Comex copper prices fell in the US morning on Monday October 1 due to poor Chinese manufacturing data released overnight.Copper prices for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.50 cents or 0.9% to $2.78 per lb. Earlier today, the contract hit an intraday low of $2.755, the lowest since September 21.In critical data points, Chinese Caixin manufacturing...Read More
Plate prices in the United States were steady on Friday September 28, but sentiment that the market will have nowhere to go but up was less prevalent than in previous weeks.The Fastmarket AMM assessment for cut-to-length plate was at $48.50 per hundredweight ($970 per short ton) on Friday, unchanged compared with the previous week.Lead times are approximately eight to 10 weeks, market participants...Read More
US prices for domestic and imported merchant bar products have held steady once again, while domestic market participants have noted improved lead times. Fastmarket AMM's latest assessment for domestic 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant bar again remained at $38.05 per hundredweight ($761 per short ton) on Friday September 28. Similarly, prices for imported merchant bar held firm at $640...Read More
The board of German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp has unanimously agreed to split the business into two separate companies, it said on Sunday September 30.The company announced the proposed split last week, and has now approved the dividing of the company into ThyssenKrupp Materials, which will include all of the group's steel sector assets as well as the distribution business, and ThyssenK...Read More
Fastmarkets MB will not publish price assessments for steel products in China during the period October 1-5, 2018, due to the week-long National Day holidays.The following prices will not be published during this period. Normal publishing schedules will be resumed in the week beginning Monday October 8.All historical data relating to these prices will remain available in the pricing section of the...Read More
Turkey exported 356,568 tonnes of flat steel products in August 2018, according to the latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).This volume was up by 22.67% from the 290,677 tonnes exported in August 2017, TUIK said.The main reason for the increase was strong demand for Turkish HRC, mainly in Europe.The European Commission set preliminary safeguard measures on imports of 23 ste...Read More
Turkey imported 458,445 tonnes of flat steel in August 2018, 32.96% less than the 683,834 tonnes imported in the corresponding month a year ago, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The reason for this significant decrease in import volumes was weak demand in the country's domestic market, as well as high import prices, sources said on Monday October 1.Turkey imposes 9% duty on im...Read More
Chinese lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium announced on Friday September 28 that it has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with BMW to supply the German carmaker with lithium compounds.One week ahead of Ganfeng's initial public offering (IPO), which is intended to raise $676 million in a Hong Kong share listing, the companies signed a five-year supply agreement, with the possibility to extend...Read More
Ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices were stable in both China and Europe last week with few spot deals reported because most market participants were gathering in Chengdu, China, for the International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA) conference. Meanwhile, ferro-tungsten prices in Europe dropped on lower concluded deals. APT prices stable; few spot deals reported Concentrate prices uncha...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets on Monday October 1 after booking a number of cargoes for October and November deliveries in the past week.The mills in the country booked at least four deep-sea cargoes last week, totaling 95,000 tonnes.The prices of scrap shipments into Turkey were expected to remain firm in the short term, market participants said."Current Bal...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for auto bundle and shipbreaking scrap have remained stable over the past week but the pressure on them was increasing because of falling prices for finished and semi-finished steel and a strengthening of the country's lira, sources said on Monday October 1.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for auto bundle (DKP grade) ferrous scrap was unchanged week-on-week on Octob...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday October 1.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading, supported by the overnight finalization of the trilateral North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:16pm London...Read More
Prime grades of scrap in Asia are fetching strong premiums over obsolete grades on higher demand for high-quality raw materials from regional induction and electric-arc furnaces.Prices for containerized busheling were at $390-400 per tonne cfr Indonesia last week, while those for containerized plate and structural (P&S) scrap were at $370-380 per tonne cfr Indonesia. Containerized shredded scrap w...Read More
Iron ore prices were flat on Monday October 1 with the global market's biggest buyer, China, beginning a week-long public holiday. Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $69.24 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $68.27 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $74.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged.Metal Bullet...Read More
Prices for seaborne coking coal in the ex-China market surged on Monday October 1 in the wake of an ongoing fire at Peabody's North Goonyella mine in Queensland, Australia, which appear to have sparked panic among some participants.A November-laycan cargo of branded materials was traded on Global Coal at $212 per tonne fob Australia later in the day, according to market sources.Bids for unbranded...Read More
Rio Tinto and its joint venture partners Mitsui and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal have approved an investment of $1.55 billion to sustain production of Pilbara Blend, the Australian iron ore brand that is widely traded in the seaborne market.The joint venture partners will invest $967 million to develop the Mesa B, C and H deposits at Robe Valley, and $579 million in developing Deposits C and D at...Read More
Australia's Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) is expecting the first shipment of its 60.1% Fe iron ore product, West Pilbara fines, to be made in December in response to China's growing appetite for higher-grade ore.The product will have an alumina content of around 2.3-2.5%, around 4.3-4.5% of silica and some 0.08-0.09% of phosphorus. FMG expects to ship 5-10 million tonnes of West Pilbara fines over...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Monday October 1, supported by the overnight finalization of the trilateral North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada.The three-month aluminium price was recently up 0.7% on the pre-weekend close, buoyed by the fresh cancelation of around 41,200 tonn...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part firmer, the exception being copper where prices were down by 0.4% at $6,233 per tonne. The rest were up between little changed for aluminium and 0.9% for lead.With Chinese markets closed for the Golden Week holiday to mark the country's National Day, volume has been light with 1,606 lots traded as at 07:12am London...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board during early trading on Monday October 1, pressured by a firmer dollar and the absence of Chinese participants due to a week-long holiday in China.The LME base metals complex was largely weighed down by the dollar, which has maintained an upward trajectory since the latter stages of last week. The US currency to...Read More