The price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange reached a new year-to-date high during trading on Wednesday March 17 at $2,246.50 per tonne, and tin's price had gone up by more than $700 per tonne at the close.The wider markets were awaiting direction from the a meeting later in the day of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve Bank.Tin's three-month price was $25,7...Read More

Spot interest in secondary lead material has spiked after the outright price of lead softened from two weeks ago, causing lead premiums in India and South East Asia to rise on Tuesday March 16. London Metal Exchange lead price dropped 4.7% over the past two weeks, prompting buying interest.  Continuing supply shortages keep US lead premiums supported in the current range.  US zinc spot m...Read More

Premiums for commodity grade copper cathodes continued to trend lower in Shanghai in the week to Tuesday March 16, with the market there failing to meet expectations of a roaring post-holiday import boom, while in the United States storms in Texas have disrupted industry and could hamper demand. Worsening Shanghai arbitrage softens China import premiums Texas storms could limit spot demand in...Read More

London Metal Exchange tin surged the most on Wednesday March 17 morning, regaining ground it lost over the week while the rest of metals reversed losses from Tuesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve's statements.LME tin's three-month price rose to $25,560 per tonne on Wednesday morning, close to levels from last Friday when it closed at $25,600 per tonne. LME tin had been on a downfall until this m...Read More

Galvalume prices in the United States rose to a record high for a third month in a row, with consumers scrambling to find supply while production continues to lag demand."The Galvalume supply chain across the entire United States is stressed," a distributor said. "Inventory levels of consumers and distributors are at low levels; the domestic mills have not been able to catch up on past-due orders...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly firmer on Wednesday March 17, while on the Shanghai Futures Exchange they were weaker across the board.Broader markets were treading water ahead of this evening’s US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcements and press conference.* United States 10-year treasuries yields have firmed again to 1.63%* EU passenger car registrati...Read More

Severstal, one of the Russia's largest steel producers, expects that apparent steel use in the country will return to pre-Covid-19-pandemic levels in 2021, Maxim Semenovykh, the company's head of corporate strategy, said during Capital Markets Day last week.The company expects steel use in Russia to total 43.8 million tonnes compared with 43.6 million in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. App...Read More

Export prices for steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to fall amid a lack of trading activity in the week to Wednesday March 17.Customers took wait-and-see positions, expecting further drops in the prices for raw materials and finished long steel products.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calcula...Read More

Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe were unchanged week-on-week on Wednesday March 17 despite mills taking on higher feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was unchanged at ?,?860-890 ($1,025-1,061) per tonne on Wednesday.The corresponding assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, deli...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 13 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for news on the Fed Fund rate released by the Federal Reserve at 2:00 PM EDT. Consensus is that the Fed Fund rate will remain unchanged at 0.25%.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February Housing Start report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus...Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipMicon Awarded Front End Engineering Design and Definitive Feasibility StudySPONSOREDmicon internationalRex ready to rollSPONSOREDrex mineralsDavyhurst back producing gold; can it produce a lot more?SPONSOREDora banda miningThe junior's stock started trading steady at the raising price, 20c, briefly ticking up to 23c after around 2...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe Environmental Evaluation Commission of Antofagasta region gave a favourable judgement on the environmental impact declaration to extend the life of the hydrometallurgical line and the phase one exploitation of sulphides.Exploitation of these new resources will extend the operation's life from 2022 until 2...Read More

Fact #1: Reams of stocks have been trading at 52-week highs.Fact #2: Reams of stocks have been trading at 52-week lows.Not since 1984 - the year not the book - has the stock market manifested such violent schizophrenia.Sentiment Trader:[We recently saw] the biggest split in almost 40 years. There were so many stocks hitting 52-week highs AND 52-week lows on both the NYSE and Nasdaq that it registe...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have been weakening recently because of strong supplies, with steelmakers also staying away from the market due to limited steel sales, sources said on Wednesday March 17.The most recent deep-sea bookings occurred at the end of the last week, when two Baltic Sea cargoes were sold at $435-437 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis.Since then, steel mills in Turk...Read More

Japanese steel scrap exporters are facing acute problems in sourcing vessels in which to make shipments, leading to an oversupply of scrap at exporters' yards which in turn is driving down prices, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 17.Rising freight rates have been inflating cfr-basis scrap and steel prices across Asia in recent weeks but the situation in Japan is now so severe tha...Read More

ArcelorMittal has launched three new initiatives that will help it meet its net zero commitment, including a $100 million per year investment fund to develop technology that will support and accelerate the transition to net zero carbon steelmaking, the company said on Wednesday March 17. Innovation fund The company aims to deliver on its net zero commitment by 2050 and the $100 million per year "X...Read More

Iron ore prices were slightly weaker on Wednesday March 17 amid limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.19 per tonne, down $0.13 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.27 per tonne, down $0.13 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $151.99 per tonne, down $0.73 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines,...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal price in the fob market inched down on Wednesday March 17 with most market participants adopting a wait-and-see attitude, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.43 per tonne, down $0.67 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $212.86 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.20 per tonne, down $2.95 per ton...Read More

The continuing price downtrend in Asia is still keeping Chinese buyers away from the spot market, many of whom have not been actively seeking imported cargoes this week, sources said on March 17.Bids from buyers remained at $480 per tonne cfr China for HRS101 heavy scrap materials while offers were at $490 per tonne cfr China. Key market participants estimated prices were at $480-485 per tonne cfr...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices dipped again on Wednesday March 17, though trading activity picked up on falling inventory levels. Mills channeled more of their products to the export market to ensure they could fulfill orders ahead of a possible export tax rebate cut.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,940-4,960 yuan ($760-763) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneHRC sellers in Shanghai's spot market...Read More