Aluminium prices should trade downward going forward once China's demand expectations sour, Novelis' South American chief operating officer Francisco Pires told Fastmarkets on Tuesday November 27.In Brazil, ingot premiums are expected to continue following US Midwest levels, although there are very different dynamics applied to each market, according to Pires. Buyers are currently negotiating 2019...Read More
China's refined tin production is set to fall by 29% year on year in the fourth quarter, mostly due to a lack of concentrate from Myanmar, the International Tin Association (ITA) said in a note on Thursday November 29.Myanmar's tin concentrate shipments account for 40% of China's raw material feed. Stocks held in warehouses in China and at the ports in Myanmar have been depleted since August, the...Read More
The timeframe remains uncertain for a return to 100% capacity operations at the Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil, owner Norsk Hydro said at its Capital Markets Day in London on Thursday November 29.Alunorte has been running at 50% capacity since March, after a court in the state of Par?? halted operations of the refinery's DRS2 bauxite residue disposal unit for environmental reasons. A Brazilia...Read More
Aurubis has resumed production at its Hamburg and Pirdrop primary copper smelting plants after both were suspended for unscheduled boiler maintenance earlier this week, the company said on Thursday November 29. "Our plants in Hamburg and Pirdrop are back in operation already, we expect L? 1/4 nen to be back by the end of next week," a spokesperson said in an...Read More
Comex copper prices were under pressure on Thursday morning in the US, in the aftermath of US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's dovish comments made on Wednesday.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reversed down 1.55 cents to $2.7980 per lb. Powell said interest rates were, "just below neutral levels" while speaking at the New...Read More
Xinfa Group's two aluminium smelters in the Chinese province of Shandong have been exempted from this year's winter production curtailments, according to a document seen by Fastmarkets MB. The two smelters, which are both located in Liaochen city, will be allowed to operate unimpeded during China's winter heating season which runs from November 15 until March 15 next year, a document released by t...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were being pushed and pulled by cross currents this morning, Thursday November 29. Nickel, lead and tin showed gains averaging 0.4%, while copper, aluminium and zinc were down by an average of 0.4%. Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,230 per tonne. Volume across the complex has been average with 5,189 lots traded as at 7.33am London time. Wedne...Read More
UK-based Altus Strategies (AIM: ALS, TSX-V: ALTS) announced the discovery of what the company calls "the Simret silver prospect" at its 100%-owned Daro project, located in the Tigray Regional State of northern Ethiopia.In a media statement, the project generator said that Simret showed silver grades that include 944 g/t Ag and 540 g/t Ag, which were taken from rock chip sampling of quartz veins. L...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the EU have been under pressure from slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Demand has been reduced by a combination of seasonal de-stocking activity and a general 'wait-and-see' attitude among buyers due to the lack of market clarity about further price trends.European buyers have also been reported to have sufficient stocks of...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have continued to decrease amid poor demand and a stronger lira, sources said on Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY2,950-3,085 ($562-588) per tonne ex-works, including 18% VAT, compared with TRY3,080-3,220 per tonne of last week.A steel mill in the Izmir region was heard offering rebar to local.....Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 220,000 versus 224,000 last week. Actual was 234,000/ Consensus for October Personal Income was an increase of 0.4% versus a gain of 0.2% in September. Actual...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices continued to fall over the past week on sluggish demand and a downturn in Asian steel prices, sources said on Thursday November 29.Steel mills in Turkey cut their offers to $490-495 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, but had attracted almost no interest at those prices, sources told Fastmarkets."We are trying to keep our offers at $495 per...Read More
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Broker Amalgamated Metal Trading Ltd has been appointed by the London Metal Exchange as a liquidity provider for its steel contracts, giving a boost to the market as the first ring trader in that role.AMT is one of nine top tier LME members that are allowed to trade in the open outcry ring as well as over the telephone and on the exchange's electronic system, meaning it...Read More
The economic sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran since early August have had direct and indirect negative effects not only on the Middle Eastern country's steel exports but also on its domestic consumption.This may lead to lower steel output by the country in the future, Fastmarkets was told on Thursday November 29.The first tranche of sanctions imposed by the US was intended to pr...Read More
World silico-manganese supply reached 1.62 million tonnes in October, up 16.1% year on year and 9.9% from September, driven by production increases in China and India, according to data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). In the first 10 months of the year, global silico-manganese production rose 25.5% year on year, according to the IMnI, which did not provide total year-to-date pro...Read More
The European molybdenum-oxide market has climbed 20 cents in trading by mid-week, with deals and offer prices reported above $12 per lb and returning to a level unseen since the start of November.Some oxide trading, however, has been in South Korea where major steelmaker Posco settled a tender for around 100 tonnes of oxide last week at about $12-12.10 per lb. The company is due to settle another...Read More
Ferroglobe is set to idle almost one-fifth of its silicon metal production capacity in Europe and the United States, cutting it to an annualized rate of 341,000 tonnes from 417,000 tonnes, because of the weaker prices seen this year.The UK-based metals company is planning to idle 36,000 tonnes per year of production capacity in the US. This will be done its plant at Selma, in the state of Alabama,...Read More
China's leading stainless steel mills - Tsingshan Group, Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) and Baosteel - have lowered their December tender prices for high-carbon ferro-chrome after falling stainless prices hit profits. Early on Tuesday November 27, Tisco announced that its December tender price for high-carbon ferro-chrome was 6,700 yuan ($963) per tonne, 50 yuan per tonne lower than its Novembe...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday November 29.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were higher during morning trading, with market confidence boosted by US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell saying that the central bank may soon be in a position to pause the interest rate hikes. Rising 2.27%, LME three-month tin traded the most...Read More
Many investors who avoid real estate are afraid of the anticipated difficulties of being landlords. They hear horror stories. They think to themselves, "I don't want to fix toilets," and "I don't want to get calls from tenants in the middle of the night." These are common excuses I hear from people avoiding a challenge.There are strategies for intelligently managing a property that any capable per...Read More