Copper continues to capitalize on the narrowing $0.75 per tonne cash-to-March spread contango, while the three-month contract rises to $6,430 per tonne, up $26 per tonne from the $6,404-per-tonne close on March 14.The three-month copper price seems to be ignoring the significant influx of material into Asian LME warehouses on March 15, with 18,905 lots of material traded during the day's session.N...Read More
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
In contrast to the clear skies outside, a cloud hung over discussions among Indian scrap traders attending the opening session of the annual conference of the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) earlier this month in Kochi, southern India.Secretary-general Amar Singh praised the superior air quality in the host city, compared with the metropolises of New Delhi and Mumbai. But delegates...Read More
Copper continues to capitalize on the narrowing $0.75 per tonne cash-to-March spread contango, while the three-month contract rises to $6,430 per tonne, up $26 per tonne from the $6,404-per-tonne close on March 14.The three-month copper price seems to be ignoring the significant influx of material into Asian LME warehouses on March 15, with 18,905 lots of material traded during the day's session.N...Read More
The copper market in the United States bounced back in trading on the morning of Friday March 15, with a softer dollar and positive data boosting the marketplace.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.95 cents to $2.9110 per lb."While we acknowledge that copper is at present facing macro/fundamentals headwinds, we think copper will s...Read More
Forward cargoes of seaborne coking coal continued to fetch lower prices on Friday March 15 while those for April-laycan shipments held steady.On the Global Coal trading platform, a July-laycan cargo in the branded segment was traded at $196 per tonne fob Australia, while a bid for an April-laycan cargo in the same segment was made at $212.50 per tonne, up $0.50 per tonne from the last bid. The tra...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
Key data from the March 15 pricing session in London: Key drivers: Prices edge lower again in the second half of the week although the midweek drop to low the $14s deters some consumers from buying again, in anticipation of weaker prices. One so-far isolated sale at $13.20 per lb...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices have fallen by 900 rupees ($13) per tonne this week with demand for both semi-finished and finished long steel products remaining subdued and inquiries limited.The price for Indian domestic secondary billet, assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday March 15, was 31,300-31,500 rupees ($450-453) per tonne ex-mill. This was down by 900 rupees per tonne compared with l...Read More
Fitch Solutions has predicted that copper prices will rise to an average $6,900 per tonne in 2019 before reaching $7,100 per tonne in 2020, with tight fundamentals and record-low warehousing stocks underpinning the market."Tight fundamentals, underpinned by record-low [London Metal Exchange] stocks and improving market sentiment as the probability of a US-China trade agreement rises have boosted c...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The copper market in the United States bounced back in trading on the morning of Friday March 15, with a softer dollar and positive data boosting the marketplace.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.95 cents to $2.9110 per lb."While we acknowledge that copper is at present facing macro/fundamentals headwinds, we think copper will s...Read More
Base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were mostly up week on week on Friday March 15, with nickel stocks registering a 13.3% gain.Deliverable nickel stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have risen by 1,438 tonnes or 13.3% since March 8 to 12,217 tonnes as of March 15. Over the week to Friday, warehouse company Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai had the most inflows into its sh...Read More
In a reversal of its closing fortunes on March 14, the London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract increased to $6,415 per tonne during morning trading on March 15, up by $11 per tonne from the $6,404-per-tonne close the previous day.A significant 44,800 tonnes of material was recorded to have arrived almost exclusively into Asian warehouses as of 9am on March 15, with global stocks of mat...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday March 15*Copper -$120.98 (-815.01 yuan) Aluminium -$312.74 (-2,106.89 yuan) Zinc -$99.95 (-673.36 yuan) Nickel -$137.75 (-927.97 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
Strong demand again drove coated steel prices higher in the United States, while the price for cold-rolled coil remained steady week on week, according to market participants.Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for the domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel base price moved to $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Thursday March 14 from $41.50 per cwt a week earlier; and the all-in price for...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil remained unchanged this past week, although offers from the country were heard at higher levels.Fastmarkets MB's weekly assessment for Brazil-origin slab stood at $500-540 per tonne fob on Friday March 15, stable week on week.Offers from Brazil to the US market were heard close to $560 per tonne fob, but market participants were still doubtful whether...Read More