U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 29 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved slightly higher following release of the November Producer Price Index at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase of 0.1% versus a decline of 0.6% in October. Actual was an increase of 0.1%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the November Producer Price Index was...Read More
Steel billet prices continued to decline in most of the world's major billet markets during the week to Friday December 7 due to thin buying interest caused by the weak finished steel sector and cheaper scrap.China's prices rebounded at the beginning of the week, after a 90-day suspension of the country's tariff war with the United States was announced on December 2, although market sentiment...Read More
Steel billet prices continued to decline in most of the world's major billet markets during the week to Friday December 7 due to thin buying interest caused by the weak finished steel sector and cheaper scrap.China's prices rebounded at the beginning of the week, after a 90-day suspension of the country's tariff war with the United States was announced on December 2, although market sentiment...Read More
Base metals continue to face headwinds from the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, but also from tension over the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Brexit, social unrest in France and stuttering equity markets. Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board on Monday December 10, with average losses of 0.5%, ranged between 0...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved lower overnight on news that China has summoned the U.S. Ambassador to protest detention of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer, but recovered before North American equity markets opened. Conoco Phillips (COP $65.91) is expected to open higher after the company announced...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday December 7, supported by an uptick in equity indices while a softer US dollar index helped most three-month prices reverse Thursday's losses.Despite low volumes in LME trading, with aluminium's 11,723 lots topping the complex, strong afternoon trading resulted in intraday highs for aluminium,...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
European lead producer Recylex has opened talks with the debtors of its Weser Metall division after leveraged investments at the smelter there failed to result in expected production gains. "The group anticipates that its German perimeter will not be able to reach its financial targets at December 31, 2018," the company said on Wednesday December 5. Weser-Metall GmBH, a wholly-owned German divisio...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday December 7.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price slid after some sellers lowered prices to book sales and generate cash before year-end, but buying interest from China's domestic stainless steel mills was thin. The imported charge chrome market was quiet. Some sellers had just compl...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday December 7.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price slid after some sellers lowered prices to book sales and generate cash before year-end, but buying interest from China's domestic stainless steel mills was thin. The imported charge chrome market was quiet. Some sellers had just compl...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
European lead producer Recylex has opened talks with the debtors of its Weser Metall division after leveraged investments at the smelter there failed to result in expected production gains. "The group anticipates that its German perimeter will not be able to reach its financial targets at December 31, 2018," the company said on Wednesday December 5. Weser-Metall GmBH, a wholly-owned German divisio...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Scrap prices continued to fall across all major markets except India during the week to Friday December 7.Demand from Turkish steel mills was sluggish this week, with only one deep-sea cargo traded, while a lack of demand in the Asian region pushed prices lower.But imported scrap prices in India increased this week because of stronger demand.Turkey importsTurkish steel producers made only one deep...Read More
Austenitic alloy steel scrap prices in the UK market decreased further this week - low demand from stainless steel mills remains the dominant factor in the market. Fastmarkets MB assessed the price of grade-316 scrap solids at ?1,200-1,230 ($1,530-1,619) per tonne delivered, down from ?1,220-1,300 a week earlier, while the price of 18/8 scrap solids fell to ?770-800 per tonne from ?780-830 per...Read More
Turkish steel producers managed just one deep-sea booking this week, mostly as a result of limited demand for finished steel products in both the domestic and export markets, sources said on Friday December 7.On Wednesday, a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo - comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 12,500 tonnes of HMS 1 and plate & structural (P&S) scrap, 5,000 t...Read More
Comex copper prices rose on Friday morning in the United States in reaction to a softer dollar.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange increased by 0.95 cents to $2.7525 per lb. Commodities have endured a volatile week, reflecting trade worries and confusion whether the US and China will reach a long-term agreement."We view the renewed w...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board on Friday December 7, with average gains of 0.6%. But trading remained choppy while market participants await greater direction.The three-month zinc price was up the most this morning, with a 1.2% gain to $3,642 per tonne, and looks well placed to push higher. The three-month copper price - which has fallen the mo...Read More