The prices of base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Monday October 8, pressured lower by strength in the US dollar while trade tensions continue to deter commodity investment. ...Read More
The export markets for flat steel exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States have remained weak on oversupply and buyers' fears of further price reductions, Fastmarkets heard on Monday October 8....Read More
Turkish steel producers have resumed their deep-sea scrap booking activities with two mills paying slightly higher prices for Baltic Sea cargoes, sources said on Monday October 8....Read More
Comex copper prices was little changed in the US morning on Monday October 8, with the start of LME Week in London diminishing liquidity and market participants expected to be sidelined over the next several days....Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday October 9.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were split at the close of trading on Monday October 8, with some metals caving in to pressure from a stronger US dollar while trade tensions continue to deter commodity investment. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of tradi...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday October 8....Read More
When the London Metal Exchange finished its 12-step warehouse reform package, it proved once more that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. It faced some inevitable criticism of the rules, in particular that the LME went too far in certain areas and should consider tweaking or rolling back some of its reforms. In particular, the focus of attention was on the load-in, load-out (LILO...Read More
Supply disruption, strong demand, multi-year prices highs and subsequent supply responses have meant for another year of price swings and volatility across many of the minors metals, ores and ferro-alloys markets. And now, with LME Week and contract negotiating season coming around again, players must contend with Trump administration tariffs on imports of a number of China produced goods, includi...Read More
The depreciation of the South African rand since early August has sparked a debate in the chrome ore market over whether South African suppliers should be expected to cut offers prices into China. Chrome ore buyers in China have been anticipating lower offer prices for chrome ore, arguing that the rand depreciation means South African producers are earning more in their own currency when they sell...Read More
Stefan Boel, who left German copper smelter Aurubis in July, has joined the Geneva-based commercial group Industrial Minerals, Fastmarkets learned on Monday October 8. ...Read More
Bob Flynn, global head of refined copper at physical metals merchant Gerald, is to retire from January 1, 2019. ...Read More
The prices of base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Monday October 8, pressured lower by strength in the US dollar while trade tensions continue to deter commodity investment. ...Read More
Comex copper prices was little changed in the US morning on Monday October 8, with the start of LME Week in London diminishing liquidity and market participants expected to be sidelined over the next several days....Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices picked up some strength on Monday October 8 following the return of Chinese market participants after a week-long holiday to mark China's national day. ...Read More
Although base metals are under pressure in the short term, we have a bullish bias to our 2018 price forecasts given the supportive background of solid global economic growth and the fact that all six base metal markets look set to be in fundamental deficit this year. But each has a slightly different supply-side story and this aspect should be the main differentiator. For example, zinc's narrative...Read More
Despite Chinese winter smelter production cuts generally falling short of expectations and domestic stocks continuing to climb - both of which suggest the market remains far more comfortably supplied at this point than aluminium bulls had been anticipating - prices still rallied into the year-end to reach $2,290/tonne for the first time since March 2012.And after a New Year pull-back the strength...Read More
Copper prices were working lower during most of December and in the absence of any bullish triggers we had been expecting that trend to continue. But in late December, fund buying picked up aggressively, driving prices to a fresh multi-year high of $7,203/tonne. There was little fundamental justification for this and we should consider it a warning that speculators and investors feeling optimistic...Read More
Lead prices remain on their steady uptrend since the summer lows last year and in January have been eroding resistance around October's 6-year high above $2,600/tonne. We expect the underlying strengthening fundamentals, especially on the supply side, to maintain the uptrend this year. Primary producers may well struggle to respond to higher lead prices and we doubt there is much hoarded scrap aro...Read More
The Indian government's plans of hitting 300 million tonnes of steel capacity by 2030 sounds overambitious in the current scenario given that output only managed to reach the 101 million tonne mark in 2017 - indicating three-fold (Read More
After suffering for some seven years through to 2015, the world's steelmakers have had cause for cheer over the past couple of years. After some heavy losses and write-downs, they finally appear to have emerged from the wreckage of the global financial crisis. An economic upswing has taken root in most regions of the world, Chinese steel output and export growth has slowed noticeably, and steel pr...Read More