After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets MB has discontinued its fortnightly publication of the mercury 99.99%, in-whs global locations, $/flask assessment.Global mercury trade has reduced since the 2017 Minamata Convention on mercury - a legally binding international agreement aimed at tackling mercury pollution - came into force. The Convention has reached more than 100 party ratifica...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday November 22.ChinaKey driversThe price of antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, dipped for the third consecutive week on November 20 after some suppliers continuous cut their offer prices to attract sales in an attempt to generate cash before the year-end.Trading activity remained limited, with the market in a stalem...Read More
The European ferro-silicon spot price jumped by more than 7% in the past week, breaking a three-week run of stability on increased trading activity. Ferro-silicon lumpy basis 75% Si (scale pro rata), delivered Europe rose to ?,?950-1,000 ($1,047-1,102) per tonne on Friday November 22, compared with ?,?900-920 per tonne the week before. Most buying interest was reported on an inter-merchant ba...Read More
Risk appetite should improve this week The latest reports about progress towards a US-China trade agreement suggest that a phase one deal is back on track. If history is a guide, interest in risk assets, including the base metals, should rebound while this remains the case. Equity markets have led the way so far. Aluminium: Looking for a short-term rebound Aluminium’s price action is demonstr...Read More
Room to rally again if risk appetite continues to improve Over the weekend, China appears to have reached a compromise position that could boost the probability of a 'phase one' trade deal with the US. China announced that it will raise penalties for intellectual property rights theft, meeting one of the many stringent demands from the US. Barring any further negative developments, risk appetite s...Read More
Aluminium With no sign of aggressive selling pressure, the LME aluminium price was able to produce a higher low on Monday November 25. Also, the metal closed positively though the limited upside momentum continues to indicate prices remain in consolidation mode from the recent low. Still, aluminium carries short-term upside risks, with the daily RSI and stochastic lines in oversold territory...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we discuss the main trends of the global copper market so far this year, based on the latest ICSG statistics. All the percentage changes discuss are on a year-on-year basis, unless stated otherwise. Refined market balance The ICSG estimates that the refined copper market was in an “apparent” deficit of 330,000 tonnes in January-August 2019, compared with a s...Read More
Correction leads to consolidation Lead prices consolidated last week, mainly in the $1,950-2,000 per tonne range, but have drifted closer to $1,900 per tonne so far this week. This comes after undergoing a correction of 13.8% or $313.50 per tonne price from the highs of late-October at $2,265 per tonne. ILZSG reports an 83,000-tonne supply deficit in Jan-Sep The fact that prices are below where th...Read More
Higher demand, weaker supply restored global deficit in September There has been plenty of fresh fundamental nickel data published in the past week, including the INSG’s latest monthly bulletin on Thursday. After reporting last month a mere 100-tonne global supply deficit in August, almost bringing to an end the run of 26 consecutive monthly deficits, the INSG reported a more meaningful 3,200...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we highlight the latest WBMS estimates about supply/demand of the tin market and discuss our own fundamental assessment. Refined market balance The WBMS estimates that the refined tin market was in an “apparent” deficit of 4,100 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, significantly smaller than the deficit of 9,000 tonnes over the same period of last year....Read More
Chinese smelters maximise output on favourable TCs The latest customs figures showed China’s imports of zinc concentrate totalled 250,046 tonnes in October, up 21% year on year. This helped to raise the year-to-date import volume to 2.506 million tonnes, a 3.7% increase over the first ten months last year. With TCs still strong, we would not be surprised to see concentrate imports continue to...Read More
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Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More
While Wall Street climbs to record highs on optimism for a United States-China trade deal and on merger and acquisition developments, the metals at best tread water, while some head lower. Asian equities are mainly stronger, led by a 0.83% rise in the Australian ASX 200 index.Meanwhile, gold and the yen are trending lower, but US government bond yields are weaker - so a mixed picture for the...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Equity index futures moved slightly higher following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for October Durable Goods Orders was a drop of 1.0% versus a decline of 1.2% in September. Actual was an increase of 0.6%. Excluding transportation orders, consensus for October Durable...Read More
The premium for aluminium billet in the US and Italy continued to hit record lows, with poor fundamentals putting sustained downward pressure on the market.US premium hits another record low Aggressive market conditions in Italy persist Brazil billet market quiet Thailand premium steady US premium drops to all-time lowFastmarkets' aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, delivered Midwest US, fell...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday November 22 that are worth another look.Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market rose in the week to November 22 as Chinese buyers continued to snap up material in the spot market, sources told Fastmarkets.Japanese and Korean copper smelters are likely to follow the contract for 2020 treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs)...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday November 22 that are worth another look.Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market rose in the week to November 22 as Chinese buyers continued to snap up material in the spot market, sources told Fastmarkets.Japanese and Korean copper smelters are likely to follow the contract for 2020 treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs)...Read More
Steel billet prices in most markets around the world continued to experience gains in the week ended Friday November 22 because suppliers were unwilling to provide discounts to buyers while the arbitrage window between international and domestic Chinese prices remained open. Scrap prices in Turkey, the world's largest importer of the steelmaking raw material, have strengthened since plunging to a...Read More
Diplomats at the World Trade Organisation's goods council have attacked the European Union over its plans to integrate titanium dioxide and cobalt into its health and safety laws, claiming this could impose unnecessary restrictions on exporting certain stainless steels to the EU.The European Parliament is considering regulating these steel inputs under its classification, labeling and packaging of...Read More