The base metals complex showed mixed results in afternoon trading on Monday January 21, with London Metal Exchange-three month prices for copper, aluminium and nickel failing to live up to last week's universal closing rally.The focus of the market remains on China's fourth-quarter data, which showed a further slowing of the economy at the end of 2018, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing by...Read More

Turkey produced 37.311 million tonnes of crude steel in 2018, a 0.56% decrease compared with 2017, according to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD).In December 2018, crude steel production in the country was 2.9 million tonnes, a 11.04% year-on-year fall compared with 3.26 million tonnes produced in December 2017, the T???oeD said last week.The decrease in Turkish crude steel product...Read More

Domestic scrap prices in Turkey have increased over the past week, in line with the firmer costs for imported scrap, sources said on Monday January 21.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) ferrous scrap was TRY1,450-1,630 ($272-305) per tonne delivered on January 21, widening upward from TRY1,450-1,590 per tonne last week.The change in the assessment came after...Read More

The CIS export slab market turned around because of deals made at higher prices in the second half of January, Fastmarkets was told on Monday January 21.Reduced availability of slabs as well as an improvement in demand for finished flat steel in the CIS market gave additional support to slab producers.Several cargoes of Ukrainian and Russian slab were reported booked in Europe at prices within the...Read More

The base metals complex showed mixed results in afternoon trading on Monday January 21, with London Metal Exchange-three month prices for copper, aluminium and nickel failing to live up to last week's universal closing rally.The focus of the market remains on China's fourth-quarter data, which showed a further slowing of the economy at the end of 2018, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing by...Read More

Physical iron ore prices continued to advance on Monday January 21 after exceeding $75 per tonne cfr last Friday, following gains in the futures and rebar markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $75.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.20 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $76.74 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.20 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $77.14 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0....Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices maintained their strength on Monday January 21, particularly those in the export market, amid a drop in supply coupled with an improvement in sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,660-3,680 yuan ($540-543) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,630-3,650 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices were largely stable natio...Read More

Turkish steel producers have accepted higher prices for scrap imports so that they can replenish their stocks and avoid halting production, although the finished steel market was still sluggish, sources said on Monday January 21.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $287 per tonne, 7,000 tonnes of shredded at $292 per tonne and 5...Read More

The price of ammonium paratungstate (APT) fell in China last week although the concentrates market edged up on tightening availability ahead of Lunar New Year. APT price falls in China; European price unchanged  Concentrates price edges up on tightening supply in China  Ferro-tungsten price in China moves down amid limited buying activity Fastmarkets MB assessed the fob China ammonium p...Read More

Copper-gold miner Sandfire Resources has submitted an offer of $80.8 million for fellow copper explorer MOD Resources, both companies announced on Monday January 21.Sandfire has made an offer of A$0.38 per share ($0.27) for MOD, a premium over the current valuation of A$0.22 per share, the two parties said in separate notices published by...Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange complex consolidated in mixed morning trading on Monday 21 January, while market focus shifted to China's fourth-quarter data release.China's fourth-quarter GDP data was in line with expectations at 6.4%, down 0.1% from its previous recorded figure at 6.5%.''These numbers are basically in line with expectations, which were not optimistic,'' John Browning of...Read More

China produced 35.8 million tonnes of aluminium in 2018, up 7.4% year on year, according to data released by China's Statistics Bureau on Monday January 21, suggesting the annual winter production cuts did little to slow output in the country. Chinese output in December 2018 reached 3.05 million tonnes, marking an 11.3% increase from the same period of last year. Market producers said the only mod...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday January 21 *Copper -$80.05 (-544.76 yuan) Aluminium -$338.41 (-2,303.02 yuan)  Zinc -$16.40 (-111.59 yuan) Nickel -$310.82 (2,115.27 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More

Despite weak Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) data that showed fourth quarter 2018 growth of 6.4%, after 6.5% in the prior quarter, the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part holding up relatively well on Monday January 21, with prices just off slightly. The complex posted an average loss of 0.2%, with copper showing the largest reaction; the three-m...Read More

Base metals prices, barring those for tin, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up during Asian morning trading on Monday January 21, with residual optimism over trade talks between China and the United States helping to offset some weak Chinese data earlier this morning.Market sentiment had turned more bullish late last week following news that the US was mulling the removal of tariffs on Chines...Read More

Global aluminium billet premiums were flat or lower on Friday January 18, with market participants citing ample availability of material and lackluster demand as the main reasons behind the moves.At the same time, participants were said to be holding back from concluding deals while they await further developments regarding the US sanctions against Russian producer UC Rusal. Premiums in Southern E...Read More

Major Russian steelmaker Severstal recorded a spike in its sales of hot-rolled coil (HRC) to the EU in 2018, achieved by redirecting volumes that would otherwise have gone to other outlets, the company said on Friday January 18.In 2018, Seversal sold to the EU 1.5 million tonnes of HRC, the company told Fastmarkets. That was a 305% increase over the 370,000 tonnes of HRC exported to the same regio...Read More

The European long steel markets have started 2019 in lethargic fashion, disappointing suppliers that were resolutely raising their offer prices just two months ago in anticipation of strong demand.In November, rebar producers were confident of better prices on higher raw material costs, a forecast of strong demand, and external factors such as critically low water levels in the Rhine river and its...Read More

The United Arab Emirates has increased the import duty imposed on rebar to 10%, from the previous 5%, Dubai Customs announced on Wednesday January 16. The duties became effective the following day.The HS codes of the products that now have 10% import duty are: 72131000, 72132000, 7213900, 72139900, 72141010, 72141020, 72141090, 72142010, 72142010, 72142020, 72142090, 72143010, 72143020, 72143090.M...Read More

Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), Russia's largest steelmaker, increased the export sales volumes from its Russian assets in 2018 because of higher demand for steel slabs and pig iron, the company said on Friday January 18.NLMK exported 10.91 million tonnes of semi-finished and finished steel products from its flat and long steel divisions in 2018. This was an increase of 9.1% from the divisions' total ex...Read More