Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange once again fell below $14,000 per tonne at the close of trading on Friday July 13, with broad gains across the complex capped by the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China. The metal's three-month price continues to exhibit volatile price shifts, exemplified in today's intraday trading range of $390 per tonne. "Broad-based weakness in the bas...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week....Read More
Key data in the pricing session in the week ending Friday July 13. China Activity in China's ferro-chrome market was quiet with prices falling due to the production increase that followed the restart of Inner Mongolian smelters. There was no liquidity and stability in the imported charge chrome market amid a standoff...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TCs/RCs) rose to ten-month highs in mid-July when miners began to sell tonnages at higher prices and smelters consolidated their purchasing with terms around $90 per tonne/$0.09 per lb.The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates index jumped by $6.30/$0.63 to $86.10/$0.861, the highest level since October 2017.The volume of tonnages traded has reduced...Read More
The main union at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, has rejected the company's latest contractual offer, the union said on Thursday July 12. The offer, said to include a bonus of 4.5 million Chilean pesos ($7,000) with no base salary increase or schooling benefits was deemed "unacceptable," the union said. "If there is no substantial change, the Union will be...Read More
Indonesia's growing presence in the international market as a stainless steel exporter - made possible by an influx of Chinese-backed producers in the country - presents a potential challenge to China's dominance of the Asian markets, participants told Metal Bulletin.Playing a key role in the market and squeezing China's market share currently is PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, a low-cost...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week....Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Raw materialsTurkish steel producers resumed scrap bookings in the deep-sea markets for August deliveries, with prices falling through the week.UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in July have mostly gone up after a jump in prices to Europe's key export destination of Turkey in June, trade sources to...Read More
Prices for alloy steel scrap in the UK and Europe were stable this week amid heavily subdued trading and largely flat nickel prices, Metal Bulletin learnt on Friday July 13.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for 18/8 stainless steel solids imported into mainland Europe was ?,?1,160-1,180 ($1,354-1,378) per tonne cif main European ports on July 13, unchanged week on week.In the UK, the domest...Read More
Global scrap prices weakened in most markets except Taiwan during the working week from Monday July 9 to Friday July 13, amid sluggish demand in the major regions.Turkey resumed its deep-sea bookings for August deliveries but at lower prices, which sent the US East Coast export prices down, while the weak demand continued to affect prices in India.But import scrap prices into Taiwan remained stabl...Read More
Base metals markets remain jittery following continued rhetoric from US President Donald Trump over trade. Three-month prices on the London Metal Exchange were down by an average of 0.4% as at 7.32am London time on Friday July 13, with copper prices off by 0.1% at $6,210 per tonne.This follows a general day of consolidation and recovery on Thursday when the complex closed with gains averaging 0.8%...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week....Read More
Domestic Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate prices fell again this week due to lackluster demand from consumers, while hydroxide prices stayed firm although lower offers were reported to Metal Bulletin. Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate prices continued to fall while hydroxide prices were stable on weak demand. Ample availability and lower prices for battery-grade and technical & i...Read More
The prices for flat steel imported into South America were virtually unchanged this week, on stable offers from China.The import price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) narrowed downward to $630-635 per tonne cfr on Friday July 13, from $630-640 per tonne cfr a week earlier.The price of...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Raw materialsTurkish steel producers resumed scrap bookings in the deep-sea markets for August deliveries, with prices falling through the week.UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in July have mostly gone up after a jump in prices to Europe's key export destination of Turkey in June, trade sources to...Read More
Prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday July 13 with demand in the local and export markets being no better than slow, Metal Bulletin has heard.Domestic pricesOne producer in northern Turkey was offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $770 per tonne ex-works.Another northern producer was offering similar product at $785-800 per tonne ex-work...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Raw materialsTurkish steel producers resumed scrap bookings in the deep-sea markets for August deliveries, with prices falling through the week.UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in July have mostly gone up after a jump in prices to Europe's key export destination of Turkey in June, trade sources to...Read More
Chinese steel mills Lianxin Steel and Shandong Laigang Yongfeng have each ordered thermomechanical rebar rolling mills (TMbaR) with capacity for 1 million tonnes per year, equipment manufacturer SMS Group said on Friday July 13."The TMbaR mill for Shandong Laigang Yongfeng's Dezhou site [in Shandong province in eastern China] is part of a capacity conversion program using the electric arc furnace...Read More
Chinese long steelmaker Guangxi Guixin Iron & Steel is to start up a new, more environmentally friendly, electric-arc furnace (EAF) in mid-2019.It will have a tapping weight of 80 tonnes and will replace several smaller EAFs.Guangxi Guixin has a total long steel capacity of 8 million tpy, including 7 million tonnes of bar production and 1 million tpy of wire rod capacity.It runs three 1080 cubic m...Read More