The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday February 13.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange generally moved higher on Monday February 12, with copper holding on to most of its early morning gains. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Monday's close:The physical iron ore market wound down further on Monday, with participa...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday February 13.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange generally moved higher on Monday February 12, with copper holding on to most of its early morning gains. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Monday's close:The physical iron ore market wound down further on Monday, with participa...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums across the globe for the week to Tuesday February 13.Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were in positive territory across the board at the close on Tuesday February 13, after the complex was boosted by a weaker dollar and continued to rebound following last week's sell-off."LME base metals are showing their strength once again and pushing back up to the high levels seen before the sell-off. The market needs to stabilize back at these le...Read More
Uncertainty surrounding Brexit continues to be a concern for UK metals traders from small- and medium-sized enterprises conscious that The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach) deadline is looming, Metal Bulletin learned at last week's REACH Under The Microscope Forum. While some traders are still unregistered and grappling with paperwork to meet the deadline...Read More
Chinese vanadium markets flattened last week ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, while US and European prices continued to be reinforced by falling regional inventories. Chinese price flatlines ahead of Chinese New Year holiday European market rebounds on spot demand uptick, tight market US market resumes strength on continued supply concerns Few exporters were quoting over the pas...Read More
Financial results for 2017 at multinational minerals technology company Umicore contained several items that bode well for the future of the Belgium-based company, chief executive officer Marc Grynberg told Industrial Minerals at a media breakfast in London on Monday February 12.Margins and returns have improved quite significantly, and the company expects to show notable growth in 2018 and the ye...Read More
Chinese vanadium markets flattened last week ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, while US and European prices continued to be reinforced by falling regional inventories. Chinese price flatlines ahead of Chinese New Year holiday European market rebounds on spot demand uptick, tight market US market resumes strength on continued supply concerns Few exporters were quoting over the pas...Read More
Global manganese ore supply grew by 26% in 2017 to 19.13 million tonnes of manganese units, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). The figure is equivalent to 58.2 million wet metric tonnes of manganese ore. In December 2017 alone, global production reached 1.89 million tonnes of manganese ore units, up 50% year on year, as world demand increased 18.5% to 1...Read More
Miners are once again likely to secure a reduction in zinc treatment charges (TCs) for 2018, although perhaps not by as much as their initial offers to smelters would suggest. With the annual TCs negotiations underway at the International Zinc Association (IZA) meeting in the US state of California, consensus among participants is that the range for negotiations is between $140 and $155 per tonne....Read More
Uncertainty surrounding Brexit continues to be a concern for UK metals traders from small- and medium-sized enterprises conscious that The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach) deadline is looming, Metal Bulletin learned at last week's REACH Under The Microscope Forum. While some traders are still unregistered and grappling with paperwork to meet the deadline...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped Tuesday February 13 with no deep-sea bookings, amid high offer prices, market participants told Metal Bulletin.Scrap suppliers in the Baltic Sea region were heard offering HMS 1&2 (80:20) at around $355 per tonne cfr, but mills in Turkey were not willing to pay such high prices, sources said.The most recent deals, heard at the end of the last week, were from the Uni...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for monthly deliveries to consumers in February have settled with decreases of around ?20-25 per tonne compared with January's settlements, trade sources told Metal Bulletin this week.One main factor in settling February contracts was the steady drop in the scrap import price into Turkey, a key export market for British steel scrap, sources said.Turkish buyers shied away f...Read More
Domestic coking coal prices in China rose in the beginning of February amid tighter supply of premium products and higher demand for thermal coal in the country. Metal Bulletin's assessment of domestic prices for hard coking coal in Shanxi delivered to Tangshan was 1,570-1,950 yuan ($248-309) per tonne for the week to Friday February 9, up 75-100 yuan per tonne compared with a month earlier. Offer...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange are recovering again this morning, Tuesday February 13, with prices up by an average of 0.7%. Copper ($6,924 per tonne) and nickel lead the way with gains of 0.9%, while lead is the laggard with a 0.3% increase.Volume has been average with 8,757 lots traded as of 07.07 am London time, although half of that has been in copper. This follows gains on Monday fo...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices held steady on Tuesday February 13 with major markets at a virtual standstill despite a second day of gains in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,110-4,130 yuan ($650-654) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,000-4,030 yuan per tonne, unchangedDomestic prices held steady amid sparse trading in major markets including Shanghai and Tianji...Read More
China's ferrous futures trended upward during morning trading on Tuesday February 13 with market participants pondering the implications of production and transportation limits being introduced by the country's steelmaking hub of Tangshan after the winter heating season.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,930 yuan ($622) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne M...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were flat amid sparse trading activity over the past week, while those for slab in the wider region encompassing East Asia edged up on impending drop in consumers' inventories.Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $535-550 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday February 12, unchanged from a week earlier.Deals...Read More
Steel traders in Russia expect rebar producers to review their prices downward due to poor demand in the secondary market, Metal Bulletin has heard.In winter, construction activity is low in Russia because of the poor weather conditions, so demand for rebar normally falls.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Russian domestic 12mm A500C rebar was 35,000-35,500 roubles ($603-612) per tonne cpt Mosc...Read More
Rebar import prices for material brought into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both went up this week while there were no imports of billet, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday February 13.Demand for locally produced rebar in the UAE was still strong, however.Domestic rebarThe major rebar producers in the UAE announced new prices on January 16 and they have remained unchanged since the...Read More