Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Tuesday January 8*Copper -$61.39 (-422.08 yuan) Aluminium -$374.94 (-2577.67 yuan) Zinc $18.23 (125.36 yuan) Nickel -$139.52 (-959.18 yuan) *Fastmarkets MB calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept offer prices high on Tuesday January 8 following stable prices in the domestic market, although overseas buyers are bidding much lower with access to cheaper goods from other countries.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,660-3,680 yuan ($534-537) per tonne, widening downward 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,620-3,650 yuan per tonne, up 2...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker this morning, Tuesday January 8. Tin was unchanged, while the rest were down between 0.1% for copper and lead and 0.7% for aluminium, with zinc and nickel off by 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. The three-month copper price was recently quoted at $5,909 per tonne.Volume across the complex has been average with 5,0...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were stable on Tuesday January 8 amid a divided outlook on prices in the coming weeks and higher billet prices being negated by lower futures.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,730-3,780 yuan ($544-551) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,650-3,680 yuan per tonne, unchangedSpot market traders kept their prices flat as higher billet prices were...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were stronger across the board by an average of 0.6% this morning, Wednesday January 9.Tin led the way with a 1% gain and is back over $20,000 per tonne and has an impressive double bottom in place on the chart, with lows in August and November. Lead, zinc and aluminium were all up by around 0.8%, copper was up by 0.4% at $5,959 per tonne...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar gained 0.19 to 75.53 cents U.S. prior to the Bank of Canada's statement on monetary policy at 10:00 AM EST. No change in the overnight lending rate to major banks is anticipated.Restaurants International (QSR $54.54 U.S.) is expected to open higher after Sun Trust ini...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively higher at the close of trading on Monday January 7, with low volumes capping price rallies amid a continued dip in the dollar index. Despite this, zinc's three-month price climbed 2.4% on just 8,000 lots traded by the close, reaching an intraday high of $2,500 per tonne for the first time since December 28 amid low LME stocks.Alumin...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue its weekly aluminium premium assessments for aluminium P1020A fob Singapore and aluminium P1020A fob Malaysia. The proposal is based on market feedback that these markets see limited liquidity on an fob basis, with some sources noting that market participants in this region use premiums on an fca basis or in-warehouse warrants instead as a pricing reference. Sub...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue three European lead premiums and invites market feedback in a one-month consultation. Fastmarkets has noted a significant lack of liquidity in the three European lead premium markets it assesses, which has led to insufficient data contribution to support the representativeness of it prices. On top of lackluster spot trading interest, the representativeness of st...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 7 that are worth another look.A resolution of disapproval introduced by United States Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday January 4 opens the door to sanctions remaining in place against Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal, although some trade lawyers and analysts said those efforts might be in vain.Alum...Read More
The New Year holiday dampened activity and price movements in markets in Asia, Europe and the United States in the week ended Friday January 4. Ore and alloy prices unchanged in China, South Korea Japanese market on holiday Ferro-chrome in Europe stable Alloy prices flat in the US UG2 chrome ore prices in China were unchanged in the week Friday January 4, amid a comparatively qu...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market fell in the first week of January, extending losses from the week before amid poor fundamentals. Elsewhere, the European market has been quiet, but has held steady despite little trading, although increased activity is expected with dealers returning after seasonal holidays. China market drops on low demand More Chinese losses expected in the near term Europe stead...Read More
Fastmarkets will host a free web seminar on Tuesday January 15 at 9:30am, London time, to discuss recent and coming trends and how we price the minor metals markets.The webinar will also explain the recent changes to some of our minor metals specifications.Register here to join the webinar.DateTuesday January 15, 2019Time9:30am, London timeJoin our pricing team while they discuss:?EUR?Recent marke...Read More
The Turkish steel mills went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of this week with the market digesting the news of purchases that were heard at the end of last week, sources said on Monday January 7.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo on January 4, comprising 33,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $280 per tonne, 3,000 tonnes of shredded at $285 per tonne and...Read More
The domestic scrap price in Turkey has continued to fall over the past week, in line with the weakening imported scrap and domestic finished-steel values, sources said on Monday January 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) ferrous scrap was TRY1,480-1,550 ($278-291) per tonne delivered on January 7, narrowing down from TRY1,490-1,590 per tonne last week.Long...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia narrowed downward over the past week due to lower offers and bids, amid persistent bearish sentiment and lackluster finished steel markets.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was $430-435 per tonne cfr on Monday January 7, down from $430-440 per tonne cfr a week earlier.Trading ac...Read More
Comex copper prices turned modestly lower in the United States on Monday January 7 with a lack of market news and evolving macroeconomic worries. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.35 cents to $2.6440 per lb. Trade talks between China and the US have seen minimal progress over the past few weeks and the lack of resolution is cas...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board by an average of 0.2% this morning, Monday January 7, with copper recently quoted at $5,937 per tonne - this after average gains of 1.5% last Friday.Volume across the complex has been average with 5,995 lots traded as at 7.15am London time.In the precious metals this morning, gold prices are off their highs of $1,...Read More
Cobalt metal prices continued to slide when trading got under way after the Christmas and new year holidays, with spot inquiries attracting competitive sellers in a well-supplied market.Standard and alloy-grade cobalt prices fell by 2.8% in the week ended Friday January 4. The standard-grade price was assessed at $25.75-27.25 per lb and the alloy-grade price at $25.50-27.25 per lb, both in-warehou...Read More
Turkey increased the hot-rolled coil (HRC) import duty to 6% for re-rollers from 3.5% previously, effective from January 1, 2019.The country will impose the import duty on HRC imports from re-rollers as well as tube and pipe producers. Tube and pipe producers were previously exempt from the duty discount until January 1.The duty for re-rollers was 5% until January 1, 2018, when it was reduced to 3...Read More