The world will need the same amount of copper over the next 25 years that it has produced in the past 500 years if it is to meet global demand, according to the head of copper at global miner Rio Tinto.Arnaud Soirat, chief executive officer of the mining company's copper and diamonds division, said that consumption of copper arising from what he termed the "electrification of everything" made the...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Tuesday April 9, although the upswing drove away buyers. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,000 yuan ($594-595) per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,940-3,950 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneSellers raised prices following an uptick in the futures market. Buyers, however, cut procurement rate...Read More
Rebar prices in eastern China surged further on Tuesday April 9 on an optimistic outlook among sellers for demand to strengthen over the rest of this month.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,070-4,100 yuan ($606-610) per tonne, up 70-90 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,960-3,990 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneEnd-user demand for rebar has been strong since mid-March and is expected...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transaction: rebarRebar East China, domestic, grade...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 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
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia dipped slightly over the past week amid softening demand in the region.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was $490-495 per tonne cfr on Monday April 8, narrowing downward by $5 per tonne from $490-500 per tonne a week earlier.Mills in...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices corrected down slightly on Tuesday April 9 after surging past $95 per tonne cfr China on Monday.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $94.85 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.45 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $93.97 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.45 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $96.99 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.61 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Inde...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 transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron...Read More
An absence of firm offers and bids kept participants in the seaborne coking coal market on the sidelines on Tuesday April 9, with buyers in particular waiting for prices to bottom out."Current seaborne coking coal prices are already 100-200 yuan ($14.90-$29.80) per tonne lower than those for domestic materials [in China]. We are just hesitating about whether the price advantage makes up for the de...Read More
The seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet markets remained muted in the week ended on Friday April 5 despite the surges in iron-ore fines prices.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly MB 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index stood at $104.12 per tonne cfr China on Friday April 5, up by $7.39 per tonne from March 29.Fastmarkets' daily MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $103.64 per tonne cfr China last week,...Read More
The impending bankruptcy which Vietnam's Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Joint Stock Company is facing will have limited impact on the Vietnam ferrous scrap import market, market sources told Fastmarkets MB this week.This is because the state-owned company has not been buying imported ferrous scrap since the last quarter of 2018."The company lost its scrap import licence last year, and is only purchasi...Read More
Fastmarkets wishes to clarify a discrepancy in the publication of its 65% Fe Value-In-Use Index on March 11.The weekly Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Value-In-Use Index, indicating the value of a 1% iron content differential in the 63-66% Fe range, was published incorrectly as $1.73 per tonne in the MBIOI email alert and PDF attachment on March 11 and subsequent dates due to an administrative erro...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange continued its uptrend during morning trading on Tuesday April 9, trading firmly above $6,500 per tonne amid easing trade tensions and a marked slowdown in the dollar index surge. Volumes traded in the red metal top the complex so far this morning, with 5,440 lots changing hands as of 9:20am London time. Zinc's trading volume was just behind...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices are generally subdued this morning, averaging up 0.2% while trading volume is considerably lower at 5,790 lots as of 06:23am London time on Tuesday April 9. While the United States and China trade negotiations are grinding closer to a positive conclusion, the Trump administration is considering imposing additional tariffs of $11 billion wort...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Tuesday April 9, with investors taking a risk-averse stance amid the uncertainties over trade negotiations between the United States and China. "Uncertainty remains over Brexit and US-China trade negotiations, weighing on US investment and global trade......It will be important to watch how investment...Read More
Key talking points across the battery raw materials markets ahead of Fastmarkets' second annual Battery Materials Conference, taking place this week in Shanghai, China. Will China's cobalt metal imports pick up significantly in 2019? When global cobalt metal prices bottomed out in late March and made a quick turnaround at the beginning of April, some Chinese traders and consumers resumed their app...Read More
UG2 chrome ore prices broke a seven-week upward trend on Friday April 5 due to weaker demand after consumers cited sufficient stock, while alloy prices in the United States weakened and were subdued in Europe. UG2 prices slip $1 per tonne, Turkish pump stabilizesAlloy prices steady in Japan, South KoreaAlloy prices hold on Chinese public holidayAlloy prices drop in Europe UG2 chrome ore prices we...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the March Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.2% in February. Actual was up 0.4%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the March Consumer Price Index was an increase of 0.2...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange had gone up by the close of trading on Monday April 8, once again trading at more than $6,500 per tonne over the afternoon, while a marginal dip in the US dollar index helped zinc's three-month price recover to more than $2,900 per tonne.Volumes traded in copper topped the complex over the day, with more than 13,000 lots changing hands by the...Read More