Copper was one of the biggest winners of 2017; the catalysts that fueled that rally are reappearing this year.A scorching Chinese property market, extended outages at some of the world's largest copper mines and upbeat global growth prospects all led to the unexpected rally to its highest price since August 2014 high in mid-October.And those exact same bullish arguments remain for this year; wheth...Read More
Brazilian flat steel import volumes nearly doubled year-on-year in 2017, mostly because of increased shipment volumes of heavy plate, cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG).Imports reached a total of 1.31 million tonnes, against 665,386 tonnes in 2016, according to figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, on Thursday January 4.China was...Read More
Indian prices for steel and ferrous scrap are likely to increase after a significant price rise was brought in by state-run iron ore producer National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC), sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday January 4.NMDC's price for Indian lump ore rose to 3,100 rupees ($49) per tonne while fines have increased to 2,760 rupees per tonne, the company said in a filing to the Bombay...Read More
Turkish domestic and export billet prices have increased slightly in line with costlier imported scrap, while billet import prices were unchanged over the past week, sources said on Thursday January 4.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic billet on Thursday was $545-550 per tonne ex-works, up from the $540-545 per tonne of last week.However, the...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices have continued to climb over the past week, in line with increasing scrap costs, sources said on Thursday January 4.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey was $570-580 per tonne fob, actual weight. This was up from the $560-570 per tonne of last week.But Turkish...Read More
Turkey has reduced the import duty applied to incoming shipments of hot-rolled coil (HRC) intended for re-rollers to 3.5% from the previous 5%, with effect from Monday January 1.The duty remains at 9% for other HRC imports, Metal Bulletin has heard.Market...Read More
Egypt's import billet and domestic rebar markets were slow in the week ended Thursday January 4, after the new year break."The market is so quiet [because of] the holiday season," a trader told Metal Bulletin on Thursday January 4.Now buyers expect local rebar prices to increase, another market participant said.They have...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, steel slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBilletCIS, export, billet, offered...Read More
Key data from the January 3 pricing session in Europe. Ferro-titanium 70% (max 4.5% Al) $ per kg, delivered duty-paid in EuropeKey drivers: - Ferro-titanium prices were unchanged this week, with business concluded across the range. However, sellers have upped their offers for subsequent inquiries with little free...Read More
Concerns over supplies for the year ahead and a strong purchasing appetite from traders and mills continued to provide momentum to noble alloys prices in the first few days of January. Molybdic oxide prices staged the most impressive gains in the (usually quiet) first days of the year, jumping to $10.70-11 per lb, in-warehouse Rotterdam, on Wednesday January 3. Prices were assessed up 10.2% f...Read More
The Chinese vanadium market may turn to a deficit this year, underpinned by revised standards for the tensile strength of rebar products and a ban on vanadium slag imports, sources told Metal Bulletin.The new standard proposes eliminating 335MPa-tensile strength rebar and replacing it with 600MPa-tensile strength rebar that will have greater earthquake resistance, which will mean produce...Read More
Brazilian ferrous scrap export volumes fell by 3.64% in 2017, according to figures released by national foreign trade ministry MDIC on Thursday January 4.Shipments of ferrous scrap amounted to 589,041 tonnes last year, compared with 611,266 tonnes in 2016.Bangladesh was...Read More
Brazilian pig iron export volumes increased by 4.59% in 2017 on an annual basis, mostly due to improved demand from the United States and Italy.Shipments totaled 2.28 million tonnes, compared with 2.18 million tonnes in 2016, according to figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, on Thursday January 4.Brazil exported around 1 million tonnes of pig iron to the US last year, up...Read More
Brazilian iron ore export volumes to China increased by 15.75% year-on-year in 2017, amid higher sales prices, Metal Bulletin has learnt.Shipment totals came to 217.94 million tonnes, against 214.56 million tonnes in 2016, according to figures released by Brazilian foreign trade ministry MDIC on Thursday January 4.Over the same period, the average fob iron ore export price to China rose to $47.67....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. ...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
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were universally higher during morning trading on Thursday January 4, with copper and nickel climbing more than 1%.After pausing to consolidate December's gains, the three-month copper price has gained more over $100 per tonne. Copper closed 2017 up 30% and is well placed to move higher this year."Most metals prices are making moderate...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday January 4*Copper-$128.62 (-838.43 yuan) Aluminium-$499.71 (-3,257.51 yuan) Zinc -$157.06 (-1,023.85 yuan) Nickel-$436.40 (-2,844.83 yuan) *The physical arbitrage numbers are calculated daily by Metal Bulletin using SHFE...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