pierce The final 2016 stats are in from the world’s top gold-consuming nation, India. Showing that the past year was one of the bleakest on record for this critical bullion market. Local press quoted familiar persons as saying that India closed out 2016 with a very weak December gold market. During that month, shipments into the country reportedly … Read more
This week in Pierce Points: India gold prices hit all-time lows. Dealers are offering record discounts to spot prices as buyers remain absent from the market. Argentina courts blocked higher natgas prices. Judges said the government’s plan to raise rates must go through public consultation. China’s Silk Road Fund eyed gold mining. The $40 billion fund may bid for Glencore’s operations in … Read more
Peru’s Ministry of Energy & Mines said this week that national copper reserves took a massive 31% jump during the past year — rising to 107 million tonnes, from a previous 81 million tonnes. That’s enough to put Peru at 11% of total global copper reserves — just behind Australia’s 12%, and gaining on #1 Chile’s 29%. And news … Read more
I discussed in Prime Meridians this past weekend a $1.4 billion lawsuit brought against Venezuela state energy firm PDVSA. With the major this week filing a motion to quash the suit, which claims it illegally transferred billions out of the U.S. in order to duck a settlement. And news this week suggests that PDVSA may badly need the … Read more
Major South American miner Milpo dealt a major blow to the copper sector this past Thursday. Announcing that it will pull out of the Michiquillay project in Peru — one of the country’s largest undeveloped copper deposits. Milpo cited government investment terms as a major reason for the company’s withdrawal. And elsewhere in South American copper, fiscal … Read more
I wrote last week about how the copper market is starting to adjust to lower prices. With a number of significant mines closing down amid the currently-depressed market. But news this week shows the exact opposite is happening in one of the world’s most important copper-producing centers. That’s Chile. Where the government is moving to help … Read more
This week in Pierce Points: E&Ps kept their good credit. A survey of U.S. oil and gas producers shows bank lines have been cut much less than expected. China hinted at a plan to control Asia’s copper. Officials want to buy concentrate and build smelters along the Silk Road. Ecuador’s mining sector rebranded itself. The government is offering better tax rates to … Read more
Coal has been one of the big stories of 2016. With this beat-down market taking flight during the last half of the year — lifting stocks of major producers like Peabody Energy to over 700% gains in a matter of weeks. Check out the chart below. A late rebound in the coal market this year lifted … Read more
I wrote a few weeks ago about record slowdowns in gold sales across India. With buyers in the world’s number-one consuming nation holding off on purchases ahead of an expected cut in import taxes from the federal government. And yesterday we got the decision from India’s officials on the gold tax. Although it wasn’t at all … Read more
This week in Pierce Points: China became the world’s largest crude importer. Data from April show that the Asian superpower is now bringing in oil faster than America. One of the world’s smallest countries opened for oil. Belize is looking at offering exploration blocks — and that might be a big opportunity. India’s gold imports continued to rise. Shipments into the country jumped … Read more