“China’s steel output has taken up 48% of the world’s total in the H1 of this year, further exacerbates the oversupply picture and hurts the healthy industrial development. And Mr Roland Verstappen vice president of ArcelorMittal also said steel overcapacity is quite clear in China and which will press down steel prices, sweep smaller mills out of the market and causes unemployment.”
August 6th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 8 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "bhp"
Global Credit Shortage is Over According to European Central Bank
That all sounds like common sense. So why are so few policy makers using their head? The people who hope the global economy can be revived through a resumption of credit growth seem to forget that it was massive credit growth that created the problem (massive global imbalances, huge debt levels, and mal-investments) in the first place.
July 23rd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Australia Presents Investors With Great Portfolio of Energy Choices
The uranium spot price is coming off a low after a big correction. But as we’ve covered in Diggers and Drillers, the demand for nuclear fuel from global utilities is on the rise. Australia – with over 30% of the world’s proven uranium reserves – is in the pole position (side by side with Kazakhstan, arguably) to provide the world with what it needs.
July 21st, 2009 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
Attack of the Bond Yields
Just to be clear though, the big trends now are soaring inflation and falling financial asset prices, along with increased energy scarcity. This produces a variety of pair trades, which include: short government bonds, long energy, short residential housing, long gold, and probably short commercial real estate and corporate bonds as well, while going long farmland and agriculture.
June 11th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | Continued
Uranium: A Carbon-friendly Substitute for Coal
You don’t have to worry about a uranium supply glut quite yet, though. It’s a subject we’ve been covering over at Diggers and Drillers. There are other, smaller ore bodies that could enter into production if the uranium industry ever gets off the ground in Queensland.
May 22nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | Continued
U.S. Stocks Concentrate on Present Bond Market Data
Maybe investors were relieved that the auction of US$24 billion in seven-year notes went off without a hitch. It’s always good to know your creditors haven’t cut you off yet-especially when you need to borrow another $2 trillion. It’s no wonder the Dow rallied 174 points and the NASDAQ climbed into positive territory for the year.
March 27th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Huge Inflation
Distract from what? Huge inflation. Yes. Yes. We know. There is no huge inflation now. In fact, industrial production in the United States fell for the fourth month in a row. It hasn’t been this low since 2002. But then, why would output grow when demand is falling and credit remains tight?
March 17th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
The Trouble With Banks
Meanwhile, there is not much we can tell you that you don’t already know about the global rout in stocks. Wall Street is at twelve- year lows. The FTSE is at six-year lows. And here in Australia the market has opened lower than its five-year low, as you’d expect after such a wretched overnight performance on global markets.
March 3rd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 6 comments | Continued
The Mining Finance Black Hole
Could this have worked out any better for China? We’re talking about the position Rio Tinto put itself in by taking on US$38 billion in debt to acquire Alcan—and stave off the unwanted advance of an amorous BHP. Now, in a world where refinancing that debt is near impossible for one of the world’s largest miners, it must sue for peace with a strategic partner…
February 13th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | Continued
Australia’s Next Big Export Industry
It may seem like a strange time to be talking up the resources sector, but while everyone else is running away I’m nipping in through a side door to get onboard one specific area of the resources industry. I’m talking about energy. But it’s not oil that’s grabbed my attention. It’s something much more exciting and potentially much more profitable than that. So profitable in fact, that it could soon be Australia’s single largest export industry…
January 28th, 2009 | Kris Sayce | 4 comments | Continued
Organic Contraction at BHP
BHP announced yesterday it was cutting six thousand jobs globally. It will shut down the nickel operation at the Ravensthorpe mine indefinitely and reducing production at the Mt. Keith Nickel mine. What’s more, it will reduce coking coal production by 15% in Queensland and lay off 1,000 workers. BHP is the world’s largest producer of coking coal, so this tell you how much the global demand for steel has fallen off…
January 22nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
Reader Mail: Predicting a ‘Super Bubble’ in Gold
The DR inbox today was full of letters from readers concerned about our mental and spiritual health. It caught us a bit off guard. So we’ll turn today’s letter over to you…
November 28th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Macroeconomic Indicators Show That Chinese Growth Has Softened
BHP wrote in it ASX release that, “China has not been immune to the global slowdown. Macroeconomic indicators show that Chinese growth has softened during the quarter, albeit from very high levels. We expect volatility and uncertainty to continue in the short term.” Translation, “Whoa. Would you look at that? Well, still, pretty amazing story in China. We’ll just have to buckle up until this whole global financial collapse is behind us.”
October 22nd, 2008 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Oil Prices Under $70
One other reason the stock probably fell is that the company studiously avoided saying anything about global oil prices or a global recession. Oil futures were down almost US$6 in New York trading to close at $69.85. That’s the first time oil’s closed below US$70 since August 23rd of 2007. Is Woodside a Crusoe stock? Well, it depends on what your long-term view of energy is, doesn’t it?…
October 17th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 0 comments | Continued
BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) to Report Second Half Results Today
Melbourne-based resource giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is scheduled to report its second half results today. Analysts expect the company to report a 30% gain in second half profit to $9.4 billion. That profit growth was driven mainly by higher prices in the petroleum division and production increases in iron ore. Yet the stock is down 4%, year to date. And commodities are coming off a horrible month.
August 18th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
