An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More

Pig iron suppliers to the United States have increased their offer prices amid a rebound in the price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and a positive mood in the scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 19.Fastmarkets' price assessment for US imports of pig iron widened upward to $375-395 per tonne cfr on October 19, from $375-390 per tonne a week before."Russian suppliers are asking for a...Read More

Steel slab export prices from Brazil went up marginally in the week that ended on Friday October 19, with producers starting to focus on the North American market, where activity is beginning to revive.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of Brazil's slab export prices was $500-510 per tonne fob on Friday, up from $490-510 per tonne fob in the previous week.Brazilian companies were heard offering mater...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices gained on Friday as Asian stocks traded mostly lower after China reported disappointing third-quarter GDP data.Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 0.08% at?EUR?$1,226.4?EUR?a troy ounce by 1:19 AM ET (05:19 GMT).China’s economy grew 6.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, its weakest pace sinc...Read More

Base prices for stainless steel flat and long products in Europe were unchanged in the week ended Friday October 19, but the alloy surcharges for November, which will be announced next week, are expected to decrease.A distributor had been informed that surcharges for the key grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheet were likely to decrease by ?,?40-50 ($46-57) per tonne, it said.If there is such a decrease...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday October 19.Base metal prices have made a mixed start to morning trading on the London Metal Exchange with sister metals zinc and lead showing marginal declines against gains elsewhere.The three-month lead price has dropped below $2,000 per tonne and is now in its fourth day of declines. Still, the London m...Read More

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday October 19.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Friday, with weaker-than-expected economic data from China sparking a wave of risk-off sentiment in the base metals market.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.AMG...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

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

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

Qianhai Mercantile Exchange, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing's new onshore China commodities trading platform, started trading on Friday October 19, with a first deal for alumina concluded. Chinalco International Trade sold 3,000 tonnes of alumina to Xiamen Xiangyu Group at 3,030 yuan ($436.67) per tonne."We hope to establish fair market prices with industry customers and establish good market...Read More

(Adds detail on market reaction, background, comment)By Suvashree Choudhury and Promit MukherjeeMUMBAI Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India on Friday eased lending norms related to certain non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as liquidity concerns in the sector persist and markets continue to question the viability of some of the firms following the IL&FS debacle.The central bank on F...Read More

* NSE index down 1.4 pct, BSE index 1.3 pct* Both indexes end the week lower* Reliance Industries down over 4 pctOct 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell over 1 percent for the second consecutive session on Friday, dragged by Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS after its second-quarter performance failed to please investors, while non-banking finance companies continued to face selling pressure.The ben...Read More

* Crude falls for second straight week* U.S. rig count highest since March 2015 -Baker Hughes* China refinery throughput hits record high in Sept* WTI in contango as Cushing stockpiles expected to rise (Updates with CFTC data)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday on signs of surging demand in China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, although prices were headed for...Read More

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- U.S. software company Microsoft Corp MSFT.O to buy privately held coding website GitHub Inc (approved Oct. 19)-- Irish investor aircraft and asset manager ORIX Aviation Systems Limited to acquire 30 percent of Irish aircraft leasing...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices were flat on Friday as the U.S. dollar was volatile despite expectations of another interest rate increase this year and falling equities.Comex gold futures for December delivery inched down 0.07% to $1,229.30 a troy ounce as of 4:45 AM ET (8:45 GMT), not far from an earlier session high of $1,232.70.Rising interest rates are likely remain a concern for gold prices. Int...Read More

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