Archives for January, 2016
Commercial shipping of all types is rapidly heading underwater. The containership market is almost back to the lows of the 2008 financial crisis, as measured by the Harpex Index. Bulk dry cargo rates are at the lowest ever, as measured by the Baltic Dry Index. Both charts are shown below.…
The China Labour Bulletin (“CLB”) has been keeping records on strikes and protests by Chinese workers since 2011. The three maps below, courtesy CLB, show the number of disputes for all of 2011, all of 2015 and the first few week of 2016. Last year was the worst on record,…
The chart below, courtesy of inflationdata.com, shows the oil price in both nominal and real, inflation adjusted, dollars. The oil price used is Illinois Crude, which is worth slightly less per barrel than West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”). Today’s price for WTI is USD30.74/bbl (“per barrel”), which, in constant dollar terms,…
Selling Metal Concentrates: Payable Metal, Treatment Charges, Penalties, Terms of Sale Concentrate sales is a complex and poorly understood part of the resource supply chain. And yet it must be understood to form any opinion on suitable resource sector investment. If you are not in the business, it is very…