Negative macroeconomic backdrop continues to undermine risk appetite Global markets were buffeted again last week by a persistently negative macroeconomic backdrop that continues to undermine risk appetite. US-China trade tensions, a weaker yuan and the sell-off in major indices - various key economic data continue to point to a cohesive global slowdown - are some of the highlights. Trade relation...Read More

Aluminium The LME three-month aluminium price ran into stiff overhead resistance on Monday August 12 after reaching a high of $1,793 per tonne. Sellers were actively defending just below the 50 DMA and managed to produce a rather negative bearish engulfing daily candlestick. With the 20 DMA fast approaching the 50 DMA, a bearish cross-over below it could trigger more downside momentum. The 20...Read More

Fresh buying picks up Copper, which made a gain of nearly 1% last week, enjoyed some fresh buying judging by a rise in LME open interest. The rebound was in part technically driven because the sell-off of 4.1% in the LME copper price in the prior week resulted in oversold conditions. As the market is no longer oversold, renewed weakness in the immediate term cannot be ruled out. The rebound was al...Read More

Bull market in sight after another outage at Port Pirie At their recent highs, lead prices had rallied 19.4% from the May lows. A 20% rally is generally thought of as indicating a bull market is underway, so we wait to see if lead can move above the $2,129 per tonne level to show a 20% rise. News of another production halt at Port Pirie this week has prompted fresh buying – the earlier halt,...Read More

Our focus this week is rounding up the main Q2 production results published this reporting season. Although some big target misses have made the headlines and helped to fuel the price rally, production disappointments are not the whole story, especially if we look at producers who don’t publish their results in the public domain. (Q2 comparisons are year on year unless otherwise stated.) Norn...Read More

The purge continues LME tin continues to trade poorly relative to its peers, suggesting that the purge of the overly long position held by speculative funds is not done yet. It is interesting to notice that only tin and zinc, for which money managers are relatively the most bullish among the complex posted a loss last week. Once the purge is over, however, we believe that tin prices are likely to...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap markets were unchanged today while trading paused in the country due to the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 13.The Turkish market and those in other Middle Eastern territories will be closed until August 15 for Eid al-Adha; no new cargoes are expected...Read More

Zinc price extend to fresh lows Zinc prices came under increasing downside pressure across the past week, reflecting risk-off sentiment across wider markets. The LME three-month price has extended to a fresh multi-month low of $2,230.50 per tonne on Monday, August 12, the lowest since October 2016. Zinc demand may be set for seasonal up tick... At the same time, however, stock flows support our vi...Read More

The UK ferrous scrap market for deliveries to domestic consumers in August has settled with prices unchanged for the third month in a row, balanced between relatively tight supply and low key demand, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday August 13.The uncertainty about underlying consumption in the UK and Europe, because of weaker manufacturing, helped to confirm the downward trend. And the weakness of ste...Read More

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Seaborne iron ore prices continued to retreat on Tuesday August 13 below the $90-per-tonne-cfr mark.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.25 per tonne, down $4.87 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.75 per tonne, down $4.87 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.52 per tonne,...Read More

Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of  market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Global Ore, 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Tuesday August 13, though Chinese market participants remained bearish about the market.Buyer and trader sources in the country cited weak downstream markets, ample supply and import restrictions on coal at Chinese ports as the main reasons for their pessimistic outlook for prices over the next few weeks."The margins for steel mills in China have narrowed...Read More

The economic and geopolitical clouds are getting more widespread and darker with unrest in Hong Kong and debt default concerns in Argentina adding to market concerns that are already stressed by the continuing US-China trade dispute, poor global economic data, stalemate over Iran and the potential for a hard Brexit. Gold has pushed up to another fresh multi-year high on Tuesday August 13, of ...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the July U.S. Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.1% in June. Actual was an increase of 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, consensus was an increase of 0.2% versus a gain of 0.3...Read More

US domestic mills resoundingly won the tug-of-war with ferrous scrap sellers this month and successfully limited the upside on prices, yet the outlook for September remains unclear, with some sellers hopeful for further increases while others believe the market may have peaked.Ferrous scrap markets across the country - including Detroit and Chicago - saw a $20-per-gross-ton increase on most grades...Read More

News of a Europe-origin cargo of ferrous scrap booked at lower prices by a Turkish steel mill came to light on Monday August 12, only the second such cargo to be traded this month, sources have told Fastmarkets.News of the cargo came to light late on Friday after the deadline for the indices on that day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices picked up some strength on Tuesday August 13 amid early gains in the futures market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($517-521) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,610-3,640 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneRebar futures picked up late on Monday and stayed high for the rest of the day. The most-traded October contract stay...Read More

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