Archives for Commodities - Page 9
Copper is sold in three main forms: refined copper cathode; copper concentrate; and blister copper. A very small amount of high grade copper is mined and direct shipped to a smelter (direct shipping ore, or DSO). Refined Copper Cathode Cathode comprises all of the refined copper sold, excluding copper scrap.…
Unlike cobalt, the future of lithium is not at all clear. Demand continues to increase, largely driven by electric vehicles, but so does supply. Consequently 2018 was a bad year for lithium stocks. Most peaked in the first half of the calendar year and it has largely been downhill since.…
I have been involved in base metal markets for over 20 years and the one common refrain I regularly hear is along the lines of “LME stocks are declining so the zinc (or lead, copper etc) price will soon move up”. The inference is that there is an inverse correlation…
I last wrote about vanadium in May 2017, you can read that post here. The vanadium pentoxide price (98% flake) was then little more than USD6/lb. Today it is USD33.90/lb in China (USD26.65/lb in Europe). The main driver for the increase is China’s new rebar (concrete reinforcing bar) standards that…
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it is found on the sun and most stars and planets. Jupiter, for example, is mostly comprised of hydrogen. Hydrogen has a density of 0.000082 g/cm3 (water is 1g/cm3 at 40C) and thus readily escapes Earth’s gravity. On earth it is largely…
At 3,420oC, tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals. In fact, at that temperature most other metals have already vaporised. Its boiling point at around 5,700oC is the same temperature as the surface of the sun. Pure tungsten is quite workable, but it usually contains minor amounts of…