China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Friday December 14, capping a week of gains that appears to have led to a drop in trading activity in the export market. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,830 yuan ($555-557) per tonne, up 30-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,620-3,630 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonnePrices rose further due to buyers constantly...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday December 14:Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $3.40-3.80 per lb from $3.60-4.00Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 48,000-50,000 yuan per tonne from 48,500-51,000 yuanCobalt MB free market high grade, $/lb: $28.60-30.60 per lb from $29.90-31.40Cobalt...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves. Read More
Disappointing Chinese economic data has weighed on the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Friday December 14, with all the metals in negative territory and showing average losses of 0.4%.The three-month zinc price led the way with a drop of 1%, copper was off by 0.5% at $6,121 per tonne, while the rest were off by between 0.1% and 0.3%.Volume across the compl...Read More
Manganese ore exports from South Africa during 2018 will increase to almost 17 million tonnes by the end of December, according to data that also shows monthly export volumes soared in November. Shipping trends show the total exported volume of manganese ore from South Africa in 2018 will be up by about 14% compared with the 14.7 million tonnes it exported in 2017, when...Read More
Stainless steel prices in Europe fell in the week to Friday December 14, with slow trading increasing the competition between distributors, sources told Fastmarkets."Distributors still have high stocks, and destocking did not go as fast as planned for the majority of the buyers, so competition has been rather strong," a trader said.From the end of next week until the first week...Read More
The following Fastmarkets non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday December 14:Aluminium scrapFloated Frag: ?,?1,055-1,105 per tonne from ?,?1,050-1,100Cast: ?,?960-1,010 per...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Asia maintained their downward trend this week amid soft end-user demand in the region.Offers were ample but buyers mostly either stayed on the sidelines or sought out limited volumes to import.Market participants are also not sure what to expect from the market over the next few weeks.Some of them said sellers in the United States were not willing to offer containerized sc...Read More
Dutch bank Rabobank, international trading firm Concord Resources and warehousing firm PGS are developing a blockchain trading platform for the metal repo financing business, the companies said.The parties signed a letter of intent and have already started developing the system, known as Beyond Commodities. Its goal is to drive efficiencies, traceability and transparency in metals trading - specif...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
Comex copper prices moved higher on the morning of Thursday December 13 in the United States, with easing global trade tensions providing a boost to risk appetite.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.90 cents to $2.7790 per lb.Worries that the trade war between the US and China will only escalate in 2019 have softened in recent we...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
The minor metals industry is facing turbulent times and increased volatility in all regions, but some things remain constant and there are always new opportunities if you know where to look, says former-chairman of the MMTA Anthony Lipmann. For Lipmann, owner of niche metals company Lipmann Walton and former chairman of the Minor Metals Trade Association, the constants include an "old fa...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
As part of its series on blockchain in commodities, Fastmarkets takes a closer look at the evolution of blockchain networks for trade financeMarco PoloOne of the fastest growing trade and working capital finance networks in blockchain is the Marco Polo network, a joint venture with technology firm TradeIX and software firm R3, along with a number of major banks and their clients.Designed to facili...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in December have uniformly dropped by ?20 per tonne due to weaker export prices and a slowdown in domestic consumer demand, trade sources told Fastmarkets MB on Thursday December 13.The move follows a rollover on consumer delivery settlements in the past two months. UK suppliers had signaled a likely drop in December shipment prices due to a fall in European...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap markets on Thursday December 13. They are unlikely to resume buying any time soon due to the continuing lack of demand for finished steel in the country's domestic and export markets.Steel mills in Turkey have been holding back from scrap purchases for more than two weeks now, with only one cargo booked since November 2...Read More
Comex copper prices moved higher on the morning of Thursday December 13 in the United States, with easing global trade tensions providing a boost to risk appetite.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.90 cents to $2.7790 per lb.Worries that the trade war between the US and China will only escalate in 2019 have softened in recent we...Read More
As part of its series on blockchain in commodities, Fastmarkets takes a closer look at the evolution of blockchain networks for trade financeMarco PoloOne of the fastest growing trade and working capital finance networks in blockchain is the Marco Polo network, a joint venture with technology firm TradeIX and software firm R3, along with a number of major banks and their clients.Designed to facili...Read More
It was another firmer start for the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Thursday December 13, with all the metals in positive territory and showing average gains of 0.6%.More positive steps from China on trade seems to be easing some of the concerns in the market, although the traders are probably nervous that any positivity could be unwound with one president...Read More