Good morning from Fastmarkets' offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday October 30. Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Tuesday October 30 due to a firm dollar index, with nickel the only metal to gain on...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday October 30, with broad strength in the US dollar index prompting sharp drops in the three-month copper and zinc prices, while aluminium drifts to levels unseen since August 2017.Reaching a low of $1,966 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price has come under increased pressure over the latter hal...Read More
London Metal Exchange members will be permitted to clear via London even if no Brexit deal is reached, although it remains unclear whether this reprieve would also apply in the event of Brexit being agreed with a deal on March 29, 2019.European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said in media reports on Tuesday October 30 that the move was designed to ensure a catastrophic impact on clea...Read More
Comex copper prices tumbled to a mid-September low on October 30 morning in the US amid rising bearish sentiment in the equity market, a rising dollar and ongoing worries regarding the trade war between the US and China.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 5.70 cents to $2.6835 per lb. Earlier in intraday trading, the contract h...Read More
Prices for rebar imported into the United Arab Emirates decreased in the week to Tuesday October 30 with demand remaining weak.The billet import market was also slow because the mills in the UAE have enough billet in stock to last for more than two months, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic rebarLocal producers were still offering rebar at 2,016 dirhams ($549) per tonne ex-works this week.And Fastm...Read More
London Metal Exchange members will be permitted to clear via London even if no Brexit deal is reached, although it remains unclear whether this reprieve would also apply in the event of Brexit being agreed with a deal on March 29, 2019.European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said in media reports on Tuesday October 30 that the move was designed to ensure a catastrophic impact on clea...Read More
The P1020 cif Baltimore premium in the United States dropped considerably this week, largely due to the depressed Midwest duty-paid premium.Fastmarkets AMM's assessment of the cif Baltimore premium put it at 5.75-6.25 cents per lb on Tuesday October 30, down by 11.1% from 6.5-7 cents per lb one week earlier. Meanwhile, Fastmarkets AMM's assessment for the Midwest duty-paid aluminium...Read More
Benchmark A380.1 and A413.1 prices in the United States tightened on Monday due to mounting pressure from the persistently wide spread between A380.1 and non-ferrous auto shred and a competitive North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) price on the London Metal Exchange.Fastmarkets AMM's assessment for A380.1 secondary aluminium alloy narrowed downward by a penny week on week to 90...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday October 30.Please click...Read More
Comex copper prices tumbled to a mid-September low on October 30 morning in the US amid rising bearish sentiment in the equity market, a rising dollar and ongoing worries regarding the trade war between the US and China.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 5.70 cents to $2.6835 per lb. Earlier in intraday trading, the contract h...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Tuesday October 30*Copper -$147.06 (-1,026.81 yuan) Aluminium -$434.25 (-3,032.13 yuan) Zinc -$96.83 (-676.11 yuan) Nickel $500.55 (3,495.02 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday October 30.Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Tuesday October 30 due to a firm dollar index, with nickel the only metal to gain on investor dip-buying.A firm dollar put downward pressure on the SHFE base metals this morning. The dollar index ha...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday October 31.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday October 30, with broad strength in the US dollar index prompting sharp drops in the three-month copper and zinc contract prices while aluminium drifted to levels not seen since August 2017. Read more in our live futures r...Read More
Competition regulators in the European Union have opened an in-depth investigation into the 50:50 European flat-steel joint venture between ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel Europe, the European Commission (EC) said on Tuesday October 30.The EU authorities will have 90 working days, until March 19, 2019, to make a decision in the case. The EC has opened the investigation to assess the proposed creatio...Read More
Buying activity in Southeast Asia continued to support CIS billet exporters this week as several new cargoes were heard sold to the region.But the Fastmarkets' daily CIS export billet index remained unchanged day-on-day at $458 per tonne fob Black Sea as the deals heard were allegedly done from Far East ports of Russia, which are not included in the assessment. One cargo of...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were mostly stable over the past week, with demand remaining limited, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 30.UAE Hot-rolled coil from Russia was on offer to the UAE at $560-565 per tonne cfr, with one buyer bidding $550 per tonne cfr. Taiwan material was on offer to the UAE at $585 per tonne cfr, while Saudi Arabia wa...Read More
Export prices for flat steel from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to fall this week, with offers and deals heard at lower levels, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of hot-rolled coil fell to $495-510 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday October 29, down from $517-523 per tonne fob Black Sea a week earlier.Offers fr...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: HRC, CRC, HDGHot-rolled coilChina, export, hot-rolled coil, offered at $570-580 per tonne cfr, to Saudi Arabia.Russia, export, hot-rolled coil, offered at $560-565 per ton...Read More
Lower November ferro-chrome tender prices from major stainless steel mills caused ore and alloy markets to stall or weaken in the regions Fastmarkets follows in the week ended Friday October 26. UG2 chrome ore prices stall, Turkish lumpy chrome ore prices dropChinese domestic spot ferro-chrome prices pauseCharge chrome import prices weakenAlloy prices hold in Japan, South KoreaAlloy prices weaken...Read More
Chinese ferro-silicon prices held firm, with market participants awaiting further direction from November tender purchase prices, while the European and US spot markets continued to suffer from inactivity amid 2019 contract negotiations. Chinese domestic market awaits November tender prices for direction Chinese export offers flat on inactivity European ferro-silicon market dips to new...Read More