The Turkish deep-sea scrap market remained quiet on Wednesday January 3, with supply still tight, according to market sources.Turkish mills were expected to book more cargoes for February but the suppliers were largely out of the market."Scrap collection is slow due to heavy winter conditions and holiday...Read More
Iron ore prices rose just short of $75 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday January 3 despite a retreat in the Chinese steel and futures markets.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $74.97 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $0.26 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $74.84 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market continued to see thin trading with prices staying rangebound on Wednesday January 3 amid losses in China's steel and futures markets.Key driversChina's benchmark steel and iron ore futures contracts posted a short-lived uptick in the morning before trending downward after that to end the day in negative territory.The weathervane billet price in Tangshan fell 50 yuan ($...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Wednesday January 3 amid sparse trading. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,250-4,300 yuan ($654-662) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 4,010-4,040 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneBuyers slowed down on their procurement during the day on seeing the weakness in the futures market. The drop in demand in turn...Read More
China will increase sourcing of chrome ore to support its ferro-chrome production growth. Chinese domestic ferro-chrome output will continue to grow in 2018 as the country's chrome ore imports increase and consumers seek investments and deals aimed at accessing upstream supply, market sources predict. For the first 10 months of 2017, China imported 11.37 million tonnes of chrome ore, up 38% year o...Read More
European hollow sections mills are planning to raise their offer prices for commodity-grade material once the market returns from seasonal holidays this month, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 3.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for S235-grade square hollow steel sections made in Northern Europe remained at ?,?640-660 ($771-795) per tonne delivered on January 3, while prices for si...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producer CSN has applied an increase of 23% in its annual pricing contracts to local automakers, effective Monday January 1, the company confirmed to Metal Bulletin on January 3.The adjustment is in line with higher raw materials costs and international flat steel prices, according to Brazil-based sources...Read More
Chinese steel prices were mostly driven by the supply-side changes in 2017, namely capacity cuts, a government crackdown on producers of substandard steel, environmental inspections and winter production restrictions. Will there be more supply-side changes in 2018 and will they push up steel prices in the country further? Here are among the developments that Metal Bulletin expects to take place th...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close on Wednesday January 3, with lead the only metal to finish the day in positive territory. "Lead put in a steady performance while the rest of the metals faltered, underpinned by a positive fundamental picture and tighter LME conditions," Sucden Financial said. "With FOMC minutes from the December meeting due for release...Read More
In a holiday-dominated period, global copper premiums were unchanged in the three major regions over the past week. US premiums were flat once again with the end of mating season and holiday season squashing interest. Outside of Italian premiums, European spot markets were similar to that in the United States. Shanghai premiums were unchanged with Chinese investors on an extended holi...Read More
Zinc and lead concentrate treatment charges (TCs) were little changed throughout December despite Glencore's decision to restart production at its Lady Loretta mine in Australia in 2018.Glencore will add 100,000 tonnes of zinc - or roughly 200,000-220,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates - to the market in 2018 via the restart at Lady Loretta and will subsequently ramp up another 60,000 tonnes per year...Read More
Tin premiums started 2018 on a downtrend with European and US premiums reaching multi-month lows due to low seasonal demand and good supply availability after strong exports from Indonesia in the fourth quarter of 2017. European tin premiums at 10-month low; US also softer Indonesian exports in December remain above 7,000 tonnes Spot activity remains slow because of the post-holiday lull an...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday January 3. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange dipped across the board during morning trading today, with the recent price rallies taking a break. Copper has dipped back below the $7,200 per tonne level, beginning to retreat slightly as the result of some profit-taking. The three-month zinc price...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Wednesday January 3. Zinc prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) were well supported by falling overseas stock levels in Asian morning trading on Wednesday January 3, while copper pared overnight gains. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 0202 London timeLatest 3M&nb...Read More
Zinc and lead concentrate treatment charges (TCs) were little changed throughout December despite Glencore's decision to restart production at its Lady Loretta mine in Australia in 2018.Glencore will add 100,000 tonnes of zinc - or roughly 200,000-220,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates - to the market in 2018 via the restart at Lady Loretta and will subsequently ramp up another 60,000 tonnes per year...Read More
The zinc industry in the United States is likely to remain fairly balanced in 2018, with continued strong demand for material offsetting new production coming online.Barring any major developments or setbacks, market participants expect spot market premiums, assessed at 8-9 cents per lb in mid-December, to remain in a similar range next year, according to market participants.Although mil...Read More
The prospects for aluminium in 2018 appear tied to global trade concerns - particularly protectionist rhetoric coming from the United States as well as the future of supply cuts by Chinese smelters.In the US, the primary question mark dominating market attention is the fate of the Section 232 investigation into national security issues surrounding primary aluminium imports. According to recen...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close on Wednesday January 3, with lead the only metal to finish the day in positive territory. "Lead put in a steady performance while the rest of the metals faltered, underpinned by a positive fundamental picture and tighter LME conditions," Sucden Financial said. "With FOMC minutes from the December meeting due for release...Read More
2017 was a strong year for base metals on the London Metal Exchange with zinc, copper and aluminium all setting multi-year highs.The latest rally took place within the last few days of the year, with aluminium climbing to a yearly high of $2,290 per tonne on the last trading day of 2017, and just in time to make it the strongest performer of the year. "Copper [was] trading close to a four-year hig...Read More
The prospects for aluminium in 2018 appear tied to global trade concerns - particularly protectionist rhetoric coming from the United States as well as the future of supply cuts by Chinese smelters.In the US, the primary question mark dominating market attention is the fate of the Section 232 investigation into national security issues surrounding primary aluminium imports. According to recen...Read More