Gold price hits record high as US dollar sinks

Gold continued its upward climb on Monday and made history by touching record prices as worries over the coronavirus pandemic and intensifying US-China tensions weighed on investor sentiment.

Spot gold surged 2.0% to $1,936.81 per ounce by 3:15 p.m. EDT. Earlier in the day, the spot price set an all-time high by trading at $1,945.10 per ounce, eclipsing the previous record high set in September 2011.

Gold futures for December delivery, now the most actively traded contract, rose 1.9% to $1,962.40 per ounce on the Comex in New York.

Bullion’s latest surge came as a gauge of the US currency sank to its lowest in more than a year, the latest in a long line of bullish factors — including negative real rates and bets on the Federal Reserve to keep policy accommodative when it meets this week — that are pushing prices ever higher.

“Gold is the clear beneficiary of safe haven demand,” Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, said in a research note.

So far this year, bullion has risen by over 20% on the back of growing economic and geopolitical concerns around the globe — and the record run may not be over yet.

Analysts at UBS expect gold to reach $2,000 before the end of the year. Some in the market suggest the haven could rise even beyond that.

Gold is in “perfect condition to move higher,” ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari told Reuters, as central banks push for liquidity amid the pandemic.

“Further support is also coming from falling yields, weaker dollar and geopolitical tensions between the US and China. The safe-haven demand (for gold) has been rising while there is none for USD anymore.”

Soni Kumari, ANZ commodity strategist

Meanwhile, covid-19 cases surged to over 16.13 million globally, driving expectations for more stimulus to stem the economic blow.

“As long as the (virus) situation gets worse, the market is discounting more stimulus for a longer period of time and in bigger quantities,” Edward Meir, analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets, told Reuters.

Nascent signs of gold’s record-breaking run began to show in mid-2019, when the Fed signaled a readiness to cut interest rates as uncertainty — primarily about the impact of trade wars — clouded its outlook.

The rally gathered pace in early 2020 as geopolitical tensions rose and the coronavirus outbreak hurt growth worldwide, pushing governments and central banks to unleash vast amounts of stimulus, and sending real rates slumping further into negative territory.

“Strong gains are inevitable as we enter a period much like the post-GFC environment, where gold prices soared to record levels as a result of copious amounts of Fed money being pumped into the financial system,” Gavin Wendt, senior resource analyst at MineLife Pty told Bloomberg.

“A weak dollar and negative real rates are providing further impetus. Gold may consolidate before setting its sights on $2,000 and above in coming weeks.”

Roller mills are mills that use cylindrical rollers, either in opposing pairs or against flat plates, to crush or grind various materials, such as grain, ore, gravel, plastic, and others. Roller grain mills are an alternative to traditional millstone arrangements in gristmills. Roller mills for rock complement other types of mills, such as ball mills and hammermills, in such industries as the mining and processing of ore and construction aggregate; cement milling; and recycling.

Qiming Machinery has been producing rolling mill wear components for steel mills for over 20 years. Our experience combined with the full service of a vertically integrated manufacturing facility leads to high quality, long-lasting parts. Engineering, pattern making, foundry work, machining, and quality assurance. We’re a trusted source for finished castings used in industrial manufacturing. Every part is guaranteed for proper fit, performance and customer satisfaction.

Recently, we get an order from our customer about high chromium roll mill liners:

• Name: Roll Mill Liners
• Weight: 19 tons
• Sizes: 4501*3900*1090 mm
• Material: High Chromium Steel
• Hardness: More than 58 HRC

Roll Mill Liners Material Choice

The main idea of chemical composition design is:  Increase the carbon content to obtain a sufficient amount of high hardness eutectic carbide. However, the carbon content is too high, the carbides form a network and the brittleness is increased;  The chromium content is appropriate to ensure that the matrix structure is mainly martensite after quenching, thereby ensuring sufficient hardness. Combined with our company’s Cr26 material experiment, the determined composition is shown in the following:

Roll Mill Liners Casting Process Design

Modeling method

Molded with alkaline phenolic resin sand. The casting size exceeds 4500mm. Considering the limitations of tooling and site conditions, it is decided to use the entire core and outer cavity process scheme.

Processing capacity

The maximum direction length of this roll mill liner is more than 4000mm. Considering that the linear shrinkage of high-chromium cast iron is difficult to calculate accurately and is the current status of core production, refer to the casting size tolerance and machining allowance (GB / T6414-1999), and the upper-end machining amount is left. 25mm, the machining volume of the lower end surface is 20mm.

Parting surface

Take the method of parting from the middle parting.

Riser design

According to the solidification characteristics of high chromium anti-wear white cast iron, the sequential solidification principle is adopted. A top riser is set at the highest part of the sheath, and a side riser is not easy to place the top riser. The wall thickness of the casting is 120mm, and it is determined as a riser neck 140mm according to the proportional method. There are 11 risers with a diameter of 350mm and a height of 800mm.
The weight of the part is 19t, and the pouring weight of the pouring riser is about 28t. According to the pouring weight, the diameter of the perforation hole is determined to be 70mm. Select the F-perforation: F straight: F horizontal: F inside = 1: 1.5 ~ 2: 1 ~ 1.5: 2 ~ 4 closed and open type pouring system. According to the specifications of the ceramic runner brick, it is determined that the straight runner is 90mm, the horizontal runner is 70mm, and the inner runner is 50mm. Finally, it was determined that F resistance = F envelope hole = F horizontal = 3846 mm2, F straight = 6359 mm2, and F inside = 11775 mm2. F envelope hole: F straight: F horizontal: inside F = 1: 1.65: 1: 3.

Pouring temperature and speed

According to the characteristics of this alloy, the casting temperature is determined to be 1360 ~ 1410 ℃ in combination with the casting structure and on-site pouring conditions; the pouring speed is 4 ~ 5min.

Others

Alkaline phenolic resin sand molding, the draft angle of the model is 1.5 °, the casting shrinkage rate is 2%, and the pouring temperature is 1380 ~ 1400 ° C.

The result

The production of two pieces was carried out according to the established process. After the casting was boxed and cleaned, it was found to have a good appearance, no obvious shrinkage and shrinkage in the feeder, and magnetic particle inspection, indicating that the internal structure of the casting was dense and free of defects. The dimensional measurement is also satisfactory. The hardness after heat treatment is 58-60HRC. The customer is satisfied with the quality of the casting after inspection.

@Nick Sun    NICK@XZHUAGANG.COM