Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated higher at the close of trading on Friday January 10, edging slightly upward on moderately low turnover, while volatility in the aluminium complex saw strong stock moves make little change to its outright price.Aluminium's underlying price settled at $1,806 per tonne in the afternoon, a climb of just 0.1% over the day, while the total vol...Read More

The waiting time for aluminium at Istim's warehouse in Port Klang, Malaysia, rose to more than a month at the end of December 2019 compared with 11 days at the end of November, according to the latest LME queue report. Despite a flurry of deliveries into Port Klang warehouses at the start of December, more than 258,000 tonnes of material was canceled in the region between December 17 and the end o...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices moved up sharply on Friday January 10 as Chinese participants continued to drive buying activity.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.53 per tonne, up $5.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $158.10 per tonne, up $0.75 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per...Read More

Trading activity in the export market for CIS steel billet recovered somewhat in the second week of January with several cargoes reported sold to Africa.Nevertheless, the market still lacked clarity, with most customers holding back from purchasing activity and some suppliers still to announce new offer prices.Those producers which have opened their sales returned to the market with offers at the...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Prices for some aluminium scrap grades in the United States rose over the past week due to greater interest following the year-end holiday period and increased foreign buying."There's a cautious optimism to the start of year," one US seller said, adding that the manufacturing slowdown in the fourth quarter 2019 meant supply had tightened. "With additional units going overseas, the domestic smelter...Read More

Most secondary aluminium alloy prices in the United States moved higher this past week, boosted by growing appetite among Asian consumers for US non-ferrous scrap and secondary aluminium ingot, among other factors, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets assessed the price for aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest US at 63-65 cents per lb on Thursday January 9, its highest since late September&nbs...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materialsmarkets and their price moves from the pastweek.Read More

Markus Hazell has moved from Gerald Metals to fellow London merchants Hartree Partners, Fastmarkets understands. Hazell, who was trading copper cathodes for Gerald Metals' European, Middle East and...Read More

The waiting time for aluminium at Istim's warehouse in Port Klang, Malaysia, rose to more than a month at the end of December 2019 compared with 11 days at the end of November, according to the latest LME queue report. Despite a flurry of deliveries into Port Klang warehouses at the start of December, more than 258,000 tonnes of material was canceled in the region between December 17 and the end o...Read More

Stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were divided into two camps in the week to Friday January 10.Lead, copper and nickel registered declines in deliverable stocks, while tin, aluminium and zinc all logged increases. Copper registered a decline of 7,572 tonnes or 5.7% to 133,745 tonnes, according...Read More

Flat-steel import prices rose in South America following the market's return from year-end holidays, with mills and traders presenting offers for March shipment to the region."Steel prices have continued to climb, and we expected them to continue doing so up until the Chinese New Year [in late January]," one mill source said.Said one trader source: "On the demand side, consultations from both Chil...Read More

Galvanized and cold-rolled steel prices in the United States held steady while market participants pondered whether those prices would be propelled higher by the latest round of mill hikes and the demonstrated strength in hot-roll pricing. Sheet mills announced a round of $40-per-short-ton ($2-per-hundredweight) price increases on Wednesday January 8. Those hikes were not yet reflected in transact...Read More

Prices in the United States for domestically produced structural tubing were unchanged on Thursday January 9 despite tube mill hikes at the start of the month and a fresh round of flat-rolled mill increases this past week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hollow sections ASTM A500 Grade B domestic, fob mill US was at $890-920 per short ton ($44.50-46 per hundredweight) on Thursday, un...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A report from CRM giant Salesforce revealed that digital spending increased 8 percent over the 2019 shopping season, with $723 billion in digital revenue worldwide. The report combined insights on the activities of hundreds of millions of global shoppers in over 30 countries using Salesforce tools. According to Salesforce data, digital traffic grew 13 percent over 2018. Many s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Canadian Jewellers Association has appointed Kelly Ross as its managing director, Loss Prevention. Kelly has over two decades of law enforcement experience as a police officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). During his time in the RCMP, Kelly specialized in crimes that involve diamonds, gemstones and precious metals, investigating hundreds of criminal cases...Read More

ArcelorMittal has increased its offer price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe with immediate effect, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 10.The steelmaker was now offering HRC at ?,?500 ($555) per tonne ex-works in Northern Europe and ?,?480 per tonne ex-works in Southern and Central Europe.This compared with Fastmarkets' daily calculation of the steel HRC index, domestic, ex-works...Read More

Fastmarkets' index for domestic hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased on Friday January 10, with sources expecting prices to continue to rise.Fastmarkets' daily calculation of the steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, rose slightly to ?,?442.43 ($491.51) per tonne on Friday, from ?,?441.15 per tonne on January 9.The index was based on deals and achievable prices h...Read More

The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was unmoved in the week ended Friday January 10, while there was an increase in business from Europe to traditional export markets in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.The UK steel scrap market is preparing for the settlement of monthly delivery contracts to domestic steelmakers, with some industry sources suggesting a rollover may be...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap imported into India increased again this week as positive sentiment in the market continues to boost trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, was $317.35 per tonne on Friday January 10, up from $312.17 per tonne a week earlier.Prices have continued to move up on a weekly basis since Nove...Read More