Indian domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) have been showing signs of weakness on account of muted demand in the week ended Friday October 19.Local mills so far have not reduced domestic prices for HRC but they are facing pressure from buyers to consider a correction in prices."There is a lot of pressure from our distributors to reduce HRC prices, but we will not be reducing prices in Octobe...Read More
Prices for grade 18/8 alloy steel scrap in the UK and Europe decreased in the week ended Friday October 19, largely because of weak demand.Market participants described an extremely slow alloy scrap market in general, with trading levels diminished both through low demand from stainless steel mills and also by limited supplies.Mills have been buying lower-than-normal quantities of alloy scrap in O...Read More
Base metal prices ended the trading week weakly on the London Metal Exchange, with aluminium, zinc and lead all down on the previous day.The three-month zinc price dropped by 2.1% to $2,626 per tonne at the LME 5pm close - this was the contract's first daily drop in five days.Lead closed at $1,992 per tonne and aluminium $2,003 per tonne, both down $10 from their Thursday closing levels.The LME's...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsAlcoa intends to shut its Spanish aluminium smelting operations at La Coru??a and Avil?(C)s, saying they are the least productive in the Alcoa system due to structural issues. BHP's zinc concentrates production rose 5% year on year in the three months ended September 30, according to...Read More
A meeting in Brussels next week will discuss whether four chemical compounds irreplaceable in the production of lead batteries should be banned, effectively spelling the end for the technology in the region. The proposal for an in-effect ban is part of Reach, a European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals that came into force in 2007...Read More
The Comex copper price rebounded in the US morning on Friday October 19 despite weak growth in China, with potential further stimulus from the Chinese central bank expected. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.70 cents to $2.7735 per lb. China's economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter of this year to the w...Read More
The global metals industry gathered in force last week in London for what remains, despite recent spin-off conferences elsewhere in the world, the largest and longest-established such event for the raw materials sector.London Metal Exchange (LME) week is a time of taking stock - of prices in the underlying markets, the state of the industry, the global political and economic backdrop and, closer t...Read More
A year of unprecedented copper smelter disruptions has put copper concentrate benchmark negotiations on the front foot, with miners and smelters closer than usual in bid and offered terms at the outset of discussions. Major outages at key smelters, including Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin, Glencore's Pasar and Codelco's Chuquicamata have pushed up spot treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs...Read More
Sacha Lifschitz, senior nickel trader at London-based Concord Resources, has left the company for personal reasons, Fastmarkets understands.Lifschitz declined to comment at the time of publication, while...Read More
Coated steel base prices have risen by $1 per hundredweight ($20 per short ton) in the United States over the past week, on the heels of the week-earlier $2-per-cwt increases by mills, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM assessed base prices for hot-dipped galvanized steel at $48 per cwt fob Midwest mill on Thursday October 18, up from $47 per cwt a week earlier. Prices for hot-dipp...Read More
Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative in the week to Friday October 19, but the possibility of a reduction to import duties in the United States has brought hope to the market, sources told Fastmarkets.US president Donald Trump doubled the import tariffs on steel and aluminium from Turkey on August 10, with the duty on aluminium rising to 20% and that for steel import...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday October 19, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Some market participants had been expecting prices to fall because of declining prices for hot-rolled coil, and the weak demand.Domestic pricesOne producer in northern Turkey was offering 0.5mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $700 per tonne ex...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: HRC, CRC, HDG, PPGIHot-rolled coilTurkey, domestic, hot-rolled coil, offered at $560-570 per tonne ex-works, late November-early December production.Turkey, domestic, hot-...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were unchanged on Friday October 19, with trading activity at a standstill despite numerous offers in the market. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for billet imported into Southeast Asia was $510-515 per tonne cfr Manila on Friday, unchanged since October 11. Deals were sparse throughout the week, with re-rollers mostly holding back from making b...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved down slightly on Friday October 19 amid soft demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,540-4,580 yuan ($654-660) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 4,330-4,370 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneBoth the futures and billet markets weakened during the day, which made the spot rebar market more bearish.The transportation of constructio...Read More
Brazil-based miner Vale's manganese ore production for the third quarter rose by 14.5% quarter on quarter to 482,000 tonnes, it said in its latest production report. The manganese production volume for the September quarter was down 15.3% year on year. Sales reached 553,000 tonnes in the third quarter. As a result, third quarter sales were 19.4% higher than in the second quarter and 19.4% higher y...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday October 19:Noble alloysMolybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib: $12.00-12.10 per Ib from $12.00-12.15Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $28.60-29.10 per kg from $28.80-29.00Ferro-molybdenum US 65-70% Mo, $/Ib: $12.90-13.35 per Ib from $12.90-13.30Tungsten European free market AP...Read More
Key data for the pricing session in the week ending Friday October 19. China The domestic ferro-chrome spot market softened owing to the downturn in downstream stainless steel prices. UG2 and Turkish lumpy chrome ore prices both strengthened on support from the recent sharp stocks fall. ...Read More
South32 achieved record quarterly production of manganese ore at its Australian division in the July-September quarter of 2018, and an increase of 8% in overall manganese ore production compared with the previous three months.The company continues to take advantage of strong demand and pricing, it said, which includes selling lower-grade secondary product and using higher cost trucking as a freigh...Read More
Pig iron exporters from the south of Brazil kept prices low in the week ended Friday October 19 due to the limited demand for high-phosphorous material in the global market.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron exports from the south-eastern Minas Gerais region on October 19 was unchanged at $350 per tonne fob. That was the lowest price seen so far in 2018, according to Fastmarkets' pr...Read More