China's domestic rebar prices remained in a downward trend on Wednesday June 20 after futures weakened in the first few hours of the day, which kept trading activity at a minimum in the spot market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,100-4,150 yuan ($633-641) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonne Rebar futures had a we...Read More
Ferro-chrome prices cif China have risen over the past two weeks, underpinned by uncertain electricity supply at the country's main exporter, which could lead to higher production costs, as well as tightening domestic supply. Metal Bulletin calculated the charge chrome index cif China at $0.97 per Ib on Friday June 15, up 4 cents week on week and following another 4 cent increase the week pri...Read More
The European Commission (EC) is introducing rebalancing measures this week in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium, it said on Wednesday June 20. The measures will immediately target a list of products worth ?,?2.8 billion ($3.24 billion) and will come into effect on Friday June 22. The list of US imports that will now face an extra duty at the EU border include steel and aluminium pr...Read More
North China-based Ganglu Iron & Steel (Ganglu Steel) will keep back 100,000 tonnes of its hot-rolled coil from the spot marketeach month when it starts up a new 2 million tonnes per year cold-rolled coil line later this year.According to local media reports in Tangshan city, Hebei province, on Wednesday June 20, construction work for the CRC line will be completed this month and Ganglu Steel...Read More
Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil did not change over the past week, with participants retreating from the market on Tuesday June 19 following threats by United States to impose fresh tariffs on Chinese imports.Cold-rolled coilMetal Bulletin's assessment of prices for July/August shipments of SPCC 1.0mm CRC was $620-630 per tonne fob for the week ended Tuesd...Read More
Zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange settled at their lowest in nine months at the close of trading on Wednesday June 20, while copper prices continued to edge lower on a surging US dollar index. Closing below $3,000 per tonne for the first time since August 2017, zinc prices fell to a low of $2,981 per tonne over the afternoon, shedding more than 6% of its three-month price week on week. ...Read More
Over-eager zinc bears have contributed to a ballooning backwardation in London Metal Exchange price spreads, having bet prices would drop further and sooner than fundamentals have allowed. The LME cash/three-month zinc price spread swung into a $43 per tonne backwardation on Monday June 18, from $30 per tonne backwardation on June 12 and a $3 per tonne contango at the end of May. The spreads have...Read More
Domestic prices for mesh-quality wire rod produced and delivered in both Northern and Southern Europe are unchanged over the past week, sources said on Wednesday June 20.The Southern European domestic price for mesh-quality wire rod held at ?,?520-535 ($602-620) per tonne delivered on June 20 from a week earlier."Mills are looking to push prices up but this hasn't happened yet - the expectation is...Read More
Prices for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe are unchanged over the past week amid stronger demand and reduced stock levels, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday June 20.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe held at ?,?535-545 ($620-631) per tonne delivered on Wednesday."We can see that demand is coming back but it has not exactly spiked,"...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday June 20. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange mostly ticked higher during morning, with nickel prices climbing 1.2% to recover from Tuesday's lull. Bucking the trend, however, copper prices continue to edge lower and have shed more than 5% on the week, reaching a three-week low during the morning of $6,8...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday June 20.Most base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange staged a minor recovery during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, after suffering sharp declines on Tuesday. The most-traded August copper contract price on the SHFE stood at 51,840 yuan ($8,010) per tonne as at 10.45 am Shanghai t...Read More
Over-eager zinc bears have contributed to a ballooning backwardation in London Metal Exchange price spreads, having bet prices would drop further and sooner than fundamentals have allowed. The LME cash/three-month zinc price spread swung into a $43 per tonne backwardation on Monday June 18, from $30 per tonne backwardation on June 12 and a $3 per tonne contango at the end of May. The spreads have...Read More
Zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange settled at their lowest in nine months at the close of trading on Wednesday June 20, while copper prices continued to edge lower on a surging US dollar index. Closing below $3,000 per tonne for the first time since August 2017, zinc prices fell to a low of $2,981 per tonne over the afternoon, shedding more than 6% of its three-month price week on week. ...Read More
Over-eager zinc bears have contributed to a ballooning backwardation in London Metal Exchange price spreads, having bet prices would drop further and sooner than fundamentals have allowed. The LME cash/three-month zinc price spread swung into a $43 per tonne backwardation on Monday June 18, from $30 per tonne backwardation on June 12 and a $3 per tonne contango at the end of May. The spreads have...Read More
A lingering backwardation in the July/August spread has pushed European aluminium premiums down past to levels last seen before the United States imposed sanctions on Russian producer Rusal.The benchmark Rotterdam duty-unpaid P1020 in-warehouse premium fell to $90-100 per tonne on Tuesday June 19, down 39% from a high of $150-165 through April after the sanctions on Rusal.The duty-paid alumin...Read More
Sentiment in the CIS steel billet export market has cooled this week because buying activity has not bounced back as expected after last week's Ramadan and eid holidays.Some CIS mills were trying to push through higher prices, following reports of several CIS-origin cargoes being sold at $515-520 per tonne fob Black Sea last week, with higher scrap values in Turkey leading to a glob...Read More
The European Commission (EC) is introducing rebalancing measures this week in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium, it said on Wednesday June 20. The measures will immediately target a list of products worth ?,?2.8 billion ($3.24 billion) and will come into effect on Friday June 22. The list of US imports that will now face an extra duty at the EU border include steel and aluminium pr...Read More
Metal Bulletin proposes to launch a price assessment for nickel sulfate on an ex-works China basis.Surging demand in the electric vehicles (EV) sector has driven lithium-ion battery development in recent years.Although compositions vary, two batteries have become dominant in the market: The lithium-ion nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery and the nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) battery. More recent...Read More
Christian Keidel left Constellium this month while Marcus Becker has joined the aluminium products manufacturer in Zurich, industry sources said on Wednesday June 20. Constellium declined to comment. Becker started on June 1 as Constellium's director of metals and energy procurement, having worked at rival...Read More
Comex copper prices were at the lowest level since late May during trading in the US morning of Wednesday June 20 amid threats of a trade war between the United State and China along with a stronger dollar. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.50 cents or 0.5% to $3.0320 per lb. Earlier today, the contract hit a low of $3.0290, the weakest s...Read More