Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More
Stainless steel transaction prices in Europe increased in the week ended Friday March 29 while mills continued to incrementally apply higher alloy surcharges to their sales prices.This week, many mills announced alloy surcharges for a range of stainless steel products for April, at levels increased from those in March. This was the second consecutive such increase.The increases were largely a reac...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The aluminium P1020 Midwest premium in the United States declined to its lowest level in 11 weeks on Friday March 29, with narrowed contango spreads on the London Metal Exchange prompting some traders to discount amid waning spot demand from consumers. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the P1020 Midwest premium at 19-19.25 cents per lb on March 29, after holding the range at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb since t...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale reported reduced nickel production of 244,600 tonnes in 2018, down 15.1% from 2017's 288,200 tonnes.The depressed year-on-year figures come despite the company increasing its fourth-quarter nickel production by 14.9% to 64,000 tonnes, up from 55,700 tonnes in the third quarter of 2018.The figures were published in Vale's fourth-quarter production results on Wedn...Read More
The copper market in the United States jumped in morning trading on Friday March 29 amid optimism that the global trade war will soon be resolved, boosting metals prospects.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 6.85 cents per lb to $2.9410 per lb.Trade talks between the US and China continued to show little progress in their attempts...Read More
A cargo of 30,000 tonnes of Chinese-origin alumina has been sold at 2,810 yuan ($417.10) per tonne fob Yantai port to Glencore in recent days, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29. The price is equivalent to around 2,560 yuan per tonne ex-works, taking into account nearly 250 yuan per tonne for freight to Yantai port and other costs. This is 3.8% or 100 yuan per to...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More
The price for cold-rolled coil firmed up in the United States over the past past week due to steady demand, while the base and all-in prices for coated steel were steady compared with the previous week, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for domestic cold-rolled coil moved to $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Thursday March 28, up by 50 cents from $41.50...Read More
The prices for US imports of steel beams has risen on confirmed sales of Mexican material while the price for domestic beams remained stable, Fastmarkets AMM has learned.Fastmarkets' assessment for imported beams is now $790-810 per short ton ($39.50-40.50 per hundredweight) delivered duty paid Port of Houston as of Thursday March 28, up 3.9 % from $740-800 per ton ($37-40 per cwt) previously. At...Read More
Ukraine's largest long steel producer, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, is currently holding cold tests of its two new continuous casting machines - also known as CCM No2 and CCM No3 - which have combined annual capacity of 2.8 million tonnes, the company told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29.The move is aimed at strengthening the steelmaker's position in the billet export market and enabling ArcelorMittal...Read More
CIS billet prices started to decline in the last week of March, with the market under pressure from lower customers' bids, falling scrap prices in Turkey, and growing competition from Turkish billet suppliers because of the lira weakening against the US dollar.Indications of offers were coming within the range of $450-460 per tonne fob Black Sea, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29. A Ukraine-bas...Read More
Export prices for steel slab products of Brazilian origin remained unchanged in the week ended Friday March 29, on a flat steel market in the United States and weak demand in Europe.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian slab export prices was $510-550 per tonne fob on Friday, stable week-on-week.Bookings were reported from Brazil to the US market at prices of at least $540 per tonne fob, sou...Read More
Indian domestic secondary steel billet prices have fallen by about 100 rupees ($1) per tonne this week because there have been fewer inquiries and minimal buying by makers of finished products such as rebar mills, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29.Indian domestic secondary billet prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at 31,200-31,400 rupees ($450-453) per tonne ex-mill on Friday, down by 100 rupe...Read More
Indian importers have rejected the latest offer prices for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC), citing falling prices for the commodity in the domestic market, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29.Indian HRC import prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at $575-580 per tonne cfr Indian ports on March 29, compared with last week's assessment of $560-565 per tonne cfr, an increase of $15 per tonne.The lat...Read More
The South American flat steel import market remained uneventful during the past week, as participants in Brazil, the largest country in the region, kept away from spot deals, and prices from China, the most active seller, were still significantly higher than those locally.Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled coil prices in South America was at $565-575 per tonne cfr on March 29, the same le...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to use its 65% Fe Brazilian Fines Index, cfr Qingdao (MBIOI-65-BZ) as the base price for its Direct Reduced (DR)-grade Iron Ore Pellet Premium Middle East reference. Currently, Fastmarkets' 62% Fe Fines Index, cfr Qingdao (MBIOI-62) is used as the base price. The proposed move follows a shift in the market to 65% Fe fines as the base price for some pellet contracts....Read More