CIS rebar and wire rod producers increased offers for foreign customers in the second half of October following the recovery of scrap and billet prices globally.But buying activity remained limited as customers waited to see more evidence of market stabilization and improvement of demand from end-users.Early last week, offers for Russian wire rod were reported at $425 per tonne fob Black Sea, with...Read More
Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil fell during the week to Tuesday October 22 on weak demand in the export market and aggressive pricing strategies adopted by suppliers in other regions, market sources said.Despite facing stiff competition for export sales, Chinese producers are reluctant to slash prices much further because of stable prices in the domestic m...Read More
China's domestic prices for rebar held steady for a second day on Tuesday October 22 despite gains in the futures market, with participants taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding whether to engage in arbitrage trading.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($505-510) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,550-3,590 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures went from a low of 3,28...Read More
Chinese mills lowered export offers for hot-rolled coil on Tuesday October 22 despite a stable domestic market amid pressure from cheaper products offered by suppliers in other regions.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,510 yuan ($495-496) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,480 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading was moderate during the day maid steady demand, which kept spot pri...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, plate, sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transaction: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, beams and other long steel products. Latest transaction: rebar, wire rodRebar East China, domestic, grade III 16-25mm...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices increased on Tuesday October 22 after Vale lowered its sales expectation, while the spread between 65% and 62% Fe indices continued to widen.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.68 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.33 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.27 per tonne, up $1.0...Read More
A wide spread of offers emerged in the seaborne coking coal market on Tuesday October 22, though these did not translate into transactions.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.40 per tonne, up $0.63 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.70 per tonne, down $0.06 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.92 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $1...Read More
Anglo American has raised the 2019 iron ore production guidance for its Minas Rio operations in Brazil while maintaining that for its Kumba operations in South Africa.The miner now expects Minas Rio to produce 20-22 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material, compared with 19-21 million tonnes previously, it said in its third-quarter production report published on Tuesday October 22.The miner...Read More
Vale has suspended activities at its Itabiru??u tailings dam, which is located at its Itabira mining complex in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state.The dam's temporary shutdown will have an impact of about 1.20 million tonnes of iron ore output that is limited to 2019, since the Brazilian miner's production plan has already accounted for a stoppage of the dam for most of the year, it sai...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Tuesday October 22, with the metal continuing its approach toward $2,500 per tonne, while lead futures were also up.Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $2,480 per tonne, while just over 2,000 lots were exchanged as at 9.15am London time. Price action in the galvanizing metal was boosted b...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has no plans to stop adding to its contract suite, with new additions expected in 2020, chief executive Matthew Chamberlain told Fastmarkets. After launching seven new cash-settled futures contracts in March 2019, the exchange will listen to market participants' requests for new hedging options."We are very keen to do more contracts in 2020, it is in the plan and in the b...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during the morning trading session on Tuesday October 22, with copper and aluminium securing marginal gains while the rest of the complex weakened.Copper was the outperformer of the SHFE base metals in terms of percentage gains. The red metal's most traded December contract price rose to 47,140 yuan ($6,661) per tonne as at 10.0...Read More
Fastmarkets will discontinue the publication of price change articles on metalbulletin.com from Tuesday October 22. Fastmarkets will no longer publish price change articles for minor metals, noble alloys, bulk alloys & ores, European non-ferrous scrap and UK non-ferrous scrap and ingot prices. There is no change to the publication of the price assessments or indices. All prices and their price mov...Read More
China's ferro-silicon market was split between a weakening export price and a steady domestic price last week, with exporters battling soft demand and supplier competition while production cuts supported domestic rates.In Europe, prices have consolidated recent price gains, although the recent rally looks short-lived because export offers into Europe have appeared from Kazakhstan. There are no ant...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 3 points in pre-opening trade.Texas Instruments dropped $11.32 to $112.25 after reporting lower than consensus third quarter revenues and earnings. The company also lowered guidance. Caterpillar slipped $0.03 to $133.66 after reporting lower than consensus third quarter revenues and earnings. The company also lowered...Read More
The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer on Monday October 21, closing at its highest level since July 2018 and breaching $2,200 per tonne despite moderate turnover. Lead futures on the LME closed at $2,211 per tonne this afternoon, a climb of more than 1.5% against Friday's close of $2,172 per tonne, while some 2,850 lots had been traded by the close, whi...Read More
Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama rose by 0.1% month on month in September 2019, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp on Monday October 21. Aluminium stocks at the three ports totaled 326,700 tonnes on September 30, up 600 tonnes from the end of August, marking the fourth consecutive monthly stock incre...Read More
Estimated global primary aluminium production fell by 3.2% month on month in September 2019, according to figures published by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) on Monday October 21. Total worldwide primary aluminium output came to an estimated 50.1 million tonnes in September compared with around 53.3 million tonnes in August 2019. Depressed production figures were reported for all prim...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More