The price of stainless steel cold-rolled sheet in Europe was lower this week because of sustained pressure from poor demand, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,350-2,400 ($2,587-2,642) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?40-50 per tonne week on week.Many marke...Read More

Ferrous scrap prices strengthened in the latest US sales to Turkey during the week to Friday October 11, but market participants were unsure about a recovery as demand for finished steel was still limited in most markets. Increasing political tensions in Turkey keep mills away from scrap markets US export prices improve in the East Coast market with sales to Turkey Ferrous scrap prices...Read More

The world's largest low-grade iron ore producer has confirmed that it will bid for two blocks at what is considered the world's largest untapped high-grade ore resource, a move that reiterates what the industry has been saying over the past few years - that demand for green iron ore or high-grade ore is a structural change in the making."Following the release of information at a public meeting hel...Read More

For most of 2019, the emerging trends in the precious metals space have been undeniably strong...by Richard Cox via Platinum GuildFor most of 2019, the emerging trends in the precious metals space have been undeniably strong. Manyanalysist (possibly a majority of the financial analyst community) seemed to think that these types ofevents were impossible, given the fact that the S&P 500 was on a cle...Read More

China's steel mills posted a fall in profits in the first eight months of the year on weakening steel prices and costly raw materials. Profit in the country's steelmaking industry totaled 179.94 billion yuan ($25.17 billion) in January-August 2019, down by 32.3% year on year and deepening the drop in the month prior of 26.4% on an annual basis, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Most...Read More

Gold futures held their ground above the key $1,500 mark by Thursday's settlement, but posted their lowest finish in more than a week after President Donald Trump said he plans to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Lui He on Friday as the world economic powers hold their first day of talks in Washington, D.C. "Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I will meet with th...Read More

Copper closed only slightly higher on Friday on the London Metal Exchange despite price-supportive news of force majeure being declared at the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.The three-month copper price ended at $5,796 per tonne, a mere 0.2% higher than Thursday's close, even after the declaration of force majeure by miners MMG and Citic Metals at Las Bambas, which will affect the supply of copper...Read More

All base metal stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, except tin, rose in the week to Friday October 11, after trading activity resumed following the end of the week-long Golden Week holiday in China. Copper stocks registered the largest increase in percentage terms, rising by 13.9% or 16,401 tonnes from September 30, to 134,509 tonnes as of Friday. The largest inflow in cop...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were largely steady on Friday October 11 as participants mulled drivers, with Chinese buyers staying on the sidelines.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.62 per tonne, up $1.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $159.50 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.0...Read More

Austenitic steel scrap prices in Europe and UK may have found the market floor after a month of substantial decreases, while chrome steel scrap prices have fallen sharply on weak demand and low ferrous costs, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11."I think [austenitic] prices have found a new level after the significant drops we have had in the past month," one scrap trader said. "Material has sta...Read More

Sentiment in the market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States has improved, with demand appearing in China and mills able to avoid further price reductions to their traditional outlets, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $270-275 per tonne on October 10, narrow...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

Copper closed only slightly higher on Friday on the London Metal Exchange despite price-supportive news of force majeure being declared at the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.The three-month copper price ended at $5,796 per tonne, a mere 0.2% higher than Thursday's close, even after the declaration of force majeure by miners MMG and Citic Metals at Las Bambas, which will affect the supply of copper...Read More

Fastmarkets has identified and corrected historical errors where the weekly counterparty indicator was published incorrectly in the copper concentrates newsletter. This has not resulted in any corrections to Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index because the correct value of the counterparty indicator was used in the normalization procedures.The correction only...Read More

All base metal stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, except tin, rose in the week to Friday October 11, after trading activity resumed following the end of the week-long Golden Week holiday in China. Copper stocks registered the largest increase in percentage terms, rising by 13.9% or 16,401 tonnes from September 30, to 134,509 tonnes as of Friday. The largest inflow in cop...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely subdued with trading volumes low in the morning session on Friday November 11 while the metals market absorbs some of the previous day's United States-China trade deal optimism. But notable stock action continues regardless, with significant inflows of aluminium occurring while unprecedented nickel drawdowns carry on unabated. Some 9,075...Read More

There is some cautious optimism over United States-China trade negotiations after US President Donald Trump described the talks as "very, very good" and said he would meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the White House on Friday October 11.But, we have been here before so it is probably best not to anticipate too much - indeed, with the base metals generally rangebound this morning that seems to b...Read More

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up during the morning trading session on Friday October 11 following positive developments in trade negotiations between the United States and China overnight. The most-traded December contract on the SHFE was at 46,930 yuan ($6,591) per tonne as at 10.33am Shanghai time, up by 230 yuan per tonne - or 0.5% - from Thursday's close of 46,700 yuan p...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet in the United States have declined for a third consecutive week, widening the gap against hot-rolled coil prices. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US dropped to $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on Thursday October 10, down by 2.8% from $36 per cwt the week prior and returning to a ye...Read More

Indian steel mills are aggressively cutting their prices to increase export sales of hot-rolled coil with domestic demand for the commodity remaining weak, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.HRC export prices from India have fallen by $5 per tonne in the current week while market participants were expecting further falls because traders were short-selling HRC aggressively in the Southeast Asia...Read More