U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 1 point in pre-opening trade. Index futures were supported by a 34.58 point gain by the Shanghai Composite Index to 2,570.34 following a pledge by the Chinese government to lower tax rates. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for December Producer Price In...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 11 that are worth another look.Manganese ore prices have started 2019 by continuing a slide that began last December, weighed down by weak downstream demand in China, where market participants are reluctant to buy amid price risk fears.The pig iron market in the United States was confused by a heavy drop in the...Read More
Buying activity in the major global steel billet markets was sluggish last week due to the post-holiday period. Customers and sellers were assessing the conditions in the market and prices softened further, because some of them placed lower bids and offers amid the lack of support for finished long steel.AsiaThe Southeast Asian billet market was largely stable in the week ended Friday January 11 o...Read More
Buying activity in the major global steel billet markets was sluggish last week due to the post-holiday period. Customers and sellers were assessing the conditions in the market and prices softened further, because some of them placed lower bids and offers amid the lack of support for finished long steel.AsiaThe Southeast Asian billet market was largely stable in the week ended Friday January 11 o...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 11 that are worth another look.Manganese ore prices have started 2019 by continuing a slide that began last December, weighed down by weak downstream demand in China, where market participants are reluctant to buy amid price risk fears.The pig iron market in the United States was confused by a heavy drop in the...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
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 11 that are worth another look.Manganese ore prices have started 2019 by continuing a slide that began last December, weighed down by weak downstream demand in China, where market participants are reluctant to buy amid price risk fears.The pig iron market in the United States was confused by a heavy drop in the...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker this morning, Monday January 14, following the release of weak Chinese trade data.Three-month tin was the only LME base metal in positive territory with a 0.4% gain, while aluminium was little changed and the rest were down between 0.7% for nickel and 1% for zinc – with copper off by 0.8% at $5,911 per t...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 22 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures are responding to a lower than expected trade surplus reported by China.Brrrrrr, it's cold outside. Biggest snow storm during the past two years has hit the U.S. Mid-west and Eastern U.S. Natural gas jumped $0.27 to$3.37 per MBtu.Goldcorp added $1.01 to $10.70 U.S. and New...Read More
Aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe and the United States were unchanged this month due to continued sluggish demand, while annual premiums in Asia climbed on uncertainty surrounding sanctions against UC Rusal. European premiums flat on sluggish January demandFoundry premiums in Europe were unchanged month on month with weak demand in the area causing liquidity to dry up.Fastmarkets assesse...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Base metals closed mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange on Friday January 11 on improving risk appetite, with nickel climbing above $11,400 per tonne.The three-month nickel price remains in an uptrend - it gained 2% today and is up by more than 8% from its lowest in 2018 at $10,530 per tonne on December 31 - while zinc climbed by 1.2% to close just below $2,500 per tonne, basis three months....Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Manganese ore prices have started 2019 by continuing a slide that began last December, weighed down by weak downstream demand in China, where market participants are reluctant to buy amid price risk fears.Manganese ore prices have started 2019 by continuing a slide that began in December, weighed down by weak downstream demand in China, where market participants are reluctant to buy because of fea...Read More
Manganese ore prices dropped as much as 6.5% on Friday January 11 because of weakening manganese alloy prices in China and escalating price risk fears.Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth, dropped 35 cents to $5.07 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu).Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin, also fell 35 cents, to $5.76 per dmtu."Prices are under pressure and market parti...Read More
The domestic alumina market in China has shown no immediate effects from the country's official warning of an overcapacity for the material, issued at the end of last year.Fastmarkets assessed the free market price of metallurgical-grade alumina, delivered duty paid, at 2,800-2,900 yuan ($408-423) per tonne on Thursday January 10, unchanged from a week before but still its lowest level since July...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.What will drive prices in 2019? Join...Read More
Scrap prices in the major markets worldwide continued to fall during the working week from Monday January 7 to Friday January 11, following the downturn in the Turkish market.But demand was strengthening due to low stock levels in both Turkey and Asia, despite the weakness of the markets for finished steel - especially in Turkey.Turkey importsThe Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap pu...Read More