forced to close an 11 million tonnes a year mine.
Global iron ore prices have rallied 8% so far this week after the sell-off on coronavirus fears in China last week saw then fall 9%. The price for 63% Fe fines delivered to northern China hit $US90.99 a tonne on Wednesday.
While some analysts claim it’s a better outlook in China for demand and steel prices (and falling numbers of virus sufferers) that helped prices recover this week, it’s the news a drop of up to 17 million tonnes in available tonnage for this year.https://www.sharecafe.com.au/2020/03/06/new-vale-mine-closure-stirs-iron-ore-price/
Tyson says pork exports to China soared nearly 600% in first quarter after swine fever outbreak
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tyson-says-pork-exports-to-china-soared-nearly-600-year-over-year-2020-02-12
Short term (6 to 12 months) trade idea
As many as half of China’s entire breeding pig population died or were slaughtered because of the recent spread of ASF. In recent days, the spread of the disease has also been reported in the Philippines and Greece, and ongoing outbreaks have also been reported in Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam and South Africa.
“Prevention is literally the only option that we have right now,” Axne told Chip Flory on AgriTalk in February. “And this is not just for Iowa, of course, but it's very important for Iowa with our role in pork production, but certainly for other states with pork production as well.”
https://www.agweb.com/article/president-trump-signs-bill-protect-us-against-african-swine-fever
Which US based American company or companies can benefit from this kind of reform - TIA
he Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council on Thursday unveiled a guideline on deepening the reform of the country's medical insurance system.
The guideline is for further implementing the decisions and plans made at the 19th National Congress of the CPC on establishing a distinctively Chinese system for medical insurance, as well as solving the problems of imbalanced and insufficient development of medical insurance, according to the authorities.
The goal of the reform is to set up a medical security system that centers on basic medical insurance and is underpinned by medical aid by 2030, the guideline reads.
It calls for efforts to improve the treatment insurance mechanism, noting that fair and moderate treatment insurance is an intrinsic requirement for enhancing people's wellbeing.
The insurance mechanism for medical costs during major epidemic outbreaks should thus be improved, with measures such as releasing special medical insurance payment policies to ensure that medical institutions can provide treatments before charging and that treatments will not be affected by patients' concerns over fees.
Moreover, the guideline asks for efforts to make the operation mechanism for financing medical insurance more stable and sustainable, and proposes methods to set up an effective and efficient mechanism for medical insurance payment.
The document also features fund monitoring, the supply-side reform on medical services, public management services and other issues concerning the country's medical insurance system. http://www.china.org.cn/china/2020-03/06/content_75780509.htm
The Fazendao mine is part of Vale's Southeastern Mariana complex, which produced 11.296 million mt of iron ore in 2019, a sharp drop of 57.6% from 2018.
Weaker volumes from the Mariana complex would already have prompted Vale to shift its reliance to other mining complexes for some iron ore products, so this additional reduction in volumes is unlikely to have much of an impact, a Chinese trader said.
Vale combines southern Brazilian fines with Carajas iron ore from northeast Brazil to produce the BRBF product, stockpiling ores at terminals and ports in Malaysia and in China for blending.
"The mine region may have been stopped for a while now, the reserve in Malaysia could serve as a buffer before we see any disruption in BRBF shipments," another Chinese trader said.
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/metals/030520-vale-halts-brazilian-iron-ore-mine-licenced-resources-depleted
I wish I was a fortune teller
Trump to talk trade with Brazil’s president on Saturday
March 6, 2020 at 12:44 PM
With an eye toward deepening bilateral trade relations, President Trump is set to meet with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday at his home in Mar-a-Lago, the White House announced this week. The two will discuss “implementing pro-growth trade policies,” among other topics, according to the March 6 statement . The announcement comes after officials from the U.S. and Brazil on Thursday reaffirmed their desire to continue engagements aimed at advancing toward a trade deal. Joe Semsar, acting under secretary...
You may want to follow this -
House W&M member
@RepLaHood
says a congressional delegation will travel to Brazil in early May to "lay the groundwork" and advance towards a U.S.-Brazil trade agreement. Says country first needs to focus on tax, pension reforms.
Lahood is co-chair of Congressional Brazil Caucus
Goncalves said that the 25% tariffs on steel imports aimed at boosting U.S. national security failed to include electrical steel laminations and cores used in transformers and motors.
How much bargaining power US steel industry will have to get what they want through tariff? Coronavirus is - eating everyone's lunch - so far
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/05/reuters-america-ak-steel-buyer-warns-of-plant-closures-without-stronger-u-s-import-curbs.html
United Steelworkers. (PRNewsFoto/United Steelworkers)
The first step is to ensure that American workers are competing on a fair playing field with overseas competitors, Conway said. While the Section 232 tariffs that took effect in March 2018 aided the industry in the short term, more consistent support for fair trade from Washington is necessary to ensure the industry remains on a long-term, sustainable course, Conway said.
"We need to work with our allies to secure multi-lateral disciplines to reduce steel overcapacity and sanction bad actors," he said. "Steel remains vital to our economy and our national security."
Besides fair trade, another key to maintaining a vibrant domestic steel industry, Conway said, is ensuring consistent, strong demand for its products. Congress can spur that demand by making much-needed investments in the nation's infrastructure and transportation systems and ensuring that such projects come with Buy America provisions https://finance.yahoo.com/news/usws-conway-calls-congress-support-160200554.html
New coronavirus infections may drop to zero by end-March in Wuhan - Chinese govt expert
[/https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/new-coronavirus-infections-may-drop-to-zero-by-end-march-in-wuhan-chinese-govt-expert-2u]
Trending up...over 13 thousand April $6 calls traded today
Cleveland-Cliffs’ shares have plunged 48.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s 13.8% decline.