Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange continued their uptrend at the close of trading on Friday January 4, buoyed by strong gains in the US stock indices while depleting LME stocks keep prices elevated. Copper's three-month price was the best performer over the afternoon, gaining more than 3% and reaching an intraday high of $5,933 per tonne. The metal's three-month price has been t...Read More
Nexans' Marie Francoise Levelt retired from her position as director of metal trading at the end of December 2018, Fastmarkets has learned.Levelt joined the Paris-based cable maker in 1981 with a major...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange continued their uptrend at the close of trading on Friday January 4, buoyed by strong gains in the US stock indices while depleting LME stocks keep prices elevated. Copper's three-month price was the best performer over the afternoon, gaining more than 3% and reaching an intraday high of $5,933 per tonne. The metal's three-month price has been t...Read More
Comex copper prices staged a major recovery in the final morning trading session in the United States, amid a strong December jobs report.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange recovered 3.90 cents to $2.6070 per lb.Earlier this morning, the latest jobs report showed 312,000 Americans joined the labor market, shattering expectations of 179,0...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to strengthen on Friday January 4, but buyers remained hesitant, especially around seaborne cargoes.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $73.10 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $72.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $74.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.78 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Prem...Read More
Transaction prices in Europe for grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheets decreased this week on the back of sharp reductions to the January alloy surcharges.The January alloy surcharge for 2mm grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheets - based on data published by producers Outokumpu, Aperam and Acerinox - is at ?,?1,242-1,294 ($1,413-1,472) per tonne, down by ?,?58-91 per tonne from the December...Read More
Due to a reporter error, the following fortnightly prices were inadvertently published by Fastmarkets on Friday January 4 and therefore should be ignored. Ferro-chrome 0.10% C average 65-70% Cr major European destinations $ per lb Cr Ferro-chrome 0.06% C max - 65% Cr European low carbon in warehouse $ per lb Cr Ferro-chrome Low phosphorous Cr min 65%, C max 7%, Si max 1%, P max 0.015%,...Read More
The price ranges for A380.1 and 356.1 secondary aluminium alloy edged down on Thursday January 3, pressured by persistent weakness in London Metal Exchange aluminium prices.Fastmarkets AMM's benchmark A380.1 price fell by 1 cent on the low end and 2 cents on the high end to 85-86 cents per lb on Thursday, its lowest level since February 2017. The assessment for 356.1 alloy slip...Read More
The benchmark for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in the first quarter of 2019 has settled in a premium range of $83-85 per tonne cif over the London Metal Exchange price, the lowest level in more than two years, sources directly involved in the negotiations disclosed to Fastmarkets MB.The latest settlement represents an 18% decrease from the fourth-quarter benchmark of $103 p...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The first quarter 2019 benchmark aluminium premium to main Japanese ports (MJP) has settled at $83-85 per tonne with at least 33,000 tonnes of deals confirmed. Story...Read More
Comex copper prices staged a major recovery in the final morning trading session in the United States, amid a strong December jobs report.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange recovered 3.90 cents to $2.6070 per lb.Earlier this morning, the latest jobs report showed 312,000 Americans joined the labor market, shattering expectations of 179,0...Read More
Jiangxi Copper, one of the China's top copper producers, has purchased a majority stake in a facility in Yantai as part of a rare move of consolidation among state-owned copper smelters, according to an exchange filing on Thursday January 3.The multi-year long discussion between Jiangxi Copper and the operator of the Yantai Guorun smelter has finally been concluded, with the former agreeing to buy...Read More
Nexans' Marie Francoise Levelt retired from her position as director of metal trading at the end of December 2018, Fastmarkets has learned.Levelt joined the Paris-based cable maker in 1981 with a major...Read More
As competition in the global steel markets remains fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in December 2018.The case list below includes only updates. For other...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and coated steel in the United States held steady to start 2019, despite weakening sentiment in the hot-rolled coil market, sources told Fastmarkets AMM. Fastmarkets AMM assessed both the domestic cold-rolled coil and coated steel base prices again flat week on week at $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Thursday January 3. "On [galvanized coil] and cold-roll,...Read More
A proposed definitive decision in the European safeguard case against certain steel product imports "does not take into account the needs of the automotive sector and will affect the competitiveness of EU automobile manufacturers," the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Friday January 4.The European Commission (EC) notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on January 4...Read More
The European Commission (EC) intends to impose definitive measures in the form of tariff-rate, partially country-specific and quarterly quotas for 26 steel product categories for its safeguard case against steel dumping in Europe, the EC said on Friday January 4.The EC has notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its findings in the safeguard investigation on certain steel products. The leve...Read More
European alloy surcharges for stainless steel products have fallen for the sixth consecutive month in January because of weak market fundamentals resulting from high volumes of imports.The January alloy surcharge for 2mm grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheets - based on data published by producers Outokumpu, Aperam and Acerinox - is ?,?1,242-1,294 ($1,413-1,472) per tonne, accordin...Read More
Prices for coated-steel coil products in Turkey were mostly unchanged in the week to Friday January 4 amid continued limited demand.Demand is unlikely to improve before January 15 because buyers expect prices to fall more, sources told Fastmarkets MB.Domestic prices One producer in northern Turkey was still offering 0.5mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $650 per tonne ex-works, while one produ...Read More