Iron ore prices experienced some fluctuation on Wednesday March 13 following ups and downs in the futures markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.78 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $83.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $86.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.65 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $74....Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices softened on Wednesday March 13, with a trade on the Global Coal trading platform taking some market participants by surprise.A May-laycan cargo of premium hard coking coal in the branded segment was traded at $204 per tonne fob Australia, while a bid for an April-laycan shipment in the same segment was made on the platform at around $212 per tonne fob Australia during t...Read More
Australian rail freight operator Aurizon expects repair works on its rail infrastructure and overhead lines that suffered damage from a train derailment at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) earlier this month to be completed by Friday March 15."At approximately 3.50pm, Sunday March 10, an empty Pacific National train derailed as it exited Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. No one was injured in the...Read More
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has seen a "tremendous uptick" in iron ore futures trading activity due to supply concerns following the deadly breach at one of Vale's tailings dams earlier this year."There is suddenly a big squeeze on high-quality iron ore," the exchange's head of derivatives, Michael Syn, said in response to a question from Fastmarkets at an SGX press briefing at the 44th Annual In...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange could hit as high as $8,000 per tonne this year, Marex Spectron's head of market analytics Guy Wolf told delegates at Fastmarkets' International Copper Conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday March 13."My view is that we could see copper's three-month price on the LME move past $7,500 per tonne and reach $8,000 per tonne this year," Wolf said."I...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday March 13:Minor metalsAntimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 46,000-46,500 yuan per tonne from 47,000-48,000 yuanCobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $14.20-14.90 per lb from $14.60-15.75Cobalt MB free market standard grade, $/lb:...Read More
After the ferro-alloys industry gathered in Hong Kong this week for Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys conference, our reporters present 10 of the key things we learned. 1. Vanadium is likely to regain momentum in 2019... Many market participants at the conference were bullish about ferro-vanadium in 2019, citing robust demand as a result of the revised rebar standard in China, which mandated an incr...Read More
The manganese ore market is likely to remain stable over 2019 after the previous two years of volatility, though profitability is liable to shrink, according to panelists at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys conference in Hong Kong on Monday March 11."The market is less volatile compared to the last two years because while supply has gone up, demand has gone up too," Lei Fei, China Minmetals Corpora...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Wednesday March 13, with copper, aluminium, nickel and zinc down by an average of 0.2%, while lead was up by 0.6% and tin was little changed. Three-month copper was recently quoted at $6,451 per tonne, off by 0.3% compared with Tuesday's close at $6,468 per tonne.Volume was slightly below average with 6,482 lots t...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday March 13 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers The recent rally in the European ferro-titanium price shows no sign of ending, with buying inquiries reported from within Europe and beyond, such as the United States. Renewed consumer demand for second-quarter delivery settlements has combined with short covering for both prompt and longer term demand amid a potenti...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia softened over the past week due to a slowdown in trading activity, amid thin buying interest and a weakening nickel market.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil in East Asia was $2,050-2,150 per tonne cif on Wednesday March 13, widening downward by $10 per tonne from $2,060-2,150 per t...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday March 13:Aluminium scrapCommercial pure cuttings: ?970-1,000 per tonne from ?980-1,020Aluminium ingotLM24 pressure diecasting ingot: ?1,360-1,410 per tonne...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Thursday March 14, with copper, nickel, lead and zinc down by an average of 0.4%, while lead and tin were up by 0.1% 0.4% respectively.Three-month copper was recently quoted at $6,444 per tonne, down by 0.3% compared with Wednesday’s close at $6,466 per tonne.Volume was below average, with 5,913 lots traded o...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims report. Consensus was an increase to 225,000 from 223,000 last week. Actual was 229,000.Dollar General dropped $6.69 to $113.99 after reporting lower than consensus fourth quarter earnings. The comp...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 12.Fastmarkets had change the publication date its London Metal...Read More
Copper demand in the Middle East is lagging in comparison to the rest of world, panelists at Fastmarkets' International Copper Conference in Amsterdam said on Tuesday March 12.While global demand for copper is healthy, copper demand in the Middle East remains the laggard, Nexans' head of procurement Christophe Allain and Dubai Cable purchasing manager Laila Marafi agreed when speaking to delegates...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange traded higher across the board during afternoon trading on March 12, with zinc up by $100 per tonne at the close.Zinc prices remain well supported by signs of tightening supply, with LME inventories at the lowest level since 2007."The zinc price is zigzagging upward and nearing the $2,800-per-tonne mark. The price has been lent support by supply conc...Read More
The European ferro-chrome market should trade through an online portal to set up a transparent pricing mechanism, according to the chief executive officer of trading house UniChrome AG, Dmitry Pastour.The use of an online portal would provide demonstrable liquidity to price indication, Pastour said during a discussion panel at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong this week."With...Read More
The development of the futures market in China has been a "double-edged sword" for the domestic ferro-silicon industry, leading to more flexibility for market participants and wilder price swings than prior to its existence, according to one speaker at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong this week.Ferro-silicon contracts, launched on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) in Au...Read More
Key data for the Friday 8 March pricing session in London.Key drivers- Magnesium price increases due to the tight coal supply in China's domestic markets.- A strict round of inspections taking place at all mining companies in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region is the main reason for the shortage. This new...Read More