Lead is starting to be imported into China at a profit after shorts drove down international market prices far enough to trigger an arbitrage. Lead is the London Metal Exchange's most shorted metal, 5.2% of speculative interest on lead is a short, according to brokers Marex Spectron. The LME's three-month lead contract dropped to a seven-month low of $2,241 per tonne on May 3 but has since rebound...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange had a mixed end to the week at the close of trading on Friday May 18, with complex consolidation resisted by nickel's steady gains. Climbing 1% during the afternoon, nickel reached a daily high of $14,870 per tonne. The metal's declining inventories are contributing to its price rise, with total LME stocks falling 5,856 tonnes on the week. Nickel'...Read More
Physical iron ore prices weakened on Friday May 18 in line with drops in the rebar and futures markets.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $66.92 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.57 per tonne Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.42 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.14 per tonne Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.80 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.60 per tonne Metal Bulletin 62% Fe...Read More
A widening gap between bids and offers is keeping the seaborne coking coal market deadlocked. Market sources said on Friday May 18 that a miner was offering a cargo of premium low-vol hard coking coal with a late-July laycan via a tender that was to have been concluded at 6pm Singapore time, which is beyond the 5.30pm cut-off time for data collection for Metal Bulletin's daily coking coal indices....Read More
Offers of commercial-grade hot-rolled coil (HRC) for import into India have fallen by $15 per tonne to $640-645 per tonne cfr Mumbai, compared with similar material booked about two weeks ago at $655-660 per tonne cfr Mumbai.Indonesia-origin HRC was offered at $640-645 per tonne cfr Mumbai for shipment in June-July but this price has yet to be accepted, a Mumbai-based importer said on Friday May 1...Read More
Indian steelmaker JSW Steel has completed the acquisition of Italian long steel producer Acciaierie e Ferriere di Piombino (Aferpi), Italian trade union Fiom-Cgil said on Friday May 18.JSW Steel acquired the mill from Algeria's Cevital for around 6 billion Indian rupees ($88.41 million), according to media reports in India, while Italian reports suggest the deal was valued at closer to ?,?90 milli...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsThe London Metal Exchange has shelved its idea of developing a dealer-to-client platform, following the results of last year's discussion paper, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said.The exchange also does not have projections of how much revenue it might make eve...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange had a mixed end to the week at the close of trading on Friday May 18, with complex consolidation resisted by nickel's steady gains. Climbing 1% during the afternoon, nickel reached a daily high of $14,870 per tonne. The metal's declining inventories are contributing to its price rise, with total LME stocks falling 5,856 tonnes on the week. Nickel'...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Lead is starting to be imported into China at a profit after shorts drove down international market prices far enough to trigger an arbitrage. Lead is the London Metal Exchange's most shorted metal, 5.2% of speculative interest on lead is a short, according to brokers Marex Spectron. The LME's three-month lead contract dropped to a seven-month low of $2,241 per tonne on May 3 but has since rebound...Read More
The latest metal market news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday May 18. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading, with marginal drops across the complex largely due to a strengthening dollar and nickel the only metal to buck the trend.Nickel's three-month price climbed 1.2%, outperforming the complex and reaching a high of $14,850 pe...Read More
Sterlite's refined copper smelter, Tuticorin, will remain closed for another 20 days after the local court adjourned the next hearing on Sterlite's appeal against a decision not to renew consent of the smelter operation, Metal Bulletin understands. The next hearing to challenge the pollution control board's decision will be held on June 6, according to local media reports. Tuticorin is a refined c...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Friday May 18, with marginal drops across the complex largely due to a strengthening dollar and nickel the only metal to buck the trend.Nickel's three-month price climbed 1.2%, outperforming the complex and reaching a high of $14,830 per tonne over the morning.The metal's cash/three-month spread is currently at $...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States are up for the fourth week in a row on uncertainty over whether President Donald Trump will extend Section 232 exemptions for Canada, Mexico and the European Union beyond a June 1 deadline.American Metal Market's hot-rolled coil index stands at $44.26 per hundredweight ($885.20 per ton), up 0.7% from $43.96 per cwt the previous week and up 2.4% from $43....Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Physical iron ore prices weakened on Friday May 18, in line with drops in the rebar and futures markets, although earlier increases mean the week-on-week change was minimal.The seaborne coking coal market is in stalemate with a widening gap between bids and offers. Taiwanese scrap import prices widened...Read More
Following the market consultation, Metal Bulletin will increase the frequency of the CIS export steel billet index, fob Black Sea ports, assessment from weekly to daily starting on May 21.The change is made in response to sufficient market liquidity being observed to adjust the weekly price to a daily calculation. This alteration is designed to capture volatility within the market throughout the d...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have been largely unchanged over the past week despite coming under pressure from import offers, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 18.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,250-2,290 zloty ($619-630) per tonne ex-works on May 18, narrowing upward slightly compared with 2,230-2,290 zloty per tonne ex-w...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in the week ending Friday May 18.China Chinese ferro-chrome spot prices rose further, buoyed by rising chrome ore prices.Potential supply cuts to major ferro-chrome production hubs following environmental inspections. South