(Corrects to add dropped "trln" in 4th bullet point) * Weak trade adds to evidence China's economy lost momentumlastmonth-analyst * June exports -1.3% vs -2.0% forecast * June imports -7.3% vs -4.5% forecast * June new loans at 1.66 trln yuan vs forecast 1.7 trln yuan * C.bank to further lower real interest rates for smallfirms * China and U.S. resume trade talks but no deal in sight By...Read More
Here Are 3 Hot Things to Know About Stocks Right Now The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both closed at record highs Thursday, bolstered by suggestions from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank would cut interest rates and a healthcare stocks rally. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY - Get Report) shares fell after the home retailer posted stronger-than-expected first-quarte...Read More
(Kitco News) - Legendary investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, is back, and he's warning that the next bear market is going to be "horrible, compounded by too much debt and a trade war." The longest bull market in American history will be short lived, as macroeconomic problems will surface soon, Rogers said. "Later, this year or next year when the economies around the world are gettin...Read More
Lead's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday July 11, climbing by around 2% through the day to approach the nearby resistance level at $2,000 per tonne, a threshold the metal has not surpassed since April this year.Three-month lead futures closed at $1,972 per tonne in the afternoon, while total volumes traded were at their highest since Octo...Read More
The London Metal Exchange nickel price rose to a three-month high of $13,140 per tonne during Thursday morning trading following news from Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources that the country will stop the export of unprocessed laterite ore in 2022. (This article was corrected to clarify that the proposed export ban could come into effect in 2022, not until 2022 as previously stat...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday July 11, building on Wednesday's gains above the $13,000-per-tonne threshold amid a continued drawdown on LME stocks. The metal's futures price reached an intra-morning high of $13,140 per tonne, with some 2,700 lots of nickel exchanged as of 8:55am London time. Total LME inventories continue to s...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 11 that are worth another look.Mexican steel association Canacero has denied that Mexican fabricated structural steel producers who export to the United States have been receiving subsidies, as alleged by US authorities.One of the world's biggest copper miners, Chile's Antofagasta, began to break away from the tr...Read More
A sharp increase in global freight rates over the past seven to 10 days has eroded margins at manganese ore market participants and caused shipments to be postponed, sources told Fastmarkets. Freight rates have risen by $5-8 per tonne for routes to China from South Africa, Brazil and the Black Sea amid increased demand for freight from some soft commodity sectors such as soybean and grain, sources...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have gone another day without making any deep-sea scrap bookings because of the slowdown in the finished and semi-finished steel markets, sources said on Thursday July 11.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region had booked a UK cargo on July 9 at $288 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20). The mills then went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets.But market participants...Read More
Although rate cut expectations encouraged the London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices to move higher yesterday, they have started to weaken in early trading today, Thursday July 11, and been unable to attract follow-through buying. In his prepared remarks, Federal Reserve Chairman Gerome Powell last night noted that uncertainties since the June FOMC meeting continued to dim...Read More
Argosy Minerals has started lithium carbonate production at its industrial-scale pilot plant at its flagship Rincon lithium project in Argentina, it said late last week. The Australian junior lithium miner owns 77.5% of Puna Mining SA, the company that holds 100% of Rincon, which is located in the northern province of Salta in the South American lithium triangle. Upon reaching the commercial opera...Read More
Trading activity in eastern China's hot-rolled coil market rose to moderate levels on Thursday July 11 after sellers cut prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,880 yuan ($561-564) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,840 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading in Shanghai was robust in the morning when traders set prices at 3,860-3,870 yuan per tonne.But once pr...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products reported a 1% year-on-year rise in shipment volumes in May 2019, Eurometal said this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?475-490 ($532-549) per tonne on July 10, compared with ?,?480-495 per tonne ex-works a week earlier. Prices moved down due to poor demand.Eurometal's stock index f...Read More
Mexico's steel association, Canacero, has denied that Mexican producers of fabricated structural steel who export to the United States have been receiving subsidies, as alleged by US authorities.The denial on Tuesday July 9 followed the US Commerce Department's issuance of affirmative preliminary determinations a day earlier in its countervailing duty investigations of fabricated structural steel...Read More
Ukraine's largest producer of long steel, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, is performing hot tests of one of two new continuous casting machines, designated CCM No2 and CCM No3, the company announced on Thursday July 11."The machine will be put into operation in the third quarter of 2019," the company said in a recent release, adding that the second new CCM will be ready by the end of the year.The constr...Read More
Turkish rebar export prices increased slightly this week, while wire rod prices remained largely unchanged, sources said told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) export, fob main port Turkey, was $455-465 per tonne on an actual-weight basis on July 11, narrowing up from last week's $445-465 per tonne.Turkish steel mills...Read More
The Turkish domestic long steel markets have remained quiet over the past week amid sluggish summertime demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was TRY3,100-3,130 ($542-547) per tonne on Thursday, widening upward slightly from last week's TRY3,100-3,120 per tonne.The...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have gone another day without making any deep-sea scrap bookings because of the slowdown in the finished and semi-finished steel markets, sources said on Thursday July 11.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region had booked a UK cargo on July 9 at $288 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20). The mills then went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets.But market participants...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday July 11, with demand weakening because of steel production restrictions in north China. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.37 per tonne, down $1.59 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.29 per tonne, down $1.59 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines...Read More
Turkish steel billet export prices dipped slightly this week after demand fell away following a downturn in scrap import values, sources said on Thursday July 11.Domestic and import billet prices remained stable over the period, they added.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet export, fob main port Turkey, was $425-435 per tonne, down from $435-440...Read More