W.R. Grace Signs a Spree of New Contracts
On November 27 and 28, 2017, W.R. Grace (GRA) signed a spree of new contracts for its Unipol license.
Materials
Nucor Looks to Contract Resets to Further Improve Performance
Nucor (NUE) expects its 3Q16 performance to improve as compared to 2Q16. The key driver of Nucor’s 3Q16 performance would be the reset of contracts.
Copper Weakened amid Recovery in Dollar on August 3
After starting the day on a weaker note on Wednesday, August 3, copper maintained the same sentiment throughout the day and declined lower.
How Sensitive Is PotashCorp’s Dividend to Potash Prices?
In the last 12 months, PotashCorp (POT) has earned about 36% of its total sales from its Potash segment.
How Did Fertilizer Stocks Perform in the Week Ended September 23?
Last week was mostly negative for agricultural fertilizer (FXZ) stocks. However, the VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO) ended the week in positive territory.
Why the outlook for US Steel’s tubular goods is positive
With the recent imposition of anti-dumping duties, imports of tubular goods will likely decrease, helping U.S. Steel’s revenue in the tubular segment to increase.
Assessing variables that drive the outlook for gold prices
Physical buying from China and India should support the demand for gold. But a rate hike by the Fed could be the catalyst that could take gold down.
How Did Agrium’s Retail Shipments Perform in 2Q16?
Agrium’s (AGU) Retail segment’s shipments declined by 0.03% to 4.84 million tons in 2Q16, down from 4.86 million tons in 2Q15.
How Investor Appetite for Risk Impacts Precious Metals
Gold and silver have seen trailing-five-day losses of 0.9% and 2.7%, respectively. The reason behind the fall in the precious metals is the buoyancy of the equity markets and the gains in the US dollar.
These Gold Miners Surprised Us with Unit Costs in 3Q17
AISC (all-in sustaining costs) are an encompassing measure that helps compare miners’ performance—a vital metric for investors. They show the company’s margin cushion at prevailing gold prices (GLD)(IAU).
Key takeaways from Nucor’s 3Q14 cost structure
Due to an increase in electricity costs, Nucor’s energy cost per ton of steel in 3Q14 went up by almost $1 from the corresponding quarter last year.
How US labor conditions impact gold investors
It’s important to keep an eye on labor conditions since they offer a look at the future direction of gold prices and ultimately gold-backed ETFs.
It’s Raining Cash for U.S. Steel amid Strong Markets
AK Steel (AKS) generated free cash flow of $147.0 million in 2Q17 compared to $3.8 million in 1Q17. It generated free cash flow of $111.0 million in 2Q16.
How Do US Economic Numbers Play on Gold?
Economic data from the United States on Tuesday, July 21, 2016, on home starts and building permits affected gold and other precious metals to a certain extent.Materials Why the demerger of non-core assets makes sense for BHP
BHP had been contemplating whether to sell the non-core assets or go for a demerger. Finally, the company decided in favor of a demerger on August 15. The proposed company will likely have assets in the range of $12–$20 billion.Materials Lagunas Norte: Increasing Barrick’s cost per unit
Lower ore grade increases the amount of waste stripping required—in order to extract some volume of ore—as a result of mining more tons of waste.
How Much Demand Will There Be for Nitrogen in the Near Term?
According to CF Industries, nitrogen prices could remain under pressure as new capacities come online in 2017. However, the company believes that things should improve in 2018.Materials Why Alcoa is improving its competitive position
Alcoa idled several smelting plants since 2007. Its aluminum smelting capacity has come down by 28% over the period. Most of these smelters had high unit production costs.
Why is the end use of potash internationally diversified?
As crops widely trade in the international market, they often converge with each other if transportation costs aren’t so high.
Why US Steelmakers’ Party Might Not Last Long
Due to trade cases, the US steel industry has turned into a virtual island largely immune to global steel prices—at least in the short term.Materials Why did the Cliff’s share price rally?
Iron ore prices are down 19% year-over-year (or YoY) and coal prices are down 30% YoY—volumes were also down YoY, but the stock rallied 7% in a single trading session the next day of the earnings call and up 3% the subsequent trading day.
Why Is Copper Trading High in the Early Hours on September 14?
At 6:20 AM EST on September 14, the COMEX copper futures contract for December delivery was trading at $2.13 per pound—a gain of ~1.2%.
Which Gold Miners Could Offer Valuation Upsides after Q2 2018?
The average ratio of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index and the S&P 500 Index (SPY) is 0.18 compared to the ten-year average of 0.68.
Why industry capacity changes also affect urea prices and profits
Generally, a capacity increase tends to lag demand growth, as producers like to see a stronger market before making significant investments.
PotashCorp’s Price Target before It Reports Its 2Q16 Earnings
Since the beginning of 2016, analysts have revised their next-12-month price target for PotashCorp downward. The consensus price target now stands at $15.70.
DAP Prices See a Mixed Week for the Week Ending August 19
Average DAP prices in China were flat at 2,669 Chinese yuan per metric ton last week. DAP prices in Morocco remained unchanged at $340 per metric ton.
