When the London Metal Exchange amended its policies related to its physical delivery network a few years ago, it overlooked one key thing. The issue centers on LME's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule, which operates by linking the amount of metal a warehouse loads in to the amount it is obligated to load out for warehouses that have queues of over 50 days.The rule changes were part of package of...Read More
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More
Incumbent Indonesia president Joko Widodo's likely victory in the national polls should stimulate a recovery in domestic steel demand, sources in Southeast Asia told Fastmarkets this week. Preliminary results from multiple independent survey agencies, which are determined using samples taken from the actual votes, after the votes were cast on April 17 had shown that Widodo, commonly known as Jokow...Read More
Copper and tin were the only base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange to dip during morning trading on Friday April 19, depressed by a strong dollar, while the rest of the complex saw limited gains.The most-traded June copper price dipped to 49,390 yuan ($7,367.80) per tonne as at 10:51am Shanghai time, down by 110 yuan, or 0.22%, compared with the previous day's close. The dollar in...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...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, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic,...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBillet China,...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transactions: rebarRebar East China, domestic, grade...Read More
Bearish sentiment on LME-traded base metals pervaded the market throughout trading on April 18 with the majority of the complex continuing to trade down at the end of the trading day. Pessimism continued to mount on the back of weak European PMI data throughout the day's trading, dissipating any of the previous day's bullish sentiment on the basis of positive Chinese economic data. Suppressed appe...Read More
Mining-and-metals company South32 has revised its alumina production guidance down due to a de-bottlenecking initiative, it said in its third-quarter financial year report on Thursday April 18.The company reduced production guidance at its Worsley alumina facility in operation by 4% to 3.79 million tonnes to, "support a sustainable increase in production-to-nameplate capacity ahead of future de-bo...Read More
The US copper market failed to hold onto Wednesday's gains amid a surging dollar, which weighed on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.20 cents to $2.9255 per lb.At last glance, the dollar index was at 97.32, up 0.32% and above the psychological level of 97. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price...Read More
Mining-and-metals company South32 has revised its alumina production guidance down due to a de-bottlenecking initiative, it said in its third-quarter financial year report on Thursday April 18.The company reduced production guidance at its Worsley alumina facility in operation by 4% to 3.79 million tonnes to, "support a sustainable increase in production-to-nameplate capacity ahead of future de-bo...Read More
Alcoa's revenue for the first quarter of 2019 was $2.7 billion, down 19% from the fourth quarter of 2018, due to lower alumina and aluminium prices.The producers adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) excluding special items for the first quarter between January and March 2019 stood at $467 million, a 39% decrease from the previous quarter. "We improved ou...Read More
A summary of MMG's production results for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as well as its full-year production guidance.In brief Australia-headquartered miner MMG's contained copper in concentrate production grew by 16% in the first three months of 2019 compared with the same period a year earlier due to an improved performance at the company's Las Bambas mine in Peru.Contained copper in con...Read More
South32 has reported record year-to-date manganese ore output in the current 'favorable' market and has increased its 2019 annual production guidance by 4% in both Australia and South Africa.The miner reported 4.25 million tonnes of total manganese production for the nine months of the 2019 financial year beginning in June 2018, up 1% year on year. For the January-March third quarter, product...Read More
The Chinese domestic indium price dropped by 4% week on week on Wednesday April 17 in response to news that the Fanya Metal Exchange will again auction 34.64 tonnes of the indium stock it holds in its warehouse, after the first auction in January failed to attract any bidders. The stock will be auctioned via Alibaba judicial online platform at 10am Beijing time on April 24 and 10am Beijing time on...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices rebounded in the week to Thursday April 18 on returning demand from Turkish steel mills. Export prices on the United States' East Coast moved up as a result.But demand was limited in the key import market of Vietnam due to a mill stoppage, while Taiwanese steel mills remained well-stocked. Turkey demand returns US market picks up on East Coast Mill stoppage in Vietnam d...Read More