Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday May 22.Lead prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange outperformed during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, tracking the strong performance of the London Metal Exchange's three-month lead price on Monday. The other SHFE base metals, with the exception of copper and nickel, were weaker. C...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has confirmed that its "temporary conditional suspension" of Rusal-warranted metal will remain in place, Metal Bulletin has learned.The LME first announced the suspension on April 10 following the US' decision to sanction Oleg Deripaska and UC Rusal. The bourse specified that Rusal-warranted metal will remain under suspension unless deemed acceptable, highlighting that pr...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Tuesday May 22, with lead, copper and nickel prices rallying higher amid struggling performances elsewhere in the complex. Edging 2.6% higher, lead's three-month is leading the complex's gains, breaking above the resistance level at $2,400 per tonne.The metal is finding support from the open arbitrage between the LME an...Read More
Comex copper maintained optimism through to the US morning on Tuesday May 22 with the red metal trading at the highest point since late April. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.95 cents or 1.4% to $3.1380 per lb. The contract hit a high of $3.1430, the strongest point since...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia showed only small changes this week because demand was limited by the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday May 22.Buyers preferred to postpone bookings during the holy month, which started last week.Working hours are reduced in Saudi Arabia, with Ramadan always being a slow month in...Read More
Comex copper maintained optimism through to the US morning on Tuesday May 22 with the red metal trading at the highest point since late April. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.95 cents or 1.4% to $3.1380 per lb. The contract hit a high of $3.1430, the strongest point since...Read More
Aluminium output will grow steadily due to rising consumption and strong prices, multiple speakers said at Asian Metal's Aluminium Raw Materials Conference in Jinan in China on Friday May 18.Demand for primary aluminium will reach 70 million tonnes by 2020, according to Ron Knapp, Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute. This represents an increase of about 3 million tonnes...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday May 22. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were a mixed picture during morning trading, with copper prices climbing 1% while zinc and tin edged lower.Reaching a high of $6,959 per tonne over the morning, copper's three-month price is edging towards the $7,000 per tonne support level. The red metal's rece...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were a mixed picture during morning trading on Tuesday May 22, with copper prices climbing 1% while zinc and tin edged lower. Reaching a high of $6,959 per tonne over the morning, copper's three-month price is edging towards the $7,000 per tonne support level. The red metal's recent price rise has been buoyed by strong demand from China, in addition to an e...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producers have announced price increases of 8-15% to distributors and industrial clients for early June, according to national flat steel association Inda.Usiminas confirmed a price increase of 10.60% for hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and heavy plate. For coated steel products, the increase will be around 15%.The Usiminas price rise will be applied on June 5, w...Read More
Brazilian sales of flat steel products increased by 5.40% year-on-year in April 2018, mostly led by the performance of the automotive sector.Sales from distributors amounted to 225,100 tonnes last month, compared with 213,700 tonnes in April 2017, national flat steel association Inda said on Tuesday May 22.The growth was led by the automotive and agricultural machinery sectors, while other steel-c...Read More
Brazil's foreign trade chamber, Camex, has decided not to impose final trade sanctions against imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China, despite finding confirmation of subsidy practices.In a meeting held by Camex's ministers on Monday May 21, the chamber applied five-year anti-subsidy duties varying from $196.49 per tonne to $425.22 per tonne on Chinese HRC (see table), but then suspended the...Read More
Crude steel output in Brazil rose by 1.90% year-on-year in April, with both demand and consumption volumes increasing, according to figures released by national steel institute A??o Brasil on Tuesday May 22.Production in the month came to 2.95 million tonnes, compared with 2.89 million tonnes a year earlier.Brazilian mills produced 2 million tonnes of finished steel last month, up by 6.40% from Ap...Read More
CIS export billet prices remained stable on Tuesday May 22 with buying activity no better than sluggish, Metal Bulletin has heard."With these prices, no-one is making money so sales are not happening," an international trader told Metal Bulletin, referring to high offer prices from CIS mills and low bids from customers.Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index was $524 per...Read More
CIS export rebar and wire rod prices remained unchanged in the week ended Monday May 21 with varying factors pulling the markets in different directions.Some market participants expected prices to pick up in the near term amid a reduction in the availability of material from Ukraine's ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih. This follows last week's production halt, which itself was the result of a four-day stri...Read More
Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Metal Bulletin. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an in-warehouse China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Click here for Metal Bulletin's price assessment for lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade, spot price range, ex-works China, yuan per tonne. Metal Bulletin...Read More
Chinese vanadium export prices continued to register declines after exporters lowered their offers in order to drum up buying interest, while European vanadium prices again followed the downtrend in the Chinese market. Chinese export prices soften on thin trading European vanadium prices remain under pressure amid profit-taking US FeV market grinds to a halt, prices flatThe Chinese vanadium expor...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to retreat on Tuesday May 22 amid further losses in the futures and finished steel markets.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $64.41 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.89 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $52.87 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.95 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $83.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.70 per tonneMe...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, tender, 170,000 tonnes of...Read More
The seaborne coking coal spot market was quiet on Tuesday May 22 in the absence of firm bids. Market participants opted to remain on the sidelines to wait for a clearer trend to emerge in the market."End-users in China already stocked up several rounds in the past few months. At current prices, they would not have that great of...Read More