Good afternoon
base metals took a hit today, for no apparent reason than profit-taking.
Industrial production in Germany down on last month - but that cannot be the reason...
Stainless steel production in China has been very strong recently, raising some expectations, that it has been overdone and will retreat. Certainly, demand from EV´s is still very small these days.
Equities also saw some profit-taking today, while the Aussi$ made a new, recent low.
Canadian and London mining equities only down a touch - I guess weaker base metals are at least so far seen as a temporary correction. I tend to agree - yes, there is some speculation in current, elevated prices, but for as long as the world economy is showing concerted growth like in the moment, the fundamental situation is just too positive.
Not much to report from the micro-side today, except for some more upward-moves in "gold-conglomerate" stocks in Canada as well as in Australia. I am still extremely sceptical here....
One word of caution with regards to lithium: Everybody seems to be chasing these stocks, and some like Pilbara Minerals made new highs today. But I listened to a Wood Mackenzie webninar today, and I have to agree, that there is a lot of material coming to the market over the next year. Mineral Resources and Pilbara, alongside Galaxy and other are / will be shipping what they can. I have not come to grips as yet with the relationship between producing spodumene, and lithium hydroxide / carbonate, which is the battery-ready product. For all of the Australian production, this is being doen by the majors, or by Chinese companies, and so far, the biggest margin has been with the miners. This might well change, with increasing mine-production becoming reality over the enxt few month.
Hopefully more tomorrow!
WS