China's domestic stainless steel prices moved down over the past week amid low demand and high inventory levels. Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,600-15,900 yuan ($2,252-2,296) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Wednesday October 17, down 200 yuan per tonne from a week earlier.Demand remained soft over the pas...Read More
Buyers held back from trading in the export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States during the week ended Thursday October 18, because there was enough material available for them to ignore high offer prices.Fastmarkets' export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS was $360-370 per tonne fob Black Sea on October 18, narrowing downward from $360-375 per t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 18 because of a firmer dollar but zinc continued to rally thanks to low stocks and the threat of more US sanctions.Copper closed below $6,200 per tonne for the first time this week while nickel hit a one-month low of $12,200 per tonne this afternoon but recovered to close at $12,350 per to...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for rebar and wire rod continued to slide in the week ended Thursday October 18. But this time the drop was spurred not only by modest demand but also by the strengthening of the local currency against the US dollar.The country's domestic long steel prices are strongly connected to the lira-dollar exchange rate and move in line with that, because mills buy their raw materia...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have fallen over the past week because of poor demand both domestically and abroad as well as a strengthening of the lira against the dollar.The lira started to gain in value by the end of last week after the release of US pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey, who hads been detained by local authorities because of alleged links to outlawed political groups. He was freed by a...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday October 19.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange fell at the close of trading on Thursday October 18 due to a firmer US dollar index, although zinc was relatively steady thanks to low stocks and the threat of more sanctions by the United States. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday October 18.Zinc continued to outperform the other base metals during morning trading the London Metal Exchange following a large cancellation at LME-listed warehouses.The three-month zinc price peaked at $2,687 per tonne this morning, its highest since the start of October, after more than 31,000 tonnes of th...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday October 18.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with only zinc showing any meaningful gains while copper was little changed.The broad-based weakness in the base metals follows a rebound in the dollar after the...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 18 because of a firmer dollar but zinc continued to rally thanks to low stocks and the threat of more US sanctions.Copper closed below $6,200 per tonne for the first time this week while nickel hit a one-month low of $12,200 per tonne this afternoon but recovered to close at $12,350 per to...Read More
The Comex copper price tumbled in the morning on Thursday October 18 after the US Federal Reserve indicated another interest rate rise is imminent. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.10 cents to $2.7370 per lb. The broad-based weakness in the base metals follows a rebound in the dollar after the minutes from the US Federal Op...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Thursday October 18, with the market showing signs of cooling off from Wednesday's bullishness.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $73.58 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.22 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $72.61 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.22 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $78.60 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.15 per tonne.MB...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market showed signs of renewed activity on Thursday October 18, with prices being pushed upward by rumors of a new cargo booking.So far this week, no deep-sea cargo bookings have been heard, but rumors of a European cargo being sold were circulating on the market today. But the details began to emerge...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt decreased in the week ended Thursday October 18, with demand in the country remaining weak.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $480-485 per tonne cfr on Thursday, falling from...Read More
The Comex copper price tumbled in the morning on Thursday October 18 after the US Federal Reserve indicated another interest rate rise is imminent. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.10 cents to $2.7370 per lb. The broad-based weakness in the base metals follows a rebound in the dollar after the minutes from the US Federal Op...Read More
BHP's zinc concentrates production rose 5% year on year in the three months ended September 30, 2018, according to the company's quarterly production report released on Wednesday October 17. The company produced 30,558 tonnes in the July-September period, up 5% from 29,201 tonnes in the same period of 2017, although production dropped by 15% on a quarterly basis. The miner produced 35,983 tonnes o...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 17 pricing session in Asia. Key drivers: Cheaper offers from new supply regions including the Middle East, Russia, Spain and Italy put pressure on Chinese exporters to lower their prices.This new supply was diverted to Japan from Europe and...Read More
Australian-Chinese miner MMG has increased 2018 production guidance from Dugald River, with a ramp-up at the Australian zinc mine progressing faster than expected.Dugald River will produce 140,000-150,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate this year, MMG said, above the 120,000-140,000 tonnes previously stated by the company."The Dugald River ramp up continues to track ahead of schedule, with mining an...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday October 18*Copper -$95.64 (-665.08 yuan) Aluminium -$452.61 (-3,147.39 yuan) Zinc -$82.92 (-576.6 yuan) Nickel $317.67 (2,208.99 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday October 18.Zinc continued to outperform the other base metals during morning trading the London Metal Exchange following a large cancellation at LME-listed warehouses.The three-month zinc price peaked at $2,687 per tonne this morning, its highest since the start of October, after more than 31,000 tonnes of th...Read More
Polish secondary aluminium producer Alumetal SA raised capacity at its plant in Gorzyce, Poland, earlier this month, it said, amid falling prices - diecasting alloy is down by than ?,?200 in Europe since the start of 2018.Capacity at the producer's Gorzyce plant has increased to more than 20,000 tonnes per year from 8,000 tpy, it said. The expansion will also allow the company's plant to produce a...Read More