Aluminium stocks on the London Metal Exchange have increased nearly 30% over the last three trading days, with market participants taking advantage of tightness in the February/March nearby spread.166,225 tonnes were delivered onto the exchange today, the largest single delivery of aluminium into LME-listed warehouses since March 19, 2014. "There is backwardation [in the February/March-2018 spread...Read More
Iron ore prices jumped past $77 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday February 13 following gains in the paper market. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $77.36 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $1.12 per tonne Month-to-date average: $75.94 per tonne Metal Bulletin's...Read More
Uncertainty surrounding Brexit continues to be a concern for UK metals traders from small- and medium-sized enterprises conscious that The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach) deadline is looming, Metal Bulletin learned at last week's REACH Under The Microscope Forum. While some traders are still unregistered and grappling with paperwork to meet the deadline...Read More
Rebar import prices for material brought into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both went up this week while there were no imports of billet, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday February 13.Demand for locally produced rebar in the UAE was still strong, however.Domestic rebarThe major rebar producers in the UAE announced new prices on January 16 and they have remained unchanged since the...Read More
Aluminium stocks on the London Metal Exchange have increased nearly 30% over the last three trading days, with market participants taking advantage of tightness in the February/March nearby spread.166,225 tonnes were delivered onto the exchange today, the largest single delivery of aluminium into LME-listed warehouses since March 19, 2014. "There is backwardation [in the February/March-2018 spread...Read More
Financial results for 2017 at multinational minerals technology company Umicore contained several items that bode well for the future of the Belgium-based company, chief executive officer Marc Grynberg told Industrial Minerals at a media breakfast in London on Monday February 12.Margins and returns have improved quite significantly, and the company expects to show notable growth in 2018 and the ye...Read More
German copper giant Aurubis is in advanced negotiations to sell its Flat Rolled Products division to semi-finished product manufacturer Wieland-Werke.The deal will see Aurubis, Europe's largest refined copper producer by volume, offload the division, which had revenues of ?,?1.3 billion last year and produced 230,000 tonnes of copper products across sites in the United States, the Netherlands, Fin...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday 13 February.Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange have retreated from early morning highs after a significant delivery into LME-listed warehouses in Asia caused on-warrant stock to surge by 18%.The three-month price was trading at a high of $2,151 per tonne - a $27 per tonne increase compared to Monday...Read More
Trading companies in Russia are not interested in buying hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) sheet steel because the high prices do not reflect the low demand in the secondary market. "We don't see strong demand from end users, [so] we are not ready to accept high offers - we are waiting for lower prices," a trader told Metal Bulletin. Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Russian 4mm h...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, HDGHot-rolled coilChina, export, hot-rolled coil, offered at $630-650 per tonne cfr, to the UAE.Taiwan, export, hot-rolled coil, offered at $640-650 per tonne cf...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transactions: rebarRebarTurkey, export, rebar, offered at $560-570 per tonne cfr, theoretical weight,...Read More
Flat steel import offer prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia continued to increase this week, on stable demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday February 13. UAE Hot-rolled coil was being offered to the UAE at $630-650 per tonne cfr from China and at $640-650 per tonne cfr from Taiwan. About 5,000 tonnes of HRC was booked from Taiwan at $620 per tonne cfr. HRC was on offe...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBilletIran, export, billet, offered...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices held steady on Tuesday February 13 with major markets at a virtual standstill despite a second day of gains in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,110-4,130 yuan ($650-654) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,000-4,030 yuan per tonne, unchangedDomestic prices held steady amid sparse trading in major markets including Shanghai and Tianji...Read More
Chinese vanadium markets flattened last week ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, while US and European prices continued to be reinforced by falling regional inventories. Chinese price flatlines ahead of Chinese New Year holiday European market rebounds on spot demand uptick, tight market US market resumes strength on continued supply concerns Few exporters were quoting over the pas...Read More
Global manganese ore supply grew by 26% in 2017 to 19.13 million tonnes of manganese units, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). The figure is equivalent to 58.2 million wet metric tonnes of manganese ore. In December 2017 alone, global production reached 1.89 million tonnes of manganese ore units, up 50% year on year, as world demand increased 18.5% to 1...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for monthly deliveries to consumers in February have settled with decreases of around ?20-25 per tonne compared with January's settlements, trade sources told Metal Bulletin this week.One main factor in settling February contracts was the steady drop in the scrap import price into Turkey, a key export market for British steel scrap, sources said.Turkish buyers shied away f...Read More
Iron ore prices jumped past $77 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday February 13 following gains in the paper market. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $77.36 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $1.12 per tonne Month-to-date average: $75.94 per tonne Metal Bulletin's...Read More
Physical iron ore trading continued to slow down on Tuesday February 13, ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, despite gains in the paper markets.Key driversChina's ferrous futures prices advanced across the board, with the benchmark iron ore contract outperforming other products, rising by 1.3% from the preceding day's settlement.Very limited iron ore trading activity was reported in the seaborn...Read More
There was little movement in the seaborne coking coal spot market on Tuesday February 13 with most buyers in China already away for the Chinese New Year holiday."Coking coal prices will not be able to drop after the Chinese New Year because they are supported by the optimistic sentiment in the downstream sector. Coke prices have also bottomed out," a coke plant source in Tangshan said. "There are...Read More