Copper closed only slightly higher on Friday on the London Metal Exchange despite price-supportive news of force majeure being declared at the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.The three-month copper price ended at $5,796 per tonne, a mere 0.2% higher than Thursday's close, even after the declaration of force majeure by miners MMG and Citic Metals at Las Bambas, which will affect the supply of copper...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified and corrected historical errors where the weekly counterparty indicator was published incorrectly in the copper concentrates newsletter. This has not resulted in any corrections to Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index because the correct value of the counterparty indicator was used in the normalization procedures.The correction only...Read More
All base metal stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, except tin, rose in the week to Friday October 11, after trading activity resumed following the end of the week-long Golden Week holiday in China. Copper stocks registered the largest increase in percentage terms, rising by 13.9% or 16,401 tonnes from September 30, to 134,509 tonnes as of Friday. The largest inflow in cop...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely subdued with trading volumes low in the morning session on Friday November 11 while the metals market absorbs some of the previous day's United States-China trade deal optimism. But notable stock action continues regardless, with significant inflows of aluminium occurring while unprecedented nickel drawdowns carry on unabated. Some 9,075...Read More
There is some cautious optimism over United States-China trade negotiations after US President Donald Trump described the talks as "very, very good" and said he would meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the White House on Friday October 11.But, we have been here before so it is probably best not to anticipate too much - indeed, with the base metals generally rangebound this morning that seems to b...Read More
Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up during the morning trading session on Friday October 11 following positive developments in trade negotiations between the United States and China overnight. The most-traded December contract on the SHFE was at 46,930 yuan ($6,591) per tonne as at 10.33am Shanghai time, up by 230 yuan per tonne - or 0.5% - from Thursday's close of 46,700 yuan p...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet in the United States have declined for a third consecutive week, widening the gap against hot-rolled coil prices. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US dropped to $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on Thursday October 10, down by 2.8% from $36 per cwt the week prior and returning to a ye...Read More
Indian steel mills are aggressively cutting their prices to increase export sales of hot-rolled coil with domestic demand for the commodity remaining weak, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.HRC export prices from India have fallen by $5 per tonne in the current week while market participants were expecting further falls because traders were short-selling HRC aggressively in the Southeast Asia...Read More
The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry announced permanent duties on steel billet, rebar and wire rod on October 10, effective from October 12, Egyptian sources told Fastmarkets.The permanent safeguard duty is 16% of the cif price and a minimum of $74 per tonne for steel billet from October 12, 2019 until April 11, 2020. The duty will fall to 13% and $60-per-tonne minimum payment on April 12,...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) fell in the week to Friday October 11, with demand remaining weak, sources have told Fastmarkets.The price for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil, has continued to fall as well this week, and coated coil prices have followed the downtrend.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was...Read More
China's steel mills posted a fall in profits in the first eight months of the year on weakening steel prices and costly raw materials. Profit in the country's steelmaking industry totaled 179.94 billion yuan ($25.17 billion) in January-August 2019, down by 32.3% year on year and deepening the drop in the month prior of 26.4% on an annual basis, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Most...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) have continued to fall over the past week on low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 11.The uncertainty in the market persisted after Turkey started a military operation in Syria.On October 9, Turkey launched "Operation Peace Spring" in the area east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, intended to secure its own bor...Read More
China has been ramping up its imports of merchant iron metallics in recent months because of the price competitiveness of such products as October progresses, market participants have told Fastmarkets.In August alone, China imported 234,601 tonnes of direct-reduced iron (DRI), more than its annual volumes in each of the past four years, according to customs data. Imports of DRI for January-August...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK-origin light iron scrap was steady in the week ended Friday October 11, extending stability after losses in September against a small recovery in European export prices to traditional markets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?60-80 ($74-98) per tonne on Friday.European steel scrap p...Read More
Steelmakers in the UK have won a round of price cuts in their monthly intake of ferrous scrap from domestic suppliers for October delivery contracts, amid a slowdown across the European steels sectors, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.The UK monthly steel scrap market to domestic consumers has settled with prices down by an average of about ?35 ($43) per tonne.Persistent weakness in consume...Read More
Prices for ferrous scrap imported into India have begun to inch up for the first time in 13 weeks on a change in sentiment that developed after prices stabilized on the international scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 11.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $253.56 per tonne on Friday, up from $251.34 per tonne...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap markets at the end of the week despite increasing offers for the material, sources said on Friday October 11.The most recent confirmed transaction was done from the United States on October 9. A Turkish steel producer booked a cargo comprising 23,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $233 per tonne and 17,000 tonnes of shredded at $238...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were largely steady on Friday October 11 as participants mulled drivers, with Chinese buyers staying on the sidelines.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.62 per tonne, up $1.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $159.50 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.0...Read More
Physical iron ore prices were rangebound on Friday October 11, with some low-alumina products showing signs of recovery.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.76 per tonne, up by $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.25 per tonne, down by $1.98 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.90 per tonne, up by $0.82 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premi...Read More
The Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivative contract registered its first 2020 trades this week as well as posting its highest single-day of traded volumes since its launch. A total of 5,670 lots or 567,000 tonnes of the contract were traded and cleared on Friday October 11 as of 7pm Singapore time.A day earlier, 670 lots of January and February 2020 month contracts were also traded...Read More