The London Metal Exchange will on February 1 introduce a reporting process that will increase transparency into levels of off-warrant stocks. The exchange announced the plans in November 2019 and aims to attract more metal back in LME sheds. It is controversial, but its passage into the LME rulebook on February 1 follows a consultation last year. Some market participants are now saying the LME sho...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 31 that are worth another look. Imports of hot-rolled stainless steel sheet and coil from China, Taiwan and Indonesia now need to be registered on entering the European Union and could be subject to retroactive duties later in the year.The supply-demand dynamics in the global copper market were likely to turn into a defic...Read More
While markets in China catch up after more than a week of holiday, most base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are rebounding because China’s sell-off has not been as severe as feared.SHFE copper price fell 7%, which was limit down, but were recently quoted off by 6.5%, suggesting some buying has started to emerge. Gold prices also pulled back from Friday's highs.China’s CSI 300...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures advanced 21 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that the Chinese central bank injected monetary stimulus into the Chinese economy valued at $173 billion.The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 229.92 to 2746.61 on its first day of trade following the Chinese New Year holiday. The 7.72% drop implies a reco...Read More
Base metals prices have reacted quite aggressively to the spread of the coronavirus, more so than most equity markets, leaving markets sending out different signals. While it is too early to say how this will unfold, here are some early concerns and observations.Once the outbreak of the coronavirus became widely reported in mid-January, various markets reacted differently and continue to do so. Ba...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price was higher by close of trading on Friday January 31, regaining the bulk of losses made earlier in the week against moderately low turnover, while tin futures similarly made gains over the afternoon.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,879 per tonne this afternoon, recovering from an intraday low of $1,828 per tonne, while turnover was at...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged this week, despite monthly allow surcharges increasing slightly for February, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 31.In fact, prices are more likely to move down than up because of recent losses in the nickel market, sources said. The February surcharges are based on alloy component prices during the period December...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday January 31. Europe The high-carbon ferro-chrome market ticked up with demand continuing to recover and contract customers increasing their tonnages, according to some producers. But there were also reports of...Read More
Global manganese ore supply increased 6% year on year in 2019 to 22.14 million tonnes of manganese units, amid rising output in Africa and the Americas, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI).Supply from Africa and the Middle East increased by 12% to 12.3 million tonnes in 2019, driven by Gabon, Ghana and South Africa, while smaller suppliers in Ivory Coast,...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK dropped in the week ended Friday January 31, with British domestic prices dragged down by persistent weakness in the European export market to key buyers in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, w...Read More
The price of austenitic alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market decreased this week because of lower nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 31. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?750-780 ($979-1,018) per tonne on Friday, down by ?20-30 per tonne from ?780-800...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India dropped again in the week ended Friday January 31, while trading activity paused following a mid-week drop in international scrap prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $291.99 per tonne on Friday, down from $296.51 per tonne on January 24, marking the thi...Read More
A summary of Nornickel's full-year production results 2019. Production for all key metals increased year on year in 2019 due to ongoing ramp ups at the company's majority-owned Bystrinsky project in Chita, Siberia. Nickel output increased by 5% over the period to 229,000 tonnes due to output increases at Nornickel's refining operations on the Kola Peninsula...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More