Materials

At the end of 2017, after receiving final regulatory approval for the merger, PotashCorp and Agrium combined into a new company called Nutrien (NTR).

Plains All American Pipeline (PAA) was the biggest MLP loser last week, which ended on January 19, 2018. The partnership ended the week 6.1% lower.

“Backwardation” occurs when futures contracts trade below the spot price, and the futures curve begins to downward slope. This means that the market expects further decline in iron ore prices based on current indicators and fundamentals.

On April 18–26, natural gas active futures rose 1.8%. Natural gas to closed at $2.58 per MMBtu on April 26.

Due to continued weakness in the market, PPG Industries stock fell 3.0% and closed at $100.14 for the week ending December 14.

During the past week, average hourly earnings, excluding the farming industry, were below analysts’ expectation of 0.10%.

A few days ago, Monsanto (MON) agreed to Bayer’s takeover offer of $128 per share for a total deal value of $66 billion.

Gold and the U.S. dollar were associated when the gold standard was being used. During this time, the value of a unit of currency was tied to the specific amount of gold. The gold standard was used from 1900 to 1971. The separation was made in 1971. The U.S. dollar and gold were freed. They could be valued based on supply and demand.

For companies in cyclical industries such as steel and mining, the EV-to-EBITDA multiple is the preferred valuation metric.

Alcoa (AA) expects global aluminum demand to exceed supply in 2018 on China’s supply-side reforms.

On August 13, the crop index stood at 89.9. It rose by 1% following the USDA’s latest stock-to-use ratio, which was published on August 12.

Steel scrap prices could follow steel prices lower. Steel mills might negotiate hard with scrap suppliers as steel prices pare some of their 2016 gains.

Sell-side analysts expect Flotek’s adjusted EBITDA to rise sharper in the next four quarters compared to its peers.

The United States is the world’s largest net steel importer. The country’s net steel imports totaled 21.7 million metric tons last year.

Steel prices are the major driver of steelmakers’ earnings and revenues. So it’s important for steel investors and Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) investors to track the trend in steel prices.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), the leading US-based copper miner (XME), is scheduled to release its 4Q17 earnings on January 25.

To fulfill its iron ore requirements, Nucor has a DRI plant in Trinidad.

On July 21, the EIA announced a 34 Bcf (billion cubic feet) addition to natural gas (UNG) (GASL) (GASX) (BOIL) inventory levels for the week ending July 15.

Potash prices in the Corn Belt region of the United States appear to still be reversing their downward movement.

The Fertilizer Affordability Index kept trending lower last week, continuing its two-week streak.

Litigations can be a big blow for aluminum producers. Litigations are expected to decrease aluminum prices and premiums. This will be negative for aluminum companies like Alcoa Inc. (AA), Century Aluminum (CENX), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (KALU), and Constellium (CSTM).

Metal service centers account for about one-fifth of U.S. Steel’s total revenues. This makes these centers an important customer segment for the company.

The construction sector is the largest steel user. In the residential construction sector, US housing starts rose to an 11-year high in May.

Right now, of the nine Wall Street analysts covering CDE stock, according to Thomson Reuters, 78% recommend a “buy,” while 22% recommend a “hold.”

On average, granular urea prices were flat to positive week-over-week. In NOLA (New Orleans), granular urea prices rose as much as 3.5% week-over-week.

Alcoa is working to expand its capacity in Tennessee. It’s a $275 million investment. Alcoa expects that the facility will be operational by mid-2015.

Previously in this series, we’ve looked at China’s July steel and aluminum exports. In this final part of the series, we’ll look at Chinese copper imports.

Using aluminum, instead of steel, increases the vehicles’ manufacturing costs. With lower energy prices, analysts’ doubt that consumers will pay extra to purchase an all-aluminum body vehicle.

Bayer recently filed for an extension with European Union regulators, which pushed back the merger with Monsanto to early 2018.

Cyclical stocks’ fortunes are closely tied to the economic cycle. What are the top cyclical stocks to play the sector rotation story?

Cleveland-Cliffs has agreed to buy the U.S. operations of ArcelorMittal for about $1.4 billion in cash and stock.

Preliminary data showed that US steel imports fell sharply in August after the spike in July. However, falling imports haven’t restored investor sentiments.

For a long time, US steel producers blamed Chinese steel exports for depressing prices. However, Chinese exports have fallen sharply this year.

The steel industry in China has witnessed a slowdown, largely as a result of a slowdown in the real estate industry in China.

Praxair’s (PX) European segment contributed 14.5% of its total revenue in Q2 2018, compared with 13.5% in Q2 2017.

In this series, we’ll look at key NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) fertilizer prices last week.

MAP (monoammonium phosphate) is the second most used phosphate fertilizer after DAP (diammonium phosphate).

Gundlach is bullish on gold. He expects the metal to reach new highs. His bullishness for gold also stems from his bearishness for the US dollar.

US steel demand has fallen sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The automotive sector will start resuming operations, which should support demand.

Since March, gold prices are on a tear due to uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. The SPDR Gold Shares has seen gains of 16.2% since March 18.