Aluminium LME aluminium produced what appears to be a bullish daily hammer candlestick on Friday April 12. This technical development could mark a potential short-term reversal. Given how oversold the daily RSI and stochastic lines are, there is decent upside potential on both indicators to support a move higher. Still, we will need to see more buying emerge first and LME aluminium needs to t...Read More
The copper industry gathered in Santiago last week for the annual CESCO week. Overall, sentiment was fairly bullish and that seems to be flowing into prices this week, with copper having another go at resistance in the $6,500s. Below we highlight some of the key takeaways from CESCO and give our opinion on some of the main talking points. Mine disruptions are back After a relative dearth of mine s...Read More
Rising stocks highlight adequate availability A pick-up in both LME and SHFE lead stocks in recent months is a headwind for lead prices at this seasonally weak time when the threat of severe cold weather in the northern hemisphere has passed. That said, exchange lead stocks are still relatively low, at around 109,500 tonnes on Friday, compared with 123,276 tonnes at the start of the year. While th...Read More
At Fastmarkets’ Battery Material Conference held in Shanghai last week, there was much focus among participants on how China’s EV policies will support nickel-rich lithium-ion battery demand in medium to long term. Below are some important highlights from this discussion: The halving of China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidies in late March (to 18,000 yuan ($2,680) for EVs with a...Read More
Dip-buying continues to keep LME tin prices fairly stable in the mid-to-high $20,000s. As this delays the still-likely sell-off associated with the beginning of the end of the Indonesian supply bottleneck, we turn our attention this week to the tinplate market, noting highlights from our Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Markets Tracker. Chinese market in transition In China, the tinplate market seems...Read More
Zinc rebounds on positive Chinese data... Zinc prices came under pressure for much of last week as trade jitters and macroeconomic uncertainties dominated risk sentiment. But price weakness was limited by technical support around $2,870 per tonne, before staging an end-of-week rebound to close with a modest $5.50-per-tonne gain on the week in response to positive data from China. ...as new loans a...Read More
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Trading across most of the metals is relatively quiet in early morning on Tuesday April 16 and the market seems to be waiting for fresh direction, which we think means the market is waiting for a US-China trade deal. Before that, today’s ZEW and US industrial production data may provide direction, as too will tomorrow’s Chinese GDP data. Base metals Trading across the London Me...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Strength was prompted by a 2.39% gain by the Shanghai Composite Index to 3.253.60. Several North American equity indices are testing their all-time highs this morning. All-time highs are 2,940.91 for the S&P 500 Index, 8,133.30 for the NASDAQ Composite Index, 7,700.56 for the NASDAQ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 12 that are worth another look.Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year's Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewe...Read More
Billet prices in the major global markets continued to soften over the week ended Friday April 12 due to the lack of demand and the continuing falls in the price of scrap, notably in Turkey.The exception to this was the Chinese market, where active demand from re-rolling mills resulted in reduced billet inventories, pushing prices upward.The spot inventory was 577,000 tonnes on Thursday in Tangsha...Read More
Billet prices in the major global markets continued to soften over the week ended Friday April 12 due to the lack of demand and the continuing falls in the price of scrap, notably in Turkey.The exception to this was the Chinese market, where active demand from re-rolling mills resulted in reduced billet inventories, pushing prices upward.The spot inventory was 577,000 tonnes on Thursday in Tangsha...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 12 that are worth another look.Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year's Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewe...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 12 that are worth another look.Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year's Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewe...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade. Goldman Sachs (GS $207.84) was virtually unchanged after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings. The company also raised its dividend. Citigroup added $0.25 to $67.42 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings. Wells Fargo dropped $0.71 to $45.78 after Goldm...Read More
Aluminium foundry premiums in Western Europe and the United States continued to slide on Friday April 12 following sustained concerns about the automotive industry. The premium for silicon 7 aluminium wheel alloys over London Metal Exchange cash prices delivered to the Ruhr region with 30-day payment terms was assessed Friday at $340-360 per tonne. The premium is down more than 17.6% year on year....Read More
Aluminium billet premiums worldwide were mostly static on Friday April 12, although the premium in Brazil bucked the trend in moving to its highest level since June 15 of last year. ?EUR? Spanish premium drops below $400 per tonne ?EUR? Brazilian market pushes higher on more offers?EUR? US spot market remains quiet?EUR? Asia quiet ahead of holidaysEurope mostly quiet; Spain continues to fallThe pr...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange moved above $2,900 per tonne at the close of trading on Friday April 12, while volumes traded reached their highest level since March 15 at 12,000 lots exchanged.Price action in zinc has been volatile so far in April, reaching a monthly high of $2,938 per tonne on April 8 before dipping to a low of $2,852 per tonne on April 9. LME stocks rema...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More