Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were firmer on the morning of Monday May 21, with prices up by an average of 0.4%. Lead was out in front with a 0.9% rise, while copper was up by 0.6% at $6,864 per tonne. Volume on the LME has been above average with 8,214 lots traded as at 07.54 am London time. This follows a mixed performance last Friday where the metals were either little changed...Read More
Carmaker Daimler AG has gone "on the offensive" to secure a sustainable raw materials supply chain and has developed a number of initiatives across key raw materials to create transparency and to protect human rights, the Germany-based group has said.The move comes amid continuing concerns about unsafe working conditions and the use of child labor in artisanal mining, particularly for cobalt in th...Read More
Manganese ore prices fell heavily over week ended Friday May 18, in particular the price for 44% manganese, with sellers accepting the refusal among buyers to pay higher prices.Price of 44% manganese ore slides by 11.4%Chinese alloy prices soften and inventories tick upwardTop price for Indian silico-manganese dipsEuropean silico-manganese price dropsUS alloys spot demand quiet; lower ore prices t...Read More
After a strong first quarter of 2018, when more ferrous scrap produced in the United States was bought both at home and abroad, it appeared that the country's scrap sellers were well placed to fend off buyers' attempts to push market prices downward.Price increases in the US domestic scrap market, combined with increasing mill capacity utilization rates and an 80% bounce in US scrap export volumes...Read More
Canada-based Cobalt Blockchain Inc (COBC) expects final ratification shortly for a copper/cobalt trading and export license that will allow it to establish regional buying depots in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), process minerals in-country and export internationally. The exploration and development company, which has assets in the DRC, said its application for the license as well as all...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Monday May 21, with zinc and lead breaking through recent support and resisting the US dollar's six-month high. Lead's three-month price climbed 3.3% to break past the $2,400-per-tonne mark, with its cash/three-month spread currently in a contango of $12.25 per tonne. The metal continued to find...Read More
The latest metal market news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday May 21.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Monday May 21, with the only gains made in lead and copper.Here...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Monday May 21.Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell during Asian morning trading on Monday amid a stronger dollar, but the outlook for the metal remains positive owing to strong fundamentals.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.LME snapshot at 02.28am London timeLatest three...Read More
With uncertainty continuing to surround the US' sanctions on Russian producers, specifically Norilsk Nornickel, Lord Copper explores the unpredictability surrounding prices and the parties involved.The drumbeats around Nornickel are getting louder. There is a sense that the sanctions net might be starting to tighten. The Times correspondent in Norilsk has produced a few pieces of general backgroun...Read More
After a strong first quarter of 2018, when more ferrous scrap produced in the United States was bought both at home and abroad, it appeared that the country's scrap sellers were well placed to fend off buyers' attempts to push market prices downward.Price increases in the US domestic scrap market, combined with increasing mill capacity utilization rates and an 80% bounce in US scrap export volumes...Read More
South Korea's imports of Australian primary aluminium have fallen so far this year, but the shipments of aluminium flat products from China into South Korea have risen, the latest trade data from the latter showed. South Korea imported 344,507 tonnes of primary aluminium in January-April, down 15.5% year on year, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association (Kita). During this...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Monday May 21, with zinc and lead breaking through recent support and resisting the US dollar's six-month high. Lead's three-month price climbed 3.3% to break past the $2,400-per-tonne mark, with its cash/three-month spread currently in a contango of $12.25 per tonne. The metal continued to find...Read More
Comex copper reached a one-week high Monday May 21 morning in the US, with easing trade tensions between China and the US producing higher prices for equities and metals.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 3.65 cents or 1.2% to $3.100 per lb. Earlier, the contract touched a high of $3.115, the highest since May 14."Despite the mostly positive...Read More
Physical iron ore prices tumbled on Monday May 21 in line with losses in the futures market.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $65.30 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.62 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $53.82 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.60 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.10 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.70 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe China Port Pri...Read More
Ferro-chrome prices rose in China for domestic and imported material on Friday May 18 due to producers standing firm on offer prices in a tighter market. Ore and alloy prices rise in China Chinese market reports alloy production cuts Alloy prices in South Korea follow China higher Alloy prices hold in Europe and Japan US market quiet, prices edge up on small volume trades Ferr...Read More
Prices in the Russian market for hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet were stable during the week ended Monday May 21 because buyers were waiting for a possible price reduction driven by the weaker export market."We will wait until June [before buying] because mills can cut their prices to us because of lower prices in the export market," a trader told Metal Bulletin. He added that pri...Read More
Carmaker Daimler AG has gone "on the offensive" to secure a sustainable raw materials supply chain and has developed a number of initiatives across key raw materials to create transparency and to protect human rights, the Germany-based group has said.The move comes amid continuing concerns about unsafe working conditions and the use of child labor in artisanal mining, particularly for cobalt in th...Read More
Jiangxi Copper, China's largest copper smelter, is planning to set up metal concentrates blending and scrap processing operations in Southeast Asian countries, Metal Bulletin has learned. "The blending operation will receive complex concentrates with high arsenic content. The scale of the blending capacity is not set yet. Jiangxi Copper has no such overseas blending operation so it is a new move f...Read More
Comex copper reached a one-week high Monday May 21 morning in the US, with easing trade tensions between China and the US producing higher prices for equities and metals.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 3.65 cents or 1.2% to $3.100 per lb. Earlier, the contract touched a high of $3.115, the highest since May 14."Despite the mostly positive...Read More
The rapid ramp-up in alumina production while domestic high-grade bauxite resources deplete is the biggest challenge for China's alumina industry, Yin Zhonglin, director of Alumina Research Department at Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) Zhengzhou Research Institute, said at Asian Metal's Aluminium Raw Materials Conference, held in Jinan on May 18.Yet instead of widely relying on impo...Read More