Midwest premium to retreat after Section 232 tariffs removed from Canada and Mexico President Trump announced last week the United States has reached an agreement to remove Section 232 tariffs from Canada and Mexico. Following the removal, we believe the US Midwest premium should drop from the current elevated levels. Prior to the implementation of 232 tariff, the US Midwest premium was trading at...Read More
Aluminium LME aluminium’s May 2019 low at $1,784 per tonne remains under threat and a negative break below this level could encourage more technical selling to emerge in the short term. Its daily RSI and stochastic lines have slid lower too, threatening more downside for prices. Given its bearish technical configuration, the LME aluminium price needs to quickly regain confidence by tradi...Read More
Poor macro dynamics Although LME copper prices found some support at $6,000 per tonne last week, a break below this key level is likely imminently due to the macro negativity stemming from tense US-China relations. The re-escalation in the US-China trade and technology dispute has resulted in a confluence of macro headwinds for copper including a stronger dollar, a weaker yuan, and a reduction in...Read More
China puts tariff on concentrate imports from USA China is keeping a 10% tariff on US lead concentrates imports. Last year, China imported 71,000 tonnes of lead in lead concentrates from the US, some 10% of its total lead concentrate imports, which was down from an average of around 150,000 tonnes over the 2015-2017 period. While this is affecting the already beleaguered Chinese smelting industry,...Read More
Q1 results add to list of supportive fundamental factors We noted in our nickel analysis last week that outside of the broader macro and geopolitical issues weighing on the base metals at the moment, the nickel market’s own fundamentals are contributing to price sentiment via a combination of both positive and negative factors. The positives include strong EV sales data, environmental inspect...Read More
LME tin relatively resilient amid the US-China trade/tech dispute LME tin has proven relatively more resilient than most of the other base metals in the face of the re-escalation in the US-China trade spat earlier this month. Although tin is usually less sensitive to the macro backdrop and more responsive to its fundamental dynamics, it can occasionally have a high systemic risk, as was the case i...Read More
Trade uncertainties weigh on prices Zinc prices are retesting support below $2,600 per tonne at the start of this week after the three-month benchmark stalled Thursday at $2,646.50 per tonne. Escalating trade tensions are at the root of the weakness, with Chinese authorities announcing an increase in duties on $60 billion worth of US goods from June 1 in retaliation to higher tariffs imposed by th...Read More
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U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 14 points in pre-opening trade.Home Depot slipped $1.20 to $189.75 despite reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings.Autozone gained $22.17 to $1000.00 after reporting higher than consensus fiscal third quarter earnings. Kohl's dropped $5.91 to $57.00 after reporting lower than consensus first quarter sale...Read More
The swing back into contango in the nearby aluminium forward curve on the London Metal Exchange triggered the cancellation of more than 90,000 tonnes of aluminium in LME-bonded warehouses this week.Almost 45,000 tonnes of material were freshly canceled on Friday May 17, predominantly out of registered warehouses in Johor and Singapore. More than 30,000 tonnes were canceled across the same location...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday May 17 that are worth another look.The United States will give a 180-day window to its auto trading partners to reduce imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, essentially delaying potential Section 232 tariffs on these products, the White House said on Friday May 17. On the same day, US President Donald Trump an...Read More
The global billet market saw an improvement in sentiment in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East-North Africa region after the United States reduced its steel import duties against Turkey.The US lowered its tariffs on steel imports from Turkey to 25% from 50%, effective Friday May 17.This immediately sent import scrap prices up in Turkey as Turkish steel producers resumed the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday May 17 that are worth another look.The United States will give a 180-day window to its auto trading partners to reduce imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, essentially delaying potential Section 232 tariffs on these products, the White House said on Friday May 17. On the same day, US President Donald Trump an...Read More
The United States has lowered its tariffs on steel imports from Turkey to 25%, from the previous 50%, effective Friday May 17.The move reverses a decision by US President Donald Trump in August last year to impose higher tariffs on US imports of Turkish aluminium and steel amid an escalation in tensions between the two countries.Turkey exported 6 tonnes of hot-rolled coil under HS code 7208 to the...Read More
Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB is to appoint Markus Pet??j??niemi to the role of senior vice president, where he will lead the newly formed market and technology unit, the company said on Thursday May 16.Pet??j??niemi, who will take up the role on June 1, was previously acting senior vice president and led the technology and process development team, which will now fall under the marke...Read More
Feralpi Stahl will raise capacity at its rebar and wire rod rolling mill in Riesa in the Saxony region of Germany to 1.3 million tonnes per year, the German division of Italy-based steelmaker Feralpi Group said.The company will invest ?,?60 million ($67.33 million) over a two-year period to increase capacity at Riesa, it said on Wednesday May 15."The investment will strengthen the current producti...Read More
The global billet market saw an improvement in sentiment in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East-North Africa region after the United States reduced its steel import duties against Turkey.The US lowered its tariffs on steel imports from Turkey to 25% from 50%, effective Friday May 17.This immediately sent import scrap prices up in Turkey as Turkish steel producers resumed the...Read More
The swing back into contango in the nearby aluminium forward curve on the London Metal Exchange triggered the cancellation of more than 90,000 tonnes of aluminium in LME-bonded warehouses this week.Almost 45,000 tonnes of material were freshly canceled on Friday May 17, predominantly out of registered warehouses in Johor and Singapore. More than 30,000 tonnes were canceled across the same location...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday May 17 that are worth another look.The United States will give a 180-day window to its auto trading partners to reduce imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, essentially delaying potential Section 232 tariffs on these products, the White House said on Friday May 17. On the same day, US President Donald Trump an...Read More