The US Midwest ferrous scrap market for No 1 busheling has continued its lengthy upward run this month - and there is no sign of a price correction to come, given the summer slowdown in prime scrap generation right around the corner.Steel producers in Detroit, Chicago, Indiana and outlying areas increased their buying price for No 1 busheling by another $10 per gross ton, and agreed to continue pa...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Sales of new-energy passenger vehicles in China amounted to over 92,000 units in May, up 140% year on year and up 30% month on month, according to wholesale data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Friday June 8.In May, sales of pure electric passenger vehicles rose 130% from a year ago and stood at 73,072 units. Sales of plug-in hybrid elect...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Operating rate across China's zinc die-casting plants stood at 50.7% in May, SMM survey showed.This was down 5.15 percentage points from April and down 8.85 percentage points from May last year, due to stricter environmental restrictions in slack season. SMM expects the operating rate to dip further to 49.71% in June, down 9.59 percentage points from the sam...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper hit a high of $7,333/mt last Friday as the SHFE inventories fell and as China’s May imports of unwrought copper and copper products surged 22% year on year. It then edged down slightly before closure. The SHFE 1808 contract was bolstered by longs to close at 54,420 yuan/mt from a low of 54,210 yuan/mt. Open interest of SHFE copper rose over 14...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Sales of new-energy passenger vehicles in China amounted to over 92,000 units in May, up 140% year on year and up 30% month on month, according to wholesale data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Friday June 8.In May, sales of pure electric passenger vehicles rose 130% from a year ago and stood at 73,072 units. Sales of plug-in hybrid elect...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Sales of new-energy passenger vehicles in China amounted to over 92,000 units in May, up 140% year on year and up 30% month on month, according to wholesale data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Friday June 8.In May, sales of pure electric passenger vehicles rose 130% from a year ago and stood at 73,072 units. Sales of plug-in hybrid elect...Read More
Turkish domestic auto bundle and ship scrap prices remained stable over the past week as the majority of market players kept their buy prices flat, sources said on Monday June 11.Only long steel producer Ege ??elik reduced its buy price for auto bundle scrap last week, by TRY10 ($2) per tonne to TRY1,540 per tonne.All other steel mills in the Marmara and...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper hit a high of $7,333/mt last Friday as the SHFE inventories fell and as China’s May imports of unwrought copper and copper products surged 22% year on year. It then edged down slightly before closure. The SHFE 1808 contract was bolstered by longs to close at 54,420 yuan/mt from a low of 54,210 yuan/mt. Open interest of SHFE copper rose over 14...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Despite buoyance from LME prices, Chinese domestic zinc price is unlikely to see much more upward room with limited support from weaker fundamentals, SMM believes.The SHFE 1808 zinc contract traded rangebound on the morning of Monday June 11 after touching a high at 24,510 yuan/mt.Supply of zinc is set to grow in June as smelters underwent maintenance last month are...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices rose to their highest in over two months last week - on Monday June 11, Metal Bulletin's fob Australia Premium Hard Coking Coal Index was 35% higher than where it was a year earlier - with supply concerns emerging as a key factor affecting the outlook for the market.Changes made by Queensland's rail freight operator Aurizon to its operational and maintenance practices h...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Social inventories of zinc as of Monday June 11 increased 8,600 mt from Friday June 8 and stood at 139,800 mt across Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin, SMM data showed.This marked a second consecutive week of increase due to inflow of imported zinc into warehouses in Shanghai. Inventory in Shanghai was up 8,800 mt over the weakened, and up 21,600 mt from a we...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices remained firm on Monday June 11, with limited spot cargo availability and interest among Chinese buyers buoying prices. A premium low-vol cargo was heard to have been bought by a Chinese end user at a 3% premium over a premium-low vol index, market sources said. A buyer source in China said that seaborne coking coal prices were unlikely to drop immediately as miner offe...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper hit a high of $7,333/mt last Friday as the SHFE inventories fell and as China’s May imports of unwrought copper and copper products surged 22% year on year. It then edged down slightly before closure. The SHFE 1808 contract was bolstered by longs to close at 54,420 yuan/mt from a low of 54,210 yuan/mt. Open interest of SHFE copper rose over 14...Read More
Physical iron ore prices were rangebound amid lackluster trading activity on Monday June 11.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $66.75 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.69 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $53.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.22 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $88.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.50 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe China Port Price...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 transaction: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, tender, 170,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, sold at $64.10 per tonne cfr China,...Read More
Iron ore exports from Western Australia's Port of Port Hedland recorded a 2% year-on-year increase in May to their second highest level on record amid better prices.The port shipped 44.97 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last month, up from 44.08 million tonnes a year earlier, according to data released by the Pilbara Ports Authority on Monday June 11.The volume is also...Read More
Weak consumer demand continued to push antimony prices down in both the European and Chinese markets last week.Prices for antimony with bismuth content below 100ppm or trioxide-grade in-warehouse Rotterdam edged down to $8,200-8,450 per tonne on Friday June 11 from the mid-week assessment of $8,200-8,500 per tonne, when prices had kept stable with the May 25 assessment.The MMTA standard grade II a...Read More
Chinese silicon export price kept trending lower due to limited buying appetites and ahead of production ramp-up at refineries in southern China; meanwhile, European prices held steady after drops seen one week earlier. The Chinese grade 553 silicon export price dropped to $1,780-1,870 per tonne on Friday June 8, down from $1,810-1,900 per tonne one week ago. Despite delayed operations resuming at...Read More
Physical cobalt prices fell again on Friday June 8, faced with cheaper metal supplies, seasonally weaker spot demand and poor sentiment, market sources told Metal Bulletin. High-grade and low-grade cobalt prices were assessed at $41.65-42.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday June 8, down 0.5% from the previous assessment of $42-43 per lb. Metal has become more cheaply and readily available, as...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices rose to their highest in over two months last week - on Monday June 11, Metal Bulletin's fob Australia Premium Hard Coking Coal Index was 35% higher than where it was a year earlier - with supply concerns emerging as a key factor affecting the outlook for the market.Changes made by Queensland's rail freight operator Aurizon to its operational and maintenance practices h...Read More