Afarak has confirmed a first-quarter loss of ?,?700,000 ($836,000) due to lower ferro-chrome prices, higher costs and a stronger South African rand.The London and Helsinki-listed mining and metallurgical group, which owns the Mogale ferro-alloys plant in South Africa, reported negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of ?,?700,000 compared with positive Ebitda...Read More
Cobalt prices continued to drift lower last week due to a lull in demand and increase in availability of offers for spot metal units. Metal Bulletin's price assessments for low-grade and high-grade metal were unchanged on Friday May 11, after falling midweek. Low-grade cobalt prices fell 30 cents on the low end of the range, and 20 cents on the high end of the range on Wednesday May 9, to set...Read More
The Chinese silicon export market prices fell on Friday May 11 on looming operation restarts at silicon refineries in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces during the rainy season, while European prices also weakened. Metal Bulletin's Chinese grade 553 silicon export prices moved lower to $1,890-1,950 per tonne on Friday's assessment, down 0.8% from $1,910-1,960 per tonne previously. On one hand, very...Read More
The Turkish steel mills prefer to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market for a second consecutive week this week because of the approach of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the current low demand for their finished steel products, sources said on Monday May 14.The mills booked a number of deep-sea cargoes in the week before last, and are still expected to buy more scrap for delivery in May. Bu...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have shown mixed dynamics over the past week with auto bundle scrap prices going up while ship scrap prices weakened, sources said on Monday May 14.A number of steel mills have raised their auto bundle scrap prices because of strengthening demand, with the country's steel producers being quiet in the deep-sea scrap import markets.Alloy long steel producer Asil ??elik...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to hold onto Friday's gains with the market pausing the uptick after a fresh set of material inflows across Europe and Asia. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.90 cents or 0.3% to $3.1015 per lb. On Friday, the contract touched a high of $3.1265, the highest since April 27. "We expect a rebound in copper prices in...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly positive on the morning of Monday May 14, with all of the metals, except for zinc (-0.1%), up by an average of 0.6%. Nickel and lead were the frontrunners with gains of 1.3% and 1.2% respectively.Volume on the LME has been average, with 4,689 lots traded as at 06.42 am London time. The precious metals were firmer across the board this mo...Read More
Cobalt prices continued to drift lower last week due to a lull in demand and increase in availability of offers for spot metal units. Metal Bulletin's price assessments for low-grade and high-grade metal were unchanged on Friday May 11, after falling midweek. Low-grade cobalt prices fell 30 cents on the low end of the range, and 20 cents on the high end of the range on Wednesday May 9, to set...Read More
The Russian market for hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet was quiet during the week ended Monday May 14 due to public holidays, sources have told Metal Bulletin."Demand is normal for this period of the year, but in the first half of May trading activity slowed down for the Labor Day and Victory Day holidays," a trader said on Monday May 14.Metal Bulletin's weekly assessment of the pr...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States have decreased again because of low demand in key markets, with buyers fearing further price declines, sources have told Metal Bulletin.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was $550-570 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday May 14, down by $20-30 per tonne from...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices edged up further on Monday May 14 amid steady demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,210-4,230 yuan ($664-668) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonne Northern China (Tianjin): 4,060-4,080 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonne Sellers pushed through small price increases on the stability in the futures market and buyers' stable procurement rates. Small changes...Read More
Overcapacity in the domestic Italian rebar market could be a problem in the medium to long term, possibly amplified by the loss of demand from Algeria, Andrea Floreani, sales manager at Italian long steel producer Pittini, has told Metal Bulletin."Algeria is the end of a good movie - and hardly any other export market could substitute for it in such volumes," Floreani said late last month.Algeria'...Read More
Italian steelmaker Acciaierie Venete has suspended production at its Padova plant in Northern Italy after four employees were injured by molten steel from a defective ladle carrying the material on May 13.Long steel production at the plant has stopped while an investigation into the accident, which also caused a fire at the plant, takes place.The company hopes to restart its rolling mill by Tuesda...Read More
The Turkish steel mills prefer to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market for a second consecutive week this week because of the approach of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the current low demand for their finished steel products, sources said on Monday May 14.The mills booked a number of deep-sea cargoes in the week before last, and are still expected to buy more scrap for delivery in May. Bu...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have shown mixed dynamics over the past week with auto bundle scrap prices going up while ship scrap prices weakened, sources said on Monday May 14.A number of steel mills have raised their auto bundle scrap prices because of strengthening demand, with the country's steel producers being quiet in the deep-sea scrap import markets.Alloy long steel producer Asil ??elik...Read More
Trading activity remained thin in the physical iron ore market on Monday May 14, though prices rose amid gains in the steel and futures segments.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $68.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.51 per tonne Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $55.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.63 per tonne Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1...Read More
Italian steelmaker Acciaierie Venete has suspended production at its Padova plant in Northern Italy after four employees were injured by molten steel from a defective ladle carrying the material on May 13.Long steel production at the plant has stopped while an investigation into the accident, which also caused a fire at the plant, takes place.The company hopes to restart its rolling mill by Tuesda...Read More
Prices in the Black Sea billet export market picked up by $9 per tonne over the week ended Monday May 14 with customers accepting higher prices from CIS-region suppliers, Metal Bulletin has learnt.The fact that the US threatened last week to reimpose international trading sanctions on Iran, which may result in reduced billet export volumes from the Middle Eastern country, gave additional support t...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 4 points in pre-opening trade. Aurora Cannabis (ACB $8.07) made a share exchange takeover offer for MedReleaf (LEAF $24.90) valued at $3.2 billion.Xerox fell $1.47 to $28.70 after dropping its merger plans with Fujifilm. JP Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight. Lululemon added $0.63 to $98.54 after JP...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were mixed on Monday May 14, with those in east China remaining unchanged while the northern region pushed through increase. Export prices also rose slightly amid higher bids. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-4,010 yuan ($625-633) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,930-3,970 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne The frequent but slight changes exp...Read More