Iron ore prices retreated on Wednesday April 24 following a downturn in the futures and steel markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $93.55 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.98 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $92.33 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.98 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $95.94 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.94 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $83.70 per tonne...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreBHP, private tender, 110,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Mining Area C...Read More
Participants in China were still sitting on the sidelines of the seaborne coking coal spot market on Wednesday April 24 while they waited for a clearer sense of direction in the domestic coke market.There have been talks in the market over a possible coke price hike by the end of April, according to various sources in China. "A coke plant in Hebei province has led the way, by proposing to increase...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia went down in the week ended Wednesday April 24 because market participants delayed purchasing decisions while waiting for more clarity about how the price of nickel would move.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on April 23 at $12,575-12,600 per tonne, down by $490-495 per tonne week on week....Read More
Record highs in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite indices, alongside a 2019 dollar-index high of 97.73, (at the close on April 23) boosted economic optimism with some base metals trading up in the morning session on April 24, while others remain marginally suppressed.United States' stocks recovered to a record degree on Tuesday April 23 in response to dovish rhetoric from the US Federal Reserve and...Read More
Trading across most of the base metals is leading to price weakness - this despite record-setting levels seen in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Tuesday. The exception is aluminium, where prices have been edging higher in recent days.Asian equities give up early gains; in the US, earnings and dovish Federal Reserve sent shares to, or near to, record highsTop US officials travel to Beijing to c...Read More
Copper premiums in Asia softened this week amid a slump in spot inquiries and a continued contango in the metal's nearby cash/three-month spread on the London Metal Exchange, while continued availability of material in Europe kept premiums there flat. Lack of buying appetite softens Chinese copper premiums European participants question Italian copper consumption US market stable, participants co...Read More
Zinc led the rest of the base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange downward during morning trading on Wednesday April 24, with stock inflows and a firm dollar weighing on the galvanizing metal's prices.A strong performance by the US dollar on Tuesday has dampened investors' appetite for commodity investment, in turn pressuring base metals prices on the SHFE this morning.The dollar index,...Read More
Carmaker BMW has locked in supply of cobalt metal produced at Murrin Murrin and CTT for the production of electric vehicles, market sources confirmed to Fastmarkets. Material will be supplied to BMW from 2020, sources added, though details on tonnage or price terms were not immediately available. About 1,800 tonnes per year of cobalt are produced at the CTT mine in Morocco in the form of broken ca...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday April 24 pricing session in Europe.Key drivers The European ferro-titanium and titanium scrap markets were steady in the week to Wednesday April 24, consolidating gains made early last week, when Fastmarkets reported news of a production stoppage at UK producer FE Mottram after a fire at the company's plant in Sheffield. Alloy prices were expected to move higher in the...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday April 24:Antimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 43,500-44,500 yuan per tonne from 44,000-45,000 yuanCadmium MB free market min 99.95%, cents/lb: 133-140 cents per lb...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday April 24:Aluminium scrapCommercial cast: ?780-810 per tonne from ?780-820Commercial turnings: ?560-600 per tonne from ?565-605Group...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 point in pre-opening trade. Index futures were mixed following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was an increase to 200,000 from 193,000 last week. Actual was 230,000. Consensus for March Durable Goods Orders was an increase of 0.8% versus a revised decline of 1.1 in Februar...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday April 23.Please click...Read More
Europe's return to the metals market after the Easter bank holiday has failed to precipitate any significant consumption, while a further slew of weak European and United States economic data destabilized London Metal Exchange three-month contracts by the close on Tuesday April 23. The entire complex traded down by close of play but no metal was harder-hit than nickel. The metal's LME three-month...Read More
Comex copper prices were dragged lower on Tuesday April 23 morning in the United States, with a surging dollar and concerns over Chinese growth weighing on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down by 2 cents to $2.8815 per lb. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price direction over the past few weeks...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the period ended Tuesday April 23. The European high-carbon, low-carbon and low phosphorous ferro-chrome and Turkish lumpy chrome ore cfr Chinese ports prices were due to be assessed on Friday April 19. As this was a UK public holiday, these prices were rolled over from the previous pricing day, as per our methodology. Th...Read More
The decline in the Chinese ferro-vanadium export price came to a halt last week after finding support from a firm domestic market and improved sentiment. Meanwhile, the European ferro-vanadium market continued its downward trend amid aggressive competition among sellers. Chinese ferro-vanadium price stabilizes on firm offersEuropean ferro-vanadium price slides again due to aggressive offersChinese...Read More
The ferro-silicon markets in China and the United States were stable in the week ended Friday April 19, with both seeing limited trading activity over the period.China Tightness developing after several producers in Northern China halted their operations a few weeks ago. With the expectation of tight supply, some domestic producers in China lifted their offers while buyers took a watchful stance d...Read More
Negative pressure arising from delays in the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage markets have reduced the demand for Umicore's cobalt cathodes materials, Umicore chief executive officer Marc Grynberg said during a conference call on Tuesday April 23.The previous projections of 100,000 metric tonnes of cathode materials sales in 2019 and 175,000 metric tonnes of capacity by the end of 2021 are...Read More