Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Thursday January 4. Copper was trading in a tight range during Asian trading hours on Thursday January 4 amid mixed market sentiment following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes overnight. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 0240 London timeLates...Read More
Copper bulls may have set the metal's prices up for a fall in 2018 after a staggering December rally saw prices reach four-year highs, market analyst told Metal Bulletin. The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper price ended 2017 up 30.8% for the year having peaked at $7,312.5 per tonne on December 28. Concerns that up to 40% of global copper mine supply has the potential to be disrupted thro...Read More
Trade protection measures in the Middle East could support local steel producers' attempts to capture much of the increased regional steel demand expected in 2018. Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations are due to make a final decision by the second quarter of this year on whether to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese non-welded oil country tubular goods (OCTG) made of iron or steel with a rad...Read More
The drive for greater transparency in financial markets will power into fifth gear from the start of January as the second iteration of Europe's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) comes into effect. MiFID II - the European Union's first regulatory update to the directive since 2004 - will kick in on Wednesday January 3 and is designed to make European markets safer and more tran...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly higher on Thursday December 4, with only tin bucking the overall upward trend. The three-month nickel price gained more than $200 and copper ended $41.50 higher, albeit below $7,200 per tonne. "We remain positive on copper over the very short-term, expecting the rebound to continue at the start of the year. Our momentum-based indicators...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market reported higher prices on Thursday January 4 despite a big drop in spot rebar prices in east China.Key driversChina's steel markets continued to soften during the day with spot rebar prices in the eastern region tumbling 170-180 yuan ($26-28) per tonne as bad weather dampened downstream demand.The benchmark iron ore futures contract picked up in the afternoon after dec...Read More
Iron ore prices rose above $76 per tonne cfr China on Thursday January 4 despite a subdued Chinese steel market.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $76.54 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $1.57 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $75.41 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $61.94 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change:...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are expected to open just below 25,000.Index futures moved slightly higher following release of economic news. Consensus for December ADP Private Employment was a decline to 185,000 from 190,000 in November. Actual was 250,000. Consensus for Weekly Job...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper was under pressure to move towards the 10-day moving average and it is expected to trade at $7,130-7,180/mt today. The main contract SHFE copper is to trade at 54,500-55,500 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the discounts are likely to be narrowed to 90-50 yuan/mt today.Nickel: Nickel futures saw downward correction pressure as Chinese domestic stainless s...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper was under pressure to move towards the 10-day moving average and it is expected to trade at $7,130-7,180/mt today. The main contract SHFE copper is to trade at 54,500-55,500 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the discounts are likely to be narrowed to 90-50 yuan/mt today.Nickel: Nickel futures saw downward correction pressure as Chinese domestic stainless s...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Production at zinc smelters in Huayuan County, Hunan province remained suspended or restricted even though zinc prices have performed well, SMM learned.Smelters in the region have been in suspension since early December due to environmental inspections, as SMM reported. Such activities appeared to have been ongoing, sources said.Huayuan County is one of China’s l...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper was under pressure to move towards the 10-day moving average and it is expected to trade at $7,130-7,180/mt today. The main contract SHFE copper is to trade at 54,500-55,500 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the discounts are likely to be narrowed to 90-50 yuan/mt today.Nickel: Nickel futures saw downward correction pressure as Chinese domestic stainless s...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part little changed this morning, Thursday January 4, apart from nickel and copper prices that are up by 0.8% and 0.6%, with the latter at $7,220 per tonne.Volume has picked up with 9,663 lots traded as of 07:01 am London time. This follows a diverse performance on Wednesday that saw copper, aluminium, nickel and zinc close down an a...Read More
Turkish domestic wire rod prices inched up over the past week with rising imported scrap costs, while domestic rebar prices remained comparatively stable, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday January 4.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic wire rod in Turkey was $600-620 per tonne ex-works, widened upward from the $600-610 per tonne...Read More
Copper bulls may have set the metal's prices up for a fall in 2018 after a staggering December rally saw prices reach four-year highs, market analyst told Metal Bulletin. The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper price ended 2017 up 30.8% for the year having peaked at $7,312.5 per tonne on December 28. Concerns that up to 40% of global copper mine supply has the potential to be disrupted thro...Read More
European zinc premiums have gone up slightly for 2018 contracts compared with a year ago, multiple sources told Metal Bulletin, citing an increase in transportation costs.In 2018, the bulk of European deals were settled at premiums of $135-150 per tonne on a duty-paid fca basis via Rotterdam and Antwerp, while delivered premiums in Italy for long-term contracts were around $190-210 per tonne, acco...Read More
The current tightness in the lithium market is set to remain for up to a decade due to delays in securing the appropriate regulatory framework in Chile, a senior executive at Canada-based junior mining firm Wealth Minerals said.Demand for lithium has skyrocketed in recent months following a boost to demand for the batteries used in electric vehicles. But Chile, which has the world's second largest...Read More