The Chinese ferro-silicon market has dropped in the week to Friday September 7 ahead of the imminent arrival of new cargoes of alloy and expected winter steel production cut, while the price spread has widened in Europe amid illiquid trading conditions. China market pressured on expected renewed supply Consumption in focus as steel cuts loom Europe awaits new deals as price range wide...Read More
Imported UG2 ore prices rose on Friday September 7 while charge chrome quotations remained stable and China's domestic spot alloy price slipped in Metal Bulletin's latest pricing sessions. Restocking halts ore and alloy import price falls in ChinaDemand slows in Chinese domestic spot marketSouth Korea and Japan markets stableHigh-carbon imports into Europe, US unmoved The UG2 chrome ore market ap...Read More
Fresh queues to take delivery of base metals from listed warehouses in the London Metal Exchange system emerged last month in Europe, reflecting a continued trend of fresh cancellations.Waiting times across Asia have disappeared, however, according to the LME's monthly queue report for August.A queue at PGS warehouses in Antwerp has grown to 34 days for the removal of copper, lead, primary alumini...Read More
Comex copper prices ticked higher in the morning on Monday September 10 with a weaker dollar and positive Chines data lifting the base metals complex.Copper prices for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.85 cents or 0.3% to $2.6310 per lb."Given the negative macroeconomic backdrop and relatively weak technical configuration, it is difficult to be...Read More
Germany-based steel scrap recycling group ELG Haniel has reported strong earnings for January-June 2018, benefiting from "higher commodity prices and improved scrap availability."ELG Haniel reported revenues of ?,?986 million ($1.14 billion) in the first half of 2018, up from ?,?905 million in the corresponding period in 2017, in a financial statement published on August 31.Global stainless steel...Read More
The growth in nickel demand from the stainless steel and electrical vehicle (EV) sectors were the main topics of discussion at the Anglo American nickel seminar in Shanghai on Thursday September 6. Increasing sales of EVs since 2012, in response to global subsidies for the production of EVs with a longer driving range, has resulted in accelerated nickel-containing battery output. "While nickel pri...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday September 10.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange drifted mostly lower during morning trading capped by a downtrend in Asian equity markets amid continued risk aversion due to escalating US-Sino trade tensions.Here is how base metals prices...Read More
Benchmark alumina prices continued to rise late last week, after still-tight Pacific supplies offset any optimism coming out of progress talks at Hydro's Alunorte refinery and while workers at Alcoa voted to continue their strike. Metal Bulletin's daily fob Australia alumina index ended the week at $634.03 per tonne, rising from $627.81 per tonne on Wednesday September 5. Hydro's Alunorte alu...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products reported a 3.1% year-on-year decline in shipment volumes in July, the regional federation for steel, tube and metals distribution and trade, Eurometal, said on Sunday September 9."After quite high inventories at the turn of the year, mainly in coated products, stocks at EU steel service centers have now come back to normal," Eurometal said.Metal Bulleti...Read More
Turkish steel producers are expecting the country's export volumes to increase in the next few months because they will be offered at competitive prices due to the weakness of the country's lira, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said last week.Turkey's steel export volumes reached 11.523 million tonnes in January-July 2018, up by 3.40% year-on-year. In July 2018 alone, the country's...Read More
Global crude steelmaking capacity fell for the second consecutive year to 2.25 billion tonnes per year in 2017, but the decrease "still falls short of alleviating global excess capacity," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) said in a report released on Monday September 10.Global crude steel capacity was down year-on-year from 2.28 billion tpy in 2016.The utilisation rate...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore were stable over the past week with transactions still being negotiated at levels similar to those a week earlier. Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for rebar in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - was $535-545 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday September 10, unchanged from the precedin...Read More
Trade uncertainties continue to dominate financial markets.Trade figures released over the weekend will do little to alleviate tensions after China’s trade surplus with the United States widened to a record $31.05 billion in August, up from $28.09 billion in July.US President Donald Trump has threatened duties on another $267 billion of Chinese goods, atop the $200 billion expected to face ta...Read More
Export prices for Chinese ammonium paratungstate (APT) and ferro-tungsten fell further in the week ended Friday September 7 amid lower domestic prices and lackluster demand from overseas markets, while market prices in Europe were unchanged in a slow week there. Fob China ammonium paratungstate prices were under continued pressure due to sluggish demand from overseas markets and falls in domestic...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in the week ending Friday September 7.China Prices for cif China UG2 chrome ore rose again following the prior week's recovery to $158 per tonne owing to resistance from overseas miners and price increases for Chinese domestic ore. Chrome ore inventories at Chinese ports fell to around 3.76 million tonnes on September 7 from 3.83 million...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Cenovus (CVE $8.88 U.S. $11.71 Cdn) is expected to open higher after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral.Cummins slipped $0.03 to $141.00 after lowered target price to $156 from $172Constellation Brands (STI $) is expected to open lower after SunTrust downgraded the s...Read More
While ferrous scrap prices dropped across the board nationally in the monthly trade for September, midwestern mills benefited from a series of operational issues in the area and were able to secure steeper discounts than their neighbors in the southern United States.As a result of two consecutive corrections, the price for No 1 busheling has dropped by an average $30 per gross ton, while obsolete...Read More
The Turkish steel producers were inactive in the deep-sea scrap market at the start of this week because they were digesting the latest transactions, sources said on Monday September 10.The mills in the country have booked at least nine deep-sea cargoes over the past week, totaling more than 240,000 tonnes.But they need to make sure that rebar export sales will continue if they are to book more de...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have continued to climb over the past week, due to firm demand for the material, sources said on Monday September 10.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for auto bundle (DKP grade) ferrous scrap was TRY1,750-2,020 ($273-315) per tonne delivered, up from last week's TRY1,700-1,838 per tonne.The increase in the assessment came after steel mills and a major scrapyar...Read More
Iron ore export volumes from Western Australia's Port Hedland fell year-on-year for the first time this year in August.The port shipped 42.44 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last month, down by 0.8% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Pilbara Ports Authority on Monday September 10.August's shipments were 4.3% higher than July's...Read More