Jinchuan Group’s nickel smelter caught fire due to organic solvent on the New Year’s Eve, and about 10,000 mt of output is estimated to be affected, SMM learned.While the company was still assessing the impact, some parts of the plant may be rebuilt and it is estimated to take at least three months. Some 30,000 mt of its annual capacity, which stands at 150,000 mt, is set to be impacte...Read More
Copper foil price is set to go up further as global deficit of the raw material for lithium-ion battery is estimated to increase to 10% in 2018, according to information provider cableabc.com.Global supply of copper foil for lithium-ion battery is forecast to be 146,000 mt but demand stands at 161,000 mt. The deficit has widened from 90,000 mt of supply and 91,000 mt of demand in 2015.Higher coppe...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures are benefiting from positive money flows coming from individual investors deploying yearend bonuses and from institutional in investors deploying quarter end premium receipts.L Brands added $1.18 to $61.40 after Beard upgraded the stock to Outperform. Target was raised to $7...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 2 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Zinc prices are set to remain firm at the start of this year but they are forecast to slide in the second half of 2018 with better balance seen between supply and demand, SMM believed.We forecast the LME three-month zinc price to trade at $2,450-3,500/mt in 2018, and the SHFE zinc at 20,500-29,700 yuan/mt.In 2017, zinc prices surged over 20% and hit 10-year high due to...Read More
The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PM) hit 51.5 points in December, setting a new high in four months and beating the expectation at 50.7 points. It was also higher than November’s 50.8 points.A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. The article is edited by SMM and is provided for informa...Read More
The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PM) hit 51.5 points in December, setting a new high in four months and beating the expectation at 50.7 points. It was also higher than November’s 50.8 points.A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. The article is edited by SMM and is provided for informa...Read More
The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PM) hit 51.5 points in December, setting a new high in four months and beating the expectation at 50.7 points. It was also higher than November’s 50.8 points.A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. The article is edited by SMM and is provided for informa...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 2 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is set to see a correction following 15 consecutive days of increase and bulls taking profits. While it is expected to trade at $7,180-7,320/mt today, the SHFE 1803 copper is expected to trade at 55,200-56,000 yuan/mt. Trading liquidity in the spot market is set to recover and we see discounts at 220-150 yuan/mt today.Aluminium: LME aluminium set a ne...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 2 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is set to see a correction following 15 consecutive days of increase and bulls taking profits. While it is expected to trade at $7,180-7,320/mt today, the SHFE 1803 copper is expected to trade at 55,200-56,000 yuan/mt. Trading liquidity in the spot market is set to recover and we see discounts at 220-150 yuan/mt today.Aluminium: LME aluminium set a ne...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 2 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is set to see a correction following 15 consecutive days of increase and bulls taking profits. While it is expected to trade at $7,180-7,320/mt today, the SHFE 1803 copper is expected to trade at 55,200-56,000 yuan/mt. Trading liquidity in the spot market is set to recover and we see discounts at 220-150 yuan/mt today.Aluminium: LME aluminium set a ne...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market remained silent on Tuesday January 2, as suppliers remained out of the market, sources told Metal Bulletin.Steel mills in the country paused their deep-sea bookings two weeks ago, but are expected to book more cargoes for February.However, suppliers have stayed away during the New...Read More
Turkey's ministry of economy removed the country's import duty on rebar on Monday January 1, sources told Metal Bulletin this week.The ministry had previously cut the import tax to 10% from the previous 30% on July 28, due to high domestic rebar prices.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic...Read More
Brazil's primary aluminium export volumes dropped 24.1% year on year in December, according to preliminary figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, on Tuesday January 2.Shipments totaled 19,489 tonnes last month, down from 25,683 tonnes in December 2016. This was also a decline from November 2017's level of 20,821 tonnes, according to...Read More
Comex copper prices consolidated in the US morning on Tuesday January 2 after trading around a four-year high at the end of 2017. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.20 cents or 0.4% to $3.2885 per lb. Earlier today, prices were in positive territory after Chinese manufacturing data surprised to the upside. But after closer inspection and...Read More
Chilean copper mine production is expected to reach 6.32 million tonnes per year in 2028, an increase of 13.9% from 2016 levels, the country's copper commission, Cochilco, found. Such a growth estimate is "based on the levels of certainty of the mining projects contemplated in the 2017 investments portfolio," Cochilco said in a recent study. Without these mining projects, Chile's copper mine produ...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday January 2.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have started the year in a strong position with prices mostly in positive territory during morning trading today.This comes following a positive end to the year last week where copper hit a near four-year high and most metals closed near to their 2017 y...Read More
Sales of aluminium-zinc-coated coils are expected to stand out in Brazil in 2018, as demand for roof and construction materials is set to recover. The so-called galvalume, a steel product coated with both aluminium and zinc, is being increasingly used among roof and gutter producers to supply industrial clients, large constructions and infrastructure works. Apparent consumption of galvalume i...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have started the year in a strong position with prices mostly in positive territory during morning trading on Tuesday January 2. This comes following a positive end to the year last week where copper hit a near four-year high and most metals closed near to their 2017 year highs. The three-month nickel price rallied 3% at the close on Friday and is tr...Read More
Severstal, Russia's major steelmaker, has increased the output of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) at its Cherepovets unit by 50% with the addition of a new production line.The new PPGI workshop, which took two years to complete, is able to produce 200,000 tonnes per year, thereby increasing output by more than half, the steelmaker said on Friday December 29."After MCW#3 [metal coating workshop...Read More
Italian steelmaker Ilva is set to continue production in January after local politicians suspended a precautionary request that the company's plant in Taranto, southern Italy, be closed because of opposition to proposed environmental reforms.In late November, Michele Emiliano, the governor of the southern Italian region of Puglia, and Rinaldo Melucci, the mayor of Taranto, appealed against the Ita...Read More