Physical iron ore fines prices rose on Monday September 30 ahead of the week-long public holiday in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.38 per tonne, up $2.53 per tonne. 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.91 per tonne, up $1.67 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.72 per tonne, up $1.26 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingda...Read More
Chinese buying activity pushed up seaborne coking coal prices on Monday September 30, ahead of a week-long holiday to mark the country's 70th National Day.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $137.29 per tonne, up $4.56 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $159.70 per tonne, up $6.11 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.25 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.0...Read More
Seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet prices fell along with the wider market last week ahead of a week-long holiday in China from October 1.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao stood at $96.45 per tonne last Friday September 27, down $4.06 per tonne from a week earlier.Fastmarkets' daily index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao ave...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Monday September 30, buoyed by continued outflows and fresh cancellations, keeping exchange stocks at their lowest level since 2011.LME nickel's futures price was recently trading at around $17,375 per tonne, volumes traded were moderately high, with over 2,000 lots exchanged as of 9am London time. ...Read More
The markets are surprisingly upbeat this morning, Monday September 30, due to improvements in Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) data, offsetting reports the White House is looking at the possibility of preventing Chinese companies from listing in the United States, which will no doubt raise the rhetoric over trade talks. China's Caixin manufacturing PMI climbed to 51.4 from 50...Read More
Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning trading session on Monday September 30, the last trading day before China's National Day holiday on October 1-7. "The market has already entered the vacation mode as most market participants left late last week for the holiday," a Chinese broker told Fastmarkets. "Range-bound movement is expected to dominate today's ma...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai for the week ended Friday September 27. Europe Key drivers European prices for grade-4-4-1 and grade-5-5-3 silicon were unchanged amid low spot liquidity and little business concluded within the range. During the week, small volumes of grade-5-5-3 silicon exchanged hands at the top end of the published range at around ?,?1,500 (...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday September 27. China Key driversThe price for antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China rallied further after domestic suppliers increased offer prices on noticing growing buying interest ahead of the week-long National Day holiday in China (October 1-7).A few antimony producers held off from offering in anticipation...Read More
Discussions and negotiations for cobalt supply in 2020 quickly got under way after Glencore announced it will close its Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of the year.The action to take 25,000 tonnes per year of cobalt (contained in hydroxide) out of the market has fundamentally changed the supply picture for next year. Prices for cobalt metal, intermediates and salts all...Read More
In light of market feedback, Fastmarkets is amending its proposal to change the specifications of its two cobalt hydroxide price assessments and extending the consultation period by one week to allow for any final feedback.Per the original specification amendment consultation notice, Fastmarkets proposes to tighten the chemical specification of its two cobalt hydroxide assessments by adding additi...Read More
Fastmarkets outlines some of the key topics likely to dominate discussions at this year's Antimony Day, held by the International Antimony Association in Antwerp, Belgium on Tuesday October 1. How could increasing regulation affect the supply chain? Antimony trioxide use is undergoing regulatory scrutiny and could become subject to environmental or health regulatory requirements. Concerns of the e...Read More
The Chinese domestic spot ferro-silicon price ticked higher on tighter supply, while the export price dropped due to weak demand and aggressive international competition in the week ended Friday September 27. Chinese major suppliers cut production prompting higher offer pricesChinese export price diverged by falling due to low downstream demand Europe spot price dropped after some Q4 deals w...Read More
Australian government officials warned domestic aluminium producers to stem exports to the United States and avoid threatened tariffs, a diversion that has caused units to flood the already well-supplied Japanese market.The decline in Australia-US tradeflow comes after Australia, which is exempt from the 10% US Section 232 tariff, was reportedly warned by the United States to stop exporting units...Read More
Support from better Chinese PMIs This week got off to a positive start with both the official and Caixin manufacturing PMIs for China rebounding in September and also beating consensus expectations. But all eyes are now turning to US-China trade talks set to resume at a high level in October. Progress on this front, combined with better manufacturing data would boost base metal sentiment and price...Read More
Base metals prices supported by better than expected Chinese PMI data LME three-month base metals prices started this week a tad stronger. The positive sentiment in the complex was supported by a better than expected Chinese manufacturing PMIs, both of which beat expectations in September and rose from the August level. The official PMI nudged up to 49.8 while the Caixin PMI rose to 51.4. Speculat...Read More
Aluminium The LME three-month aluminium price remains under pressure on Tuesday October 1, testing to a fresh multi-year low of $1,713.50 per tonne, although there are signs of indecision at these levels. Momentum indicators suggest prices are attempting to stabilize. The stochastics fast line has turned higher, as has the RSI, which at 30 is approaching oversold territory. Having broken belo...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we discuss the main fundamental trends of the global copper market in the first half of the year, based on the latest ICSG statistics, while highlighting our projections for the remainder of the year. Refined market balance The ICSG estimates that the refined copper market was in an ‘apparent’ deficit of 220,000 tonnes in H1 2019, compared with a smaller def...Read More
Resistance above $2,100 per tonne being eroded, uptrend developing Lead prices are making headway above $2,100 per tonne, which, along with exchange stocks falling again, is a sign that the underlying deficit is starting to bite more. Supply disruptions and environmental restrictions at mines and smelters are partially responsible for the tightness. Mine supply disruptions have kept lead market ti...Read More
This week we review the highlights of our Nickel Spotlight report published late last week in which we put the key bullish and bearish drivers of the market this year into perspective. Bullish Since the 2016 low at $7,550 per tonne, LME nickel has traded within a succession of higher highs and lows. It has been no different this year. We expect nickel’s robust fundamentals to continue support...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we review the major positive and negative aspects of the tin market, which either have shaped the price direction in recent months or will influence the outlook for the rest of 2019 and beyond. Positives The WBMS pegged the global refined tin market in a deficit of 5,300 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019. This is slightly deeper than a deficit of 5,000 tonnes i...Read More