Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia flatlined on Friday August 3, with seasonally soft demand and tight supply keeping offer and transaction levels steady. Metal Bulletin's daily price assessment for billet imports to Southeast Asia was $545-550 per tonne cfr Manila on Friday, the same as a day earlier.Filipino buyers were heard to have purchased 100mm billet from the Commonwealth of...Read More
Base prices for stainless steel flat and long products in Europe were stable on Friday August 3 in extremely quest trading conditions that are typical of the slower summer months. Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic base price assessment for 2mm, grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet in Northern Europe was unchanged at ?,?1,000-1,050 ($1,162-1,220) per tonne delivered while the weekly asse...Read More
Indian mills are likely to cut their domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) by at least 500 rupees ($7) per tonne for August to boost demand and reduce inventories."We have not yet announced the price cut but a small correction of about 500 rupees per tonne is being considered for the current month," an official with a large mill told Metal Bulletin on Friday August 3.An authorized HRC distribu...Read More
Global scrap prices continued to fall in the week ended Friday August 3 due to weak demand pushing prices down.The markets in Turkey, Taiwan and the United States were all suffering from poor demand this week. And although prices ticked up slightly in the Indian market, sentiment remained negative due to the low level of demand and the influence of the faltering Turkish market.Turkey importsThe Tu...Read More
Prices in the Brazilian export pig iron market have gone down on Friday August 3 after one deal was concluded at a lower price, Metal Bulletin has heard.A supplier from Southern Brazil sold 30,000 tonnes of pig iron to the United States at $375 per tonne fob at the beginning of the week.That was a reduction from the latest offer level, which was $380-385 per tonne fob a week before.Metal Bulletin'...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday August 3. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly drifting lower during morning trading on Friday, with the complex coming under pressure from a combination of US-China trade tensions and a firmer dollar. Weakness was the dominant theme across the SHFE base metal...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week. Base metalsAn uptick in trading activity for the CME's European aluminium premium contracts during July indicates that market participants are eyeing a possible uptrend in aluminium premiums in Europe for the remainder of this year and into 2019.Labor unrest has spread throughout South America...Read More
The rise in intra-grade price differentials in the iron ore market have led to the need for more granular pricing references for the steelmaking raw material, according to market participants. Such differences were widely discussed during the Singapore Iron Ore Week earlier this year, when traders highlighted the need for a high-grade derivative to meet the evolving pricing requirements of the iro...Read More
Vietnam scrap import prices are set to be the next Asian scrap benchmark with import volumes continuing to rise in 2018 on a year-on-year basis.Demand for scrap is expected to remain firm due to the rapid growth of steelmaking capacity in the country supported by its fast-growing economy. Vietnam's gross domestic product is expected to grow 6.7% this year, largely stable in comparison with last ye...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday August 3, supported by a slight uptick in the yuan and a dip in the dollar index.Over this week, the re-emergence of trade tensions between the United States and China was the driver of a broad downtrend in metals prices, despite broadly positive fundamentals across the complex. In particular,...Read More
Physical iron ore was traded at higher prices on Friday August 3 amid paper-market gains, after China's plan for production cuts in the coming winter was released.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $67.45 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.58 per tonne.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $66.66 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.58 per tonne.Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.93 pe...Read More
Seaborne prices for hard coking coal received support this week, with Chinese buyers generating some buzz in the spot market. Two cargoes of top-tier hard coking coal were traded at $164-167 per tonne cfr China, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday August 3. A third cargo was heard to have changed hands around $169 per tonne cfr China, though the...Read More
Austenitic prices in Europe for alloy steel scrap have been stable this week in typically quiet summer activity, while in the UK some small reductions reflect slightly softer nickel prices. Overall, however, participants described both markets as essentially static. With most mills carrying out maintenance work, demand is low.Supply is available but not abundant and there is no pressure on p...Read More
The UK light iron scrap market has been flat this week, stabilizing after losses a week earlier, with market attention focused on the start of monthly delivery negotiations in the UK for settlements to domestic consumers.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?90-120 ($118-157) per tonne on Friday August 3, unchanged from a week ago....Read More
Canadian resource firm Cobalt Blockchain Inc (COBC) and DLT Labs Inc have completed a joint venture agreement to commercialize Mintrax, a blockchain platform to track the provenance of metals and minerals through the mining supply chain. Mintrax is the first enterprise-grade blockchain platform built to ensure compliance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development due diligence...Read More
Correspondent Dalton Barker recaps the week in the non-ferrous markets.Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday August 3, supported by a slight uptick in the yuan and a dip in the dollar index.Over this week, the re-emergence of trade tensions between the United States and China was the driver of a broad downtrend in metals prices, despite broadly positive fundamentals across the complex. In particular,...Read More
KAZ Minerals is buying the Baimskaya copper project in Russia to enable it to boost copper production at a lower cost, the company said this week.KAZ has identified the project, which is located in the Chukotka region in Russia's Far East, as one of the world's most significant undeveloped copper assetsFirst production is expected around 2026.Baimskaya has the potential to become a large-scale, lo...Read More
China will apply import tariffs of 25% on a series of US metal products including copper concentrates, the Chinese government said in an official notice on Friday August 3, marking an escalation of the trade war between the two countries.Key base metal raw material products that will be subject to the import tariffs are copper ores and concentrates; copper anodes and cathodes; zinc ores and concen...Read More