A gap between the three-month prices of zinc and lead on the London Metal Exchange could generally narrow and become more settled in the coming weeks after an extended period of flux, market participants suggested.The prices of zinc and lead have historically tended to trade in tandem on the LME but they have diverged to a greater degree over the past couple of years - global supply discrepancies...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday June 14.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with nickel climbing more than 2% on strong buying interest, while lead was the sole metal in negative territory.The most-traded September nickel contract price on the...Read More
A gap between the three-month prices of zinc and lead on the London Metal Exchange could generally narrow and become more settled in the coming weeks after an extended period of flux, market participants suggested.The prices of zinc and lead have historically tended to trade in tandem on the LME but they have diverged to a greater degree over the past couple of years - global supply discrepancies...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange recorded the largest losses of the day at the close of trading on Thursday June 14, leading the complex lower amid sharp drops in lead, copper and zinc prices. Results from China's macro-economic data, including a lower than expected rise in fixed asset investment, and a weaker dollar index has put pressure on the base metals complex.China's fixed asset i...Read More
A gap between the three-month prices of zinc and lead on the London Metal Exchange could generally narrow and become more settled in the coming weeks after an extended period of flux, market participants suggested.The prices of zinc and lead have historically tended to trade in tandem on the LME but they have diverged to a greater degree over the past couple of years - global supply discrepancies...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Thursday June 14, as Chinese end users turned away from premium hard coking coal offers. A trader source said the market remained "cautiously optimistic", although there were ample cargoes in the hands of traders. "Seaborne prices remain much lower than domestic [values] and we may see prices maintain their current levels, but a significant rise would b...Read More
Turkish billet prices have continued to increase over the past week, in line with the rising cost of steel scrap, sources said on Thursday June 14.Suppliers in the CIS region were trying to increase their offer prices following the uptick in deep-sea scrap import prices into Turkey.Steel mills in the CIS region were heard offering billet at around $530-535 per tonne...Read More
Turkish scrap import prices have continued to increase on Thursday June 14, with the mills remaining active in the deep-sea scrap markets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $343.50 per tonne and 12,000 tonnes of bonus at $364 per tonne cfr.Following...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to hold momentum on Thursday morning in the US, with the Federal Reserve's decision to increase interest rates spurring a dollar rally and sinking the base metals group.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 2 cents or 0.6% to $3.2340 per lb. Yesterday, the US Federal Open Market Committee raised interest rates...Read More
Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange drifted lower during London morning trading on Thursday June 14, weighed down by weaker-than-expected Chinese marco-economic data. China's fixed asset investment rose 6.1% year on year in May, against a 7% rise the previous month, while the country's industrial production rose 6.8% on an annual basis in May, compared with 7% growth in April. "Given th...Read More
Chinese electrolytic aluminium production reached 2.79 million tonnes in May, up 1.5% from the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday June 14.For the first five months of 2018, China's aluminium production of 13.6 million tonnes was up 1.4% from a year ago, NBS data showed. The increase in production reflected the new projects that...Read More
Commodities trading house Trafigura reported a 53% decline in net profit for the first half of fiscal 2018, despite a 'strong performance' from its metals and minerals trading division.Trafigura's total profit across all divisions for the six months ended March 31, 2018, fell to $221.8 million, compared with $470.5 million in the same period a year ago, the company announced on Wednesday June 13.T...Read More
Disappointing Chinese economic data suggests there is little to be bullish about and therefore it is unsurprising that the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board by an average of 0.7% on the morning of Thursday June 14.Nickel led on the downside with a 1.9% drop to $15,355 per tonne, while the rest were down between 0.4% and 0.5%, with copper down by...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday June 14*Copper -$153.09 (-980.61 yuan) Aluminium -$510.70 (-3271.15 yuan) Zinc -$66.91 (-428.58 yuan) Nickel -$83.50 (-534.85 yuan) * Metal Bulletin calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month prices at 3pm Shanghai time, taking account of VAT and import...Read More
The expected preliminary decision in the current EU safeguard case into steel imports is likely to result in higher domestic prices for flat steel products, but it will also have repercussions for independent steel distributors, market sources have told Metal Bulletin."The [provisional] safeguard measures will come soon, most likely in July, but the effect they will have will depend on the way the...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar prices have gone down slightly on US dollar basis due to weakening Turkish lira, sources said on Thursday June 14.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic rebar was $540-550 per tonne ex-works on June 14, narrowing down on the top-end of the range from $540-555 per tonne assessed on June 7...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt rose this week but domestic rebar prices were unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 14.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Egypt on June 14 was steady week-on-week at E ?12,525-12,528 ($700) per tonne ex-works.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering material at E ?12,528 per tonne...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billetBilletRussia, export, billet, traded at...Read More
Several Italian rebar and electro-welded mesh producers have had fines totaling over ?,?140 million ($164.70 million) canceled after their appeal was upheld by the Italian regional administrative court for Lazio on Tuesday June 12.Italy's national competition authority AGCM had initially imposed the fines on August 1, 2017, for alleged price-fixing activity on the national rebar and electro-welded...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: HRCHot-rolled coil East China, domestic,...Read More