Comex copper reached a one-week high Monday May 21 morning in the US, with easing trade tensions between China and the US producing higher prices for equities and metals.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 3.65 cents or 1.2% to $3.100 per lb. Earlier, the contract touched a high of $3.115, the highest since May 14."Despite the mostly positive...Read More
Metal Bulletin journalists round up the key themes and topics discussed at the sixth annual London Metal Exchange Asia Week held in Hong Kong on May 14-18. 1. The London Metal Exchange does not have revenue projections for over-the-counter (OTC) booking fees, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said. "Overall, we have said that we hope to recover [the revenue lost from discounted fees] wit...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were firmer on the morning of Monday May 21, with prices up by an average of 0.4%. Lead was out in front with a 0.9% rise, while copper was up by 0.6% at $6,864 per tonne.Volume on the LME has been above average with 8,214 lots traded as at 07.54 am London time. This follows a mixed performance last Friday where the metals were either little changed...Read More
Cobalt 27 has agreed an $80 million revolving credit facility to help fund its investments in the mineral industries, including streaming and royalty agreements, the company said late last week. The credit facility, "significantly strengthens Cobalt 27's liquidity and provides the financial capacity to accelerate our plans to close streaming transactions," Anthony Milewski, chairman and chief exec...Read More
Prices in the Russian market for hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet were stable during the week ended Monday May 21 because buyers were waiting for a possible price reduction driven by the weaker export market."We will wait until June [before buying] because mills can cut their prices to us because of lower prices in the export market," a trader told Metal Bulletin. He added that pri...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States have moved down again over the past seven days, with deals being reported at lower prices after mills cut their prices last week.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was $540-575 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday May 21, widening from $550-570 per tonne a we...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices remained unchanged on Monday May 21 amid subdued demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,250-4,270 yuan ($666-669) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Tianjin): 4,090-4,110 yuan per tonne, unchanged https://www.metalbulletin.com/My-price-book.html?Price=42402 Losses in the futures market resulted in buyers keeping their procurement rates low during the...Read More
Ukraine's ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is preparing to resume production of pig iron and steel after the stoppage last week that was caused by railroad department workers going on strike, the company said in a press release on Monday May 21.The strike began on May 16 and paralyzed the production process at the mill. Locomotive operators, assistant operators and shunting operators refused to work on th...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore picked up some strength over the past week on steady buying among end-users.A position cargo of Chinese materials was heard to have been traded at $560 per tonne cfr Singapore. There was also market chatter about traders securing Middle East-origin rebar around $560-565 per tonne cfr Singapore via tender, with about 15,000-20,000 tonnes of the product to be off...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to decrease on Monday May 21 on weak trading activity amid losses in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,950-4,000 yuan ($619-627) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,890-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne The weakness in the futures market during the day resulted in buyers taking a wait-and-see appr...Read More
After a strong first quarter of 2018, when more ferrous scrap produced in the United States was bought both at home and abroad, it appeared that the country's scrap sellers were well placed to fend off buyers' attempts to push market prices downward.Price increases in the US domestic scrap market, combined with increasing mill capacity utilization rates and an 80% bounce in US scrap export volumes...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went quiet again in the deep-sea scrap markets on Monday May 21, amid sluggish demand for finished steel and the continuing weakening of the country's lira.The mills in the country booked only three deep-sea cargoes last week, with prices going down to $345 per tonne cfr for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) in the most recent transaction.Market sources said that the mi...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have increased in line with the rise in finished long steel prices over the past week, sources said on Monday May 21.Steel producers in Turkey and a major scrapyard have increased their buy prices for auto bundle scrap by TRY25-80 ($6-18) per tonne over the past seven days.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle scrap (DKP grade) in Turkey wa...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued to climb in the week ended Monday May 21 despite mixed market sentiment, with several bookings reported done at higher prices.Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index was $524 per tonne fob Black Sea on May 21, compared with $520 per tonne fob a week ago.Starting from May 21, Metal Bulletin will increase the publishing frequency of its CIS billet export index fro...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 15 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that trade negotiations between China and the U.S. are progressing. Big Lots (BIG $41.64) is expected to open higher after JP Morgan raised its target price to $55 from $44. Lululemon gained $0.82 to $102.82 after SunTrust increased its target price to$114...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to decrease on Monday May 21 on weak trading activity amid losses in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,950-4,000 yuan ($619-627) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,890-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne The weakness in the futures market during the day resulted in buyers taking a wait-and-see appr...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – China’s nonferrous metals futures closed higher except for aluminium and nickel on Monday May 21. Lead led the gains with a rise of over 1.4%, zinc grew nearly 1.1%, tin rose almost 0.8%, and copper inched up.Ferrous metals dropped across the board with iron ore leading the loss and closing 3% lower. Coke fell nearly 2%, hot-rolled coil and rebar lost over 1.8%...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – Shandong's industrial production will face a series of restrictions in the following month as Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit will be held in Qingdao on June 9. From May 20 to June 20, construction sites within 100 km of Qingdao will be completely suspended; steel plants within 300 km of the city have been required to cut 40-50% of their...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – China’s nonferrous metals futures closed higher except for aluminium and nickel on Monday May 21. Lead led the gains with a rise of over 1.4%, zinc grew nearly 1.1%, tin rose almost 0.8%, and copper inched up.Ferrous metals dropped across the board with iron ore leading the loss and closing 3% lower. Coke fell nearly 2%, hot-rolled coil and rebar lost over 1.8%...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) –Copper: Suppressed by the strong US dollar, the trading level of copper prices dipped. LME copper struggled among all the moving averages with strong pressure at the 60-day moving average, while the SHFE 1807 contract struggled between the five- and 10-day moving averages with support at the 40-day moving average. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,820-6,870/mt today...Read More