Demand growth in the coking coal market should be firm throughout 2018 after last year's market volatility due to Cyclone Debbie and shipment delays, SP Angel analyst John Meyer told Metal Bulletin in an interview. Meyer took first place with fellow analyst Sergey Raevskiy in the coking coal leader board for the Apex 2017 competition. He notes that 2017 saw record iron production in China, 2.9% hi...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday February 2.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths this morning, with nickel failing to hold on to recent gains and the three-month price retreating nearly $200 per tonne. Here's how base metals on the LME looked at 11:56am London time: Read our live futures report here.&nbs...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices remained in an upward trend on Friday February 2 amid gains in the billet and futures markets, though trading activity remained thin.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,900 yuan ($610-619) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,920-3,950 yuan per tonne, narrowed upward by 20 yuan per tonneThe gains in the billet and paper markets pushed up s...Read More
Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market remained thin on Friday February 2, with concerns about the weather in Australia and higher domestic coking coal prices in China keeping buyers on tenterhooks. "Domestic supply is tight in China with the transportation of thermal coal being given priority," a trader source said. He added that the situation had raised concerns among mills about th...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have once again failed to hold on to recent gains, with the three-month price retreating nearly $200 per tonne during morning trading on Friday February 2.On Thursday, the three-month nickel on the LME ended ring trading at $14,000 per tonne for the first time since May 2015. But nickel's price volatility has been highlighted once again after it hit a low...Read More
Iron ore prices gained some ground on Friday February 2 amid an uptick in China's steel and ferrous futures markets. Key drivers China's ferrous futures surged on Thursday night and stayed in positive territory throughout Friday. The country's spot rebar and hot-rolled coil prices also increased 10-20 yuan ($1.60-3.20) per tonne during the day. These gains gave a boost to sentiment among iron ore...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 February 2:Antimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $8,300-8,500 per tonne from $8,250-8,500 Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $8,300-8,500 per tonne from $8,250-8,500 Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 71,000-72,000 yuan per tonne from 70,500-71,000 yuan Chromium MB...Read More
An overview of China's minor metals markets in the week of January 29-February 2 and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Metal Bulletin has launched a weekly Manganese Ore Index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin China $ per dmtu of metal contained. Launched after a consultation period, the new index will complement the two existing manganese ore prices, the 37%Mn fob Port Elizabeth South Africa Manganese ore index and the Manganese Ore Index 44% Mn, cif Tianjin $ per dmtu of metal contained. Strong demand from China's d...Read More
Metal Bulletin has updated its manganese ore indices base specifications to align with market standards. For the manganese ore 37% Mn fob Port Elizabeth index, the alumina base content changes to 0.2% from 1% and the maximum to 2% from 8%. In addition, the silica base content changes to 5.5% from 6%, the phosphorous base content will change to 0.025% from 0.04%, and the maximum iron content w...Read More
There was no clear trend in China's ferrous futures market during morning trading on Friday February 2 after the Hebei provincial government denied that it was planning to extend production cuts for an additional two months.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,947 yuan ($627) per tonne, down 7 yuan per tonne May hot rolled coil: 4,017 yuan per tonne, up 1...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices widened upward over the past week on nickel gains in recent days.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,500-15,500 yuan ($2,303-2,461) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday February 1, widening upward by 300 yuan per tonne from 14,500-15,200 yuan per tonne a week ear...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday February 2:Aluminium ingot Duty paid delivered works...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases late this week after they managed to get slightly lower prices from suppliers in the United States and the UK, sources said on Friday February 2.Three deep-sea cargoes changed hands late on February 1, Metal Bulletin was told.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $345 per tonne...Read More
The UK inter-merchant price range for austenitic alloy steel scrap rose by ?20-30 per tonne this week with nickel prices remaining strong, sources said on Friday February 2.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for inter-merchant 18/8 scrap solids in the UK was ?950-980 ($1,351-1,394) per tonne delivered on Friday, compared with ?920-960 per tonne on January 26.The London Metal Exchange thre...Read More
Palisade Research February 2, 2018 Category: Research Nickel’s fundamentals haven’t looked this good in a long time.The price of nickel is already up 29% in the last 6 months.But 20% of that is from the last 60 days alone. . .Within the shadows, nickel has been setting up for an exciting future.Diminishing supplies and surging demand has tightened the market for the metal.And as an inv...Read More
TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that financial regulators were conducting an on-site inspection of Coincheck, after hackers last week stole more than $500 million from the cryptocurrency exchange.Aso, speaking to reporters after a regular cabinet meeting, said the decision was made based on the need to protect users. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Edit...Read More
The U.S. dollar continues to trade under pressure and is now at a critical support level. The dollar index has lost almost half of a percentage in value today and is currently fixed at 88.54. If the dollar continues to trade at this level, it will mark the eighth consecutive week in which it has closed below its opening price on Monday.Beginning in mid-December of last year, the dollar went into a...Read More
(Kitco News) - The excitement in the gold market space might not last, with ABN Amro warning of a looming drop in prices in the next few weeks.“Gold prices are toppish at current levels and we expect prices to move below USD 1,300 in the coming weeks,” the Dutch bank said in its Precious Watch report published on Thursday.Gold is already up 3% since the start of 2018, but this does not...Read More