In the face of increasingly volatile markets in Asia, it is becoming more and more crucial for participants to engage in hedging to cut their risks of incurring losses, industry sources told Metal Bulletin."Hedging is very important as sharp fluctuations in spot prices can happen outside of the more normal market forces of supply and demand," GFI Group steel derivatives broker Henry Herbert said.U...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was largely flat on Friday July 6 with Chinese buyers remaining on the sidelines. A miner had offered August-laycan cargoes of premium hard coking coal via tender during the day but the wide gap between bids and offers kept transactions from being concluded, sources said. "Participants were hoping that transactions this week would set the direction for the market bu...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Friday July 6 amid the sparse trading. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,940-3,980 yuan ($593-600) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,870-3,910 yuan per tonne, unchanged Bad weather kept end-user demand weak during the day.Sellers maintained their prices flat on seeing futures strengthen at the end of the morning session, though they...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Friday July 6, with US import tariffs on Chinese goods coming into effect overnight and weakening market sentiment for the complex. Leading the index lower was nickel, which dipped below $14,000 per tonne during morning trading to levels not seen since May 10. Nickel prices continued their downtrend despite a wid...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Friday July 6:Minor metals Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 57,800-59,000 yuan per tonne from 59,000-60,000 yuan Cobalt MB free market high grade, $/lb: $38.85-40.00 per lb from $39.00-40.85 Cobalt MB free market low grade, $/lb: $38.85-40.00 per lb from $39.00-40.85 Cobalt MB China domestic, yuan/tonne:...Read More
The tentacles of US sanctions may be starting to reach further afield, special correspondent Andrea Hotter muses in the latest Hotter on Metals column. Earlier this week on Tuesday July 3, producer and trading company Glencore said it had received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records related to a money laundering probe. Sanctions were not mentioned, b...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday July 6, with nickel (-0.8%), zinc (+1.1%) and aluminium (+0.3%) the main movers, while copper at $6,326 per tonne and tin at $19,455 per tonne were little changed. That said, copper did spike down to a low of $6,221.50 per tonne at around 4am London time.Volume has been high with 16,267 lots traded as a...Read More
European stainless steel bases prices remain unchanged on Friday July 6 despite lower-priced imports available from Asia, with mills seemingly confident of maintaining acceptable sales volumes during summer without offering discounts.Metal Bulletin's weekly base price assessment for 2mm, grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet in Northern Europe was stable at ?,?1,000-1,050 ($1,168-1,227)...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday July 6.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading, with US import tariffs on Chinese goods coming into effect overnight and weakening market sentiment for the complex.Nickel dipped below $14,000 per tonne during morning trading to levels not seen since May...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices narrowed upward over the past week amid supply concerns. Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,300-15,600 yuan ($2,305-2,350) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday July 5, compared with 15,200-15,600 yuan per tonne a week earlier. More than 600 induction furnaces wi...Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India slipped this week as the monsoon season and a fall in domestic scrap prices kept the market subdued, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday July 6.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India edged down by $0.87 per tonne to $380.51 cfr Nhava Sheva on July 6, compared with $381.38...Read More
Import prices for containerized heavy melting scrap (HMS) in Taiwan have increased this week due to steady demand from end-users.Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for United States-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) sold into Taiwan was $335-340 per tonne cfr for the week ended Friday July 6, up from $330-335 per tonne a week earlier.US-origin scrap was offered at $340-345 per tonne cfr Taiwan duri...Read More
The tentacles of US sanctions may be starting to reach further afield, special correspondent Andrea Hotter muses in the latest Hotter on Metals column. Earlier this week on Tuesday July 3, producer and trading company Glencore said it had received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records related to a money laundering probe. Sanctions were not mentioned, b...Read More
The tentacles of US sanctions may be starting to reach further afield, special correspondent Andrea Hotter muses in the latest Hotter on Metals column. Earlier this week on Tuesday July 3, producer and trading company Glencore said it had received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records related to a money laundering probe. Sanctions were not mentioned, b...Read More
The tentacles of US sanctions may be starting to reach further afield, special correspondent Andrea Hotter muses in the latest Hotter on Metals column. Earlier this week on Tuesday July 3, producer and trading company Glencore said it had received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records related to a money laundering probe. Sanctions were not mentioned, b...Read More
The tentacles of US sanctions may be starting to reach further afield, special correspondent Andrea Hotter muses in the latest Hotter on Metals column. Earlier this week on Tuesday July 3, producer and trading company Glencore said it had received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records related to a money laundering probe. Sanctions were not mentioned, b...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell to three-week lows on Thursday as strong German industrial orders boosted the euro while U.S. data showed private sector jobs rose less than expected in June, weighing on the greenback along with nagging trade concerns.In recent weeks, the dollar benefited from mounting trade tensions, said John Doyle, director of markets, at Tempus Consulting in Washington. &l...Read More
* U.S. tariffs on China set to take effect on Friday* Chipmakers lead tech stocks higher* Indexes up: Dow 0.5 pct, S&P 0.6 pct, Nasdaq 0.9 pct (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)By April JoynerNEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slightly pared gains on Thursday after the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting, though...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. advanced on Thursday as reassuring economic data from Germany and a report that its big carmakers could be spared from U.S. tariffs offset another gloomy session for Asia.Shares of Mercedes-maker Daimler, BMW, Porsche PSHG_P.DE and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) surged as much as 5 percent after reports of a U.S. offer to suspend tariff threats on...Read More