China's output of crude steel and finished steel in the first quarter of 2019 both increased significantly year on year on good demand and healthy profits.The country produced a total of 231.07 million tonnes of crude steel over the first three months of 2019, up 9.9% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday April 17. Chinese mills produced 269.07 million tonn...Read More

Global ferrous scrap prices rebounded in the week to Thursday April 18 on returning demand from Turkish steel mills. Export prices on the United States' East Coast moved up as a result.But demand was limited in the key import market of Vietnam due to a mill stoppage, while Taiwanese steel mills remained well-stocked. Turkey demand returns US market picks up on East Coast Mill stoppage in Vietnam d...Read More

Base prices in Europe for stainless steel grade-304 bright bar edged higher this week because of steel mills' ambitions to strengthen their margins, traders told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 18.The outlook for demand was fairly pessimistic, however, and some traders believed that the gains would be short-lived as a result."April will be quite weak, I believe, once we can see the whole month. And...Read More

Austenitic alloy steel scrap prices in the UK increased in the week ended Thursday April 18 because of higher demand this month compared with the first quarter of the year, and despite lower nickel prices.Another supporting factor was the concessions given by stainless steel mills during April for the price paid for the nickel component of the metal.Traders said that further concessions in May wer...Read More

Prices for coated flat steel products in Turkey remained stable in the week ending Thursday April 18, with demand soft in the domestic market.Demand failed to improve because of the weak Turkish lira and the current economic uncertainty.The lira was trading at TRY100 to $17.3698 on April 18, compared with TRY100 to $17.4791 on April 12 and TRY 18.7654 on March 1, according to exchange rate...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday April 18 that are worth another look.The decision by the European Commission to suspend carbon emissions allowances issued by the UK government under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme is expected to remain valid until the UK is able to reach a deal with the EU on the country's exit from the union, Richard Warren, head of p...Read More

Jeff Gerard has been appointed chief executive officer of Katanga Mining, effective May 2, following the resignation of Danny Callow.As well as being CEO of Katanga Mining, Gerard will be head of Glencore's assets in the...Read More

Bearish sentiment on LME-traded base metals pervaded the market throughout trading on April 18 with the majority of the complex continuing to trade down at the end of the trading day. Pessimism continued to mount on the back of weak European PMI data throughout the day's trading, dissipating any of the previous day's bullish sentiment on the basis of positive Chinese economic data. Suppressed appe...Read More

A forecast downtrend in the mid-to-long-term London Metal Exchange cash zinc price could bring about a shortage of zinc mining projects, BMO Capital Markets analyst Kash Kamal said in a presentation at Fastmarkets' International Lead & Zinc conference on Monday April 15. Although the LME zinc cash price performed well in the second half of 2018, it dipped by 9.7% to a $2,644 per tonne average in t...Read More

Participants took a breather from the seaborne coking coal spot market on Thursday April 18 following a flurry of trades earlier this week."We are not in a hurry to offer at the moment, especially since the loading dates for our shipments have been pushed back to May," a Chinese trading source said.Meanwhile, at the Port of Jingtang in China's steelmaking hub of Tangshan, a brand of premium low-vo...Read More

Most prices for steel coil products in Turkey decreased again over the week to Thursday April 18, with buying activity remaining subdued.Demand in the local market was still soft because of the continuing weakness of the Turkish lira and the expectation that prices will fall further.The lira was trading at TRY100 to $17.3698 on April 18, compared with TRY100 to $17.4791 on April 12 and TRY 18.7654...Read More

Bearish sentiment on LME-traded base metals pervaded the market throughout trading on April 18 with the majority of the complex continuing to trade down at the end of the trading day. Pessimism continued to mount on the back of weak European PMI data throughout the day's trading, dissipating any of the previous day's bullish sentiment on the basis of positive Chinese economic data. Suppressed appe...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday April 18 that are worth another look.The decision by the European Commission to suspend carbon emissions allowances issued by the UK government under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme is expected to remain valid until the UK is able to reach a deal with the EU on the country's exit from the union, Richard Warren, head of p...Read More

Fading domestic demand and rising supply for No2 copper scrap in the United States have pushed discounts wider, with all eyes on China's impending scrap import regulations in July."In the last week we have seen sellers become desperate for placement of No2 copper scrap units. We've been offered tremendous volumes for May delivery but because we're booked we are not in the market," one US consumer...Read More

The US Midwest P1020 aluminium premium widened downward on Thursday April 18 amid tightening price spreads on the London Metal Exchange.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the P1020 Midwest premium at 19-19.5 cents per lb on April 18. That is down by 0.25 cents on the low end from 19.25-19.5 cents per lb previously, and marks the premium's first movement since April...Read More

Mining-and-metals company South32 has revised its alumina production guidance down due to a de-bottlenecking initiative, it said in its third-quarter financial year report on Thursday April 18.The company reduced production guidance at its Worsley alumina facility in operation by 4% to 3.79 million tonnes to, "support a sustainable increase in production-to-nameplate capacity ahead of future de-bo...Read More

The US copper market failed to hold onto Wednesday's gains amid a surging dollar, which weighed on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.20 cents to $2.9255 per lb.At last glance, the dollar index was at 97.32, up 0.32% and above the psychological level of 97. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price...Read More

Copper fund Red Kite has settled its $850 million market manipulation lawsuit with Barclays out of court, the bank said in a statement today April 18."Legal proceedings between the Red Kite group as Claimants and Barclays Bank PLC as Defendant have been concluded on mutually acceptable...Read More

A forecast downtrend in the mid-to-long-term London Metal Exchange cash zinc price could bring about a shortage of zinc mining projects, BMO Capital Markets analyst Kash Kamal said in a presentation at Fastmarkets' International Lead & Zinc conference on Monday April 15. Although the LME zinc cash price performed well in the second half of 2018, it dipped by 9.7% to a $2,644 per tonne average in t...Read More

Prospects for the Brazilian steel market are uncertain right now because of slow economic activity in the country, and any price increase depends on a recovery, Usiminas' commercial vice president Miguel Homes told investors during a conference call on Thursday April 18."We are expecting the second quarter of the year to be better than the first one," the executive said. "But everything depends on...Read More