Concerns that China-United States trade talks are not progressing as smoothly as hoped, with US President Donald Trump saying late last week that he had not agreed to roll back tariffs on imports from China, has dampened sentiment in the metals.That said, US equities went on to brush off the news with markets closing at record highs again on Friday November 8 and gold prices broke below suppo...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 12 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded partially to a drop by the Shanghai Composite Index by 54.21 points to 2,909.71due to trade uncertainties.L Brands dropped $0.50 to $17.30 after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Target price was dropped to $20 from $31.Nvidia slipped to $206.6...Read More
Primary aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe fell to all-time lows on Friday November 8, while the premium in the United States held steady under quiet spot market conditions.European foundry premiums still fallingPrimary aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe hit record lows, with some participants saying premiums have hit a bottom.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange staged a modest recovery at the close of trading on Friday November 8, settling back above nearby resistance after slipping below key resistance levels, while tin futures topped the gains with a 1% climb.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16.190 per tonne on Friday afternoon, climbing more than 2% from an intraday low of $15,845...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday November 8. China The high-grade manganese ore index recovered some of the recent losses after a number of large sales were made above the previous week's index. Seaborne low-grade manganese ore prices slid amid persistently weak market sentiment and lower producer offers. An incre...Read More
The fob Australia alumina price retreated to $280 per tonne on Friday November 8 because of reduced liquidity and continued poor downstream demand.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $280.80 per tonne on Friday, down from $282.12 per tonne on the previous day. The index hit a four-week high of $285.42 per tonne on October 31.Key drivers A deal for 30,000 tonn...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Primary aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe fell to all-time lows on Friday November 8, while the premium in the United States held steady under quiet spot market conditions.European foundry premiums still fallingPrimary aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe hit record lows, with some participants saying premiums have hit a bottom.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon...Read More
Prices for 18/8 stainless steel scrap increased this week in Europe despite market participants insisting that demand was still at "rock bottom", sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 8. While mills continued to enjoy high discounts for the nickel component of the scrap, traders said the recent fall in alloy scrap prices had happened too quickly and that scrap merchants were u...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK moved up by ?5 ($6) per tonne in the week ended Friday November 8, repeating the increase by a similar amount the week before, on steady domestic demand and higher European export prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?70-90 ($90-116) per tonne on F...Read More
The flip-flip nature of headlines surrounding trade talks between China and the United States is calling the tune in the markets; there was initial weakness on news that a signing of a partial trade deal would be delayed, but markets then turned higher after it was announced that progress had been made with both sides agreeing to remove some tariffs.This morning, Friday November 8, markets are giv...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium compound prices tumbled week on week on Thursday November 7 after producers cut their offers to stimulate downstream buying, while the European and US carbonate price fell by $0.50 per kg after buyers faced little resistance to lower bids amid a well-supplied market. Chinese producers reduced offer prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate to combat slo...Read More
The majority of steel import prices in South America fell slightly during the week ended Friday November 8, because the region had not yet caught up with the recent Chinese upturn and the latest deals had been settled at lower levels.Fastmarkets' most recent price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, was $450-470 per tonne on Friday, falling from $455-475 per...Read More
Indian producers of hot-rolled coil increased their export prices for the commodity by $10-15 per tonne in the week ended Friday November 8, with some mills claiming to have their order books full for the current calendar year.The price of steel HRC (commodity), export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $415-425 per tonne on Friday, an increase of $10-15 per tonne compared with l...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), increased in the week to Friday November 8, despite demand remaining weak, sources told Fastmarkets.The rise in raw materials prices is the reason for the higher steel prices, they added.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cf...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely stable over the past seven days, but mills expect to increase their offer prices next week in response to rising scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 8.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 1,950-1,970 zloty ($506-511) per tonne on November 8, compared with 1,950-1,970...Read More