Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly mixed at the close of trading on Monday May 14, with nickel's three-month price climbing 3% during the afternoon. Breaking through previous resistance at $14,200 per tonne this morning, nickel reached a high of $14,520 per tonne during the afternoon once momentum took an upward shift. Staggered mine output across New Caledonia and Indonesia...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to hold onto Friday's gains with the market pausing the uptick after a fresh set of material inflows across Europe and Asia. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.90 cents or 0.3% to $3.1015 per lb. On Friday, the contract touched a high of $3.1265, the highest since April 27. "We expect a rebound in copper prices in...Read More
Trading activity remained thin in the physical iron ore market on Monday May 14, though prices rose amid gains in the steel and futures segments.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $68.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.51 per tonne Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $55.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.63 per tonne Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly positive on the morning of Monday May 14, with all of the metals, except for zinc (-0.1%), up by an average of 0.6%. Nickel and lead were the frontrunners with gains of 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Volume on the LME has been average, with 4,689 lots traded as at 06.42 am London time. The precious metals were firmer across the board this m...Read More
Italian steelmaker Acciaierie Venete has suspended production at its Padova plant in Northern Italy after four employees were injured by molten steel from a defective ladle carrying the material on May 13.Long steel production at the plant has stopped while an investigation into the accident, which also caused a fire at the plant, takes place.The company hopes to restart its rolling mill by Tuesda...Read More
Both the European spot and Chinese export ammonium paratungstate markets continued to move higher last week amid concerns of supply disruptions due to continued environmental inspections in China. Concerns over disruptions at ammonium paratungstate smelters in Jiangxi province, a major production hub, continue More inquiries were seen in the European spot and Chinese export markets for ammo...Read More
The commission appointed to draft the regulations required for the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) new mining code hascompleted its work and will now report back to the Minister of Mines, major international mining companies active in the country said. According to industry representatives, the minister will then work with the inter-ministerial commission ahead of presenting the new code to g...Read More
London-based Harthill Logistics has expended its consultancy services through the appointment of Dessy Nascimentom, the company said. Nascimentom has more than 15 years experience in credit derivatives, structured finance and corporate and government debt. Having managed investment portfolios for a major financial institution, in addition to having a legal background, she has detailed knowledge of...Read More
Global commodities broker Marex Spectron's new joint venture with international space company Earth-i will diversify its research arm by bringing "New Space" technologies to the forefront of the metals market.Bolstered by a global commercial and governmental drive to widen the use of high-resolution satellite imagery and video analytics in mining, the collaboration aims to broaden Marex Spectron's...Read More
Chilean President Sebasti??n Pi??era has appointed Hern??n de Solminihac and Ignacio Briones as new board members of state-owned copper producer Codelco, the company said late on Friday May 11. De Solminihac, who is an ex-minister of Mining and Public Works, and Briones, the dean of the Adolfo Ib????ez University, were both appointed for four-year terms. They replace Laura Albornoz and Dante...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to hold onto Friday's gains with the market pausing the uptick after a fresh set of material inflows across Europe and Asia. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.90 cents or 0.3% to $3.1015 per lb. On Friday, the contract touched a high of $3.1265, the highest since April 27. "We expect a rebound in copper prices in...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday May 14. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange edged mostly lower during morning trading, with nickel and lead the only metals to record gains across the complex.Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 12.09pm London time:For a snapshot of exchange news, check out our live futures report.Afarak has...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange edged mostly lower during morning trading on Monday May 14, with nickel and lead the only metals to record gains across the complex. Dipping below $2,300 per tonne on May 10, since then aluminium's three-month price has been consolidating around $2,200-2,300 per tonne.The light metal's price sentiment remains well supported in the midst of sanctions and tar...Read More
Plate prices in the United States have slipped for the second week in a row despite prevailing market sentiment that demand has been stable.American Metal Market's price assessment for cut-to-length plate has dipped to $46.25 per hundredweight ($925 per ton), down 0.5% from $46.50 per cwt ($930 per ton) previously.Despite falling 1.6% from a year-to-date peak of $47 per cwt ($940 per ton) reached...Read More
Overcapacity in the domestic Italian rebar market could be a problem in the medium to long term, possibly amplified by the loss of demand from Algeria, Andrea Floreani, sales manager at Italian long steel producer Pittini, has told Metal Bulletin."Algeria is the end of a good movie - and hardly any other export market could substitute for it in such volumes," Floreani said late last month.Algeria'...Read More
Prices in the Black Sea billet export market picked up by $9 per tonne over the week ended Monday May 14 with customers accepting higher prices from CIS-region suppliers, Metal Bulletin has learnt.The fact that the US threatened last week to reimpose international trading sanctions on Iran, which may result in reduced billet export volumes from the Middle Eastern country, gave additional support t...Read More
Turkey may take counter-measures against the Section 232 import tariffs imposed by the United States, economy minister Nihat Zeybek??i said on Saturday May 12.The US imposed a global 25% duty on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports after concluding its Section 232 trade investigation of imports with a bearing on the country's national security, but announced temporary exemptions for countrie...Read More
Core earnings at Brazilian ferro-alloys producer Ferbasa declined by 10.16% in the first quarter of 2018, affected by higher costs for energy and raw materials on an annual comparison, Metal Bulletin has learnt.Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) came to 94.4 million Brazilian Reais ($26.2 million) in January-March, against 101.6 million Reais in the co...Read More
Afarak has confirmed a first-quarter loss of ?,?700,000 ($836,000) due to lower ferro-chrome prices, higher costs and a stronger South African rand.The London and Helsinki-listed mining and metallurgical group, which owns the Mogale ferro-alloys plant in South Africa, reported negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of ?,?700,000 compared with positive Ebitda...Read More
The Turkish steel mills prefer to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market for a second consecutive week this week because of the approach of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the current low demand for their finished steel products, sources said on Monday May 14.The mills booked a number of deep-sea cargoes in the week before last, and are still expected to buy more scrap for delivery in May. Bu...Read More