Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part firmer this morning, Wednesday December 12, with average gains of 0.3%. This after the complex climbed by an average of 0.4% on Tuesday, which followed Monday's test of support levels - that held.This morning's gains were fairly tightly bunched with prices rising between 0.2% for aluminium and 0.6% for nickel. The e...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday December 12.Base metal prices, barring those for aluminium, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board during Asian morning trading on Wednesday December 12, with the complex continuing to find support from positive trade headlines. Check Fastmarkets MB's live futures...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday December 12.London Metal Exchange base metal prices have made a typically tentative start to trading on Wednesday December 12, with copper, aluminium and zinc all trading down against yesterday's close. Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 11.40am London...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday December 12:Aluminium scrapLoose old rolled cuttings: ?710-730 per tonne from ?730-750Commercial cast: ?790-830 per tonne from ?800-840Cast wheels:...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 traders are probably nervous that any positivity could be unwound with one presidential...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the Weekly Jobless Claims report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a drop to 225,000 from an upwardly revised 233,000 last week. Actual was 206,000.European Central Bank maintained its overnight lending rate. It will discontinue bond...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday December 11.Please click...Read More
Base metal prices rose on the London Metal Exchange by the close on Tuesday December 11, with copper acting as the best performer among the complex.Specifically, the three-month copper price surged by 1.3% to close at $2,590 per tonne. "LME copper continues to run rather positive micro-dynamics. Total LME stocks continue to see drawdowns, with net holdings edging to a fresh 2018 low of...Read More
Brazil's Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) will invest 30 million Reais ($7.7 million) to increase its aluminium billet production capacity, the company's primary operations director Luis Jorge Nunes told Fastmarkets MB on Monday December 10.The expansion will change some of the currently halted aluminium-plate furnaces into aluminium billet production units. The company's production capacit...Read More
Chinese exporters of ferro-vanadium and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) have significantly cut offer prices to stir up some buying interest overseas, while European traders continued to take profits, applying further pressure on ferro-vanadium prices. Chinese exporters slash offers to promote buying interest Europe FeV market continues to suffer from profit-taking Europe V2O5 market plummets following F...Read More
China's largest steel mill, Hebei Steel, has cut its monthly purchase price for silico-manganese, reversing the rise seen in last month's tender. The mill has offered to buy silico-manganese at 8,950 yuan ($1,296.81) per tonne for December delivery. The price includes delivery costs and payment through an acceptance draft, according to market sources in China. The latest tender is about 150 yuan l...Read More
Chinese exporters of ferro-vanadium and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) have significantly cut offer prices to stir up some buying interest overseas, while European traders continued to take profits, applying further pressure on ferro-vanadium prices. Chinese exporters slash offers to promote buying interest Europe FeV market continues to suffer from profit-taking Europe V2O5 market plummets following F...Read More
Aurubis Executive Board chairman J? 1/4 rgen Schachler will leave the company on June 30 next year, the company said in a release today.The company has begun looking for a successor but has yet to find one.Aurubis is Europe's largest copper smelting company, producing over 1.1 million tonnes per year of refined copper at...Read More
Thin spot activity in the European antimony market pressured prices lower still in the region while an improvement in Chinese sentiment enabled prices there to stabilize. Chinese market steadyFastmarkets MB assessed the price of MMTA standard grade-II antimony, delivered duty-paid, in China at 49,500-50,000 yuan per tonne on Wednesday December 5, unchanged from the previous week. Sellers proved re...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai on Friday December 7.China The Chinese grade-553 silicon price range narrowed upward by $10 per tonne to $1,580-1,650 per tonne last week from the previous week.Japanese traders continued to buy cargoes for delivery in the first quarter of 2019, prompting the slight rebound in the price.Europe Grade-441 and grade-553 silicon prices in Europ...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained out of deep-sea scrap markets on Tuesday December 11 because of continued uncertainty in the Chinese steel market, sources told Fastmarkets MB.Market pessimism weighed on China's rebar prices in both the domestic and the export market again on Tuesday December 11.Buyers kept procurement rates low amid bad weather in China, with work suspended at many construction sites...Read More
Turkish steel mills started the trading week without any deep-sea bookings because of uncertainty prevalent across Asian markets, sources told Fastmarkets MB.The mills were mostly watching the situation in Chinese steel market for clues to market direction, sources said on Monday December 10."The phone did not ring... Everybody is watching China and is not willing to buy scrap until the situation...Read More
Comex copper prices hit a one-week high in the US morning on Tuesday December 11 with the continued trade actions between China and the United States guiding the market. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 5.15 cents to $2.7715 per lb today. Earlier, the contract traded at $2.7805, the highest since December 4. Trade tensions betwe...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part firmer this morning, Tuesday December 11, with average gains of 0.2%. This after they again tested support levels on Monday, when support held to varying degrees.Copper led on the upside this morning with a 0.6% gain to $6,133 per tonne, while aluminium dipped 0.1% to $1,945 per tonne. Volume across the complex has...Read More
Comex copper prices softened on Monday morning in the United States amid weak Chinese data and continued equity market weakness.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 2.25 cents to $2.7370 per lb."We expect copper prices to strengthen in the coming days," Fastmarkets analyst Boris Mikanikrezai said. "Although there is plenty of uncert...Read More