How Wall Street Analysts Rate LyondellBasell ahead of 1Q18 Earnings
The analyst consensus target price for LyondellBasell is $116.82, implying a return potential of 8.5% over the closing price of $107.68 as of April 20, 2018.
Aluminum company metrics compared
Trading on the London metal exchange determines the price for primary aluminum. Any increase in the price of aluminum benefits companies that produce primary aluminum.
Why Pershing Square initiated a position in Platform Specialty Products
Pershing Square disclosed a new position in Platform Specialty Products (PAH) that accounts for 7.58% of Pershing Square’s 1Q14 portfolio.
Is Freeport-McMoRan, FCX, Stock a Buy or Sell?
Copper demand will likely rise in the next decade. Should you buy or sell Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) stock after the rally this year?
Behind Silver Miners’ Debt Repayment Capacities
Silver companies try to maintain an optimal level of debt-to-equity to lower their costs of capital and maintain an optimum level of risk-reward for shareholders.
Will IIPR Still Be an Investor Favorite Post Q3 Earnings?
Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) is set to report its third-quarter results tomorrow. IIPR stock, up 67.2% year-to-date, has been investor favorite.
Capital Expenditure Expectations for CF Industries in 2Q17
CF Industries (CF) is expected to see a significant reduction in its capital expenditure (or capex) year-over-year (or YoY) in 2Q17 and for the next four quarters.
Must-Know: US HRC-CRC Spread Widens to Record Highs
During its 2Q16 call, AK Steel (AKS) pointed to a “significant rise” in CRC steel imports from Turkey, Vietnam, and Australia.
What 2017 Meant for Potash Producers
Potash fertilizers Most of the fertilizer companies we’ve discussed in this series sell all or some of the three NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) macronutrients. To learn more about these macronutrients’ key role in agriculture, read Agricultural Fertilizer Industry: Your Comprehensive Overview. In this part, we’ll look at what 2017 meant for potash producers. Price trends […]
What Are Lowe’s Supply Chain and Inventory Management Policies?
Lowe’s inventory turnover came in at 4.1x in fiscal 2015 compared to 4.9x for Home Depot (HD).
Must-know: Alcoa is placed better than other aluminum companies
The aluminum process starts by extracting bauxite from the Earth’s crust. The bauxite is refined into alumina. Alumina is a key raw material—along with carbon and electricity.
Fertilizer Affordability Pressure Eased Last Week
While the Fertilizer Affordability Index was below one, it’s still higher compared to the average levels observed since January 2016.
Why did Ackman’s Pershing Square exit General Growth Properties?
Last week, Pershing Square exited its entire stake in General Growth Properties.
Glencore or Freeport: Which Has More Upside Potential?
Glencore (GLEN-L) has the highest percentage of “buy” or higher recommendations in our select group of mining stocks.
An Update on the PotashCorp-Agrium Merger
On September 12, 2016, PotashCorp and Agrium announced their intention to combine in a merger of equals. But China and India have set conditions.
Which Senior Gold Miners Are Analysts Betting On?
As a group, the average gains of North American senior gold miners (GDX) (RING) have been muted.
Analysts Are Optimistic about Coeur Mining
Market sentiment for Coeur Mining Coeur Mining (CDE) is a high-cost producer compared with peers (RING) (SIL). While it has initiated several measures to bring down its costs in the last few years, they remain high. Higher costs make CDE more leveraged to gold and silver prices than other low-cost producers such as Barrick Gold (ABX) […]
WestRock Made Key Changes to Its Management
WestRock (WRK) fell 4.2% to close at $46.49 per share during the first week of September 2016.
What’s Making Carl Icahn Bearish on Freeport-McMoRan?
According to recent regulatory filings, activist investor Carl Icahn cut his holdings in Freeport-McMoRan (FCX).
What Are Schlumberger’s SPM Project Plans?
In the past one year, SLB has performed nearly in line with the industry ETF and has hugely underperformed the broader market index.Materials Why an increase in real interest rates makes gold lose its sheen
Gold doesn’t give any returns besides appreciation. Appreciation doesn’t always happen. As a result, gold has to compete against assets that yield something. When the return on the alternate assets begins to rise, the demand for gold falls. In a scenario where the real interest rates are rising continuously, the demand for gold—as an investment—will start falling.
CF Industries: A Good Fit for Top 10 Agricultural Chemicals List?
Over the past ten-year period, CF Industries has risen 186.0% and significantly outperformed the S&P 500 Index’s rise of 69.2% over the same period.
How Halliburton Has Reacted to Crude Oil Prices
Between April 16 and April 23, Halliburton (HAL) stock’s price correlation with crude oil was 0.99, showing that Halliburton and crude oil prices have been strongly correlated in the past week.
What Rio Tinto’s Balance Sheet Means for Future Growth
Rio Tinto’s (RIO) net debt at the end of 1H17 was $7.6 billion, compared with $12.9 billion at the end of 1H16 and $9.6 billion at the end of December 2016.