Wire rod prices remain flat in the United States for both domestic and imported material, although downward pressure has emerged in January from declining raw material costs and weakening demand. Fastmarkets' assessment for industrial quality low-carbon rod held at $39.25-41.25 per hundredweight ($785-825 per short ton) fob mill on Tuesday January 15, with imported wire rod steady at $74...Read More
Definitive measures in the safeguard case into imported steel in the EU "do not take into account the needs of downstream users of steel, such as the automotive sector," the European Automobile Manufacturers' Assn (ACEA) said on Wednesday January 16.The EU member states voted on Wednesday to support the proposal for definitive measures in the region's safeguard investigation into imported steel.Th...Read More
The EU member states have voted on Wednesday January 16 to support the proposal of definitive measures in the region's safeguard case into imported steel, according to the European Commission (EC).The EC will now finalise the procedure, so that the definitive measures can come into force at the start of February 2019. The measures will remain in place until July 2021.The EC notified the World Trad...Read More
The ferrous scrap export market in the United States has been active this month, with a flurry of cargoes sold to Turkey and South Korea over the past week, but the healthy demand did not provide any boosts to bulk export prices on either US coast. Five cargoes - two from the East Coast and three from the West Coast - traded to Turkey and South Korea in the past seven days. The two East Coast carg...Read More
The deep-sea scrap suppliers to Turkish steel mills were trying to increase their offer prices because collection costs were rising with the worsening winter conditions, sources said on Wednesday January 16.But Turkish steel producers were still struggling with weak demand for their finished steel products in the country's export and domestic markets."The scrap suppliers in the United States have...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices increased moderately on Wednesday January 16 amid active offering on platforms.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $74.31 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.53 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $74.45 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.53 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $76.05 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.55 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $65.74 per tonne cfr...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreBHP, Global Ore, 90,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Newman fines, traded at $74.90 per...Read More
Trading slowed down in the seaborne coking coal spot market on Wednesday January 16 after a flurry of transactions earlier in the week."I imagine [imported coking coal prices] to be more or less stable until the Chinese New Year. A price of $190 per tonne cfr China for premium hard coking coal is definitely cheaper compared with domestic materials," a Chinese trader said.A mill source in China con...Read More
China's ferrous futures had a mixed morning on Wednesday January 16, with the steel contracts posting increases while the steelmaking raw materials ones ended the session slightly lower than their opening prices.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,537 yuan ($523) per tonne, up 16 yuan per tonne May hot rolled coil: 3,434 yuan per tonne, up 19 yuan per to...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading on Wednesday January 16, with a slight downturn in the US dollar index providing legroom for upward price action while nickel futures continue to gain traction. Despite being the only metal to trade in negative territory over the morning, nickel's three-month price remains elevated, trading at an intraday hig...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Tuesday January 16*Copper -$38.05 (258.07 yuan) Aluminium -$345.35 (-2,342.21 yuan) Zinc $55.12 (373.84 yuan) Nickel -$307.21 (2,083.55 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' January 16 pricingsession in Europe.Key drivers- Demand for cadmium in India, the most important spot market for the material, bloomed in the week ended Wednesday January 16, with a large amount of business concluded and several offers being negotiated....Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday January 16:Minor metalsAntimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $7,800-8,000 per tonne from $7,900-8,100Antimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 48,500-49,500 yuan per tonne from 49,000-49,500 yuanBismuth MB free market, $/lb: $3.40-4.00 per lb from $3.40-3.80Cadmium MB free...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were firmer across the board this morning, Wednesday January 16, with prices up by an average of 0.8%. This after further temporary stimulus measures from China gave sentiment a boost.Zinc led the advance with a 1.7% increase to $2,497 per tonne, followed by copper that was up by 1.1% at $5,973 per tonne. Tin was the laggard with a 0.1% g...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday January 16 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers Titanium markets in Europe have been low key but steady, with alloy dealers reporting increased volumes of business.The scrap markets were also steady, although there were conflicting reports on the availability of scrap, with one or two reporting tighter availability. However, other sources...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday January 16:Aluminium scrapGroup 1 pure 99% & litho: ?1,340-1,390 per tonne...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange exhibited mixed movements while consolidating this morning, Thursday January 17. Copper, nickel, lead and zinc were down by between 0.1% and 0.5%, while aluminium and tin prices were up by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. The three-month copper price was off by 0.1% at $5,973 per tonne.Volume across the LME base metals complex was above averag...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures recovered slightly following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for the January Philly Fed Manufacturing Index was an increase to 10.0 from 9.1 in December. Actual was 17.0. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 220,000 versus 216,000 last week. Actual was...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday January 15.Please click...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Tuesday January 15, with a continued uptrend in nickel and tin futures topping gains while zinc and lead prices edged lower. Supporting commodity investment, strong performances in both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index over the afternoon fueled positive risk sentiment despite...Read More