The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday February 17, topping gains across the base-metals complex despite low trading volumes, while zinc gathered momentum over the afternoon but remained rangebound.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,812 per tonne in the afternoon, its highest level since January 24 and breaching nearby re...Read More

The market of last resort has just re-ignited copper's cash-and-carry trade in China for the first time since 2018.Shanghai Futures Exchange copper futures have been trading in a deep contango following the delivery of 106,959 tonnes of copper cathodes onto the SHFE over the past two weeks - the biggest fortnightly inflow on records stretching back to 2003."Recently, the February to March carry is...Read More

Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More

The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More

CIS rebar and wire rod producers turned bullish in the second half of February, because of a surge in scrap prices in Turkey in recent weeks.Indications of rebar offers from both Russia and Ukraine were reported at $440 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday February 17, whereas in the first week of February a major Ukrainian producer was ready to sell rebar at $420 per tonne fob Black Sea.Last week, s...Read More

Ferrous scrap prices in Turkey rebounded on an improvement in demand from the country's steel mills during the working week ended Friday February 14. The upturn in Turkish prices sparked a recovery in the Indian markets, while prices in the United States were set to follow.Turkish prices increase amid higher buying interestTurkish buying brings signs of recovery in US export marketLow prices for J...Read More

The market of last resort has just re-ignited copper's cash-and-carry trade in China for the first time since 2018.Shanghai Futures Exchange copper futures have been trading in a deep contango following the delivery of 106,959 tonnes of copper cathodes onto the SHFE over the past two weeks - the biggest fortnightly inflow on records stretching back to 2003."Recently, the February to March carry is...Read More

After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets has discontinued its two zinc ingot premiums for the Indian market. Spot trading interest has been minimal for imported zinc due to the persistently soft rupee against the dollar and local production is said to be sufficient to meet domestic demand in India. Market participants cited a little interest in the following two bi-weekly premiums durin...Read More

Chris Griffith, chief executive officer and executive director of Anglo American Platinum, will step down from his position, the company said on Monday February 17.Griffith's last day at Anglo American Platinum will be April 16, 2020 after leading the company for more than seven years, the company said. His successor is expected to be a candidate from within...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Monday February 17, climbing above nearby resistance against high turnover, while nickel held above $13,000 per tonne. Copper's underlying price on the LME was recently seen at $5,810 per tonne, up from Friday's closing price of $5,760 per tonne. Turnover was high at just over 6,500 lots exchanged by&nbs...Read More

China's race to contain the coronavirus (2019-nCov), combined with its financial stimulus, are providing the markets with more than enough hope, with risk-on being seen across most of the metals and many equity indices, especially in western markets, this morning, Monday February 17. But this apparent confidence is likely to be fragile as there is still much uncertainty surrounding the virus and i...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were rangebound during morning trading on Monday February 17 with pessimism caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China being tempered slightly by an announcement by the country's finance minister over the weekend.The minister, Liu Kun, wrote on Sunday in Qiushi, the Communist Party magazine, that his ministry would implement me...Read More

A summary of state-owned Steel Authority of India's (Sail) financial results for its third quarter covering the period of October to December, and the first nine months of its financial year 2019-20.In brief Sail reports higher sales and saleable steel production in the third quarter, but lower prices hurt earnings The company said the reduction in prices has hurt the financial performance of all...Read More

RAPAPORT... US retail sales could face growth challenges in February as supply chains are impacted by shutdowns at Chinese factories due to the coronavirus epidemic, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.Imports of goods from the mainland will see a sharper-than-usual drop, with US retailers struggling to shift sourcing to other countries."February is historically a slow month for imports...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe rose in the week to Friday February 14 despite offers from non-European suppliers returning to the market. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?479.34 ($519.12) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?7.67 per tonne from ?,?471.67 per tonne a week earlier on February 7. The index was calculated based...Read More

RAPAPORT... Exhibitors at the IIJS Signature show in Mumbai expressed confidence India's strong wedding tradition and enduring love of gold would help the nation's jewelry industry overcome its current challenges.Economic uncertainty, high gold prices, tight regulation and the outbreak of the coronavirus in China have created difficulties for the Indian jewelry sector, traders told Rapaport News d...Read More

Tosyali Algeria plans to start production of hot-rolled coil by the end of 2022 and is targeting output of 2 million tonnes per year, a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets on Friday February 14.The steelmaker will mainly supply the material to automotive and white goods manufacturers, as well as to pipe makers,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Shares in Petra Diamonds slipped 16% in early trading Monday after the miner reported a net loss for the first fiscal half, and warned of operational problems that could affect annual production.The company reported a net loss of $10 million for the period ending December 31, an improvement on its $57.9 million loss the year before. The loss was due to a decline in rough-diamond p...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has initiated a review of existing safeguard measures into number of imported steel products, it said on Saturday February 15. "On the basis of [the European] Union interest considerations, [the EC] may have to review certain elements of the safeguard measures in order to take account of recent developments or changed circumstances. Furthermore, such a review should be...Read More

RAPAPORT... Revenue from Angola's national diamond-trading company, Sodiam, rose 6% in 2019 as the company sold a higher volume of rough goods.Proceeds for the year came to $1.3 billion from the sale of 9 million carats of rough diamonds, compared with 8.4 million carats in 2018, the government said in a Facebook post last week.  That offset a 10% drop in the average price to $137 per ca...Read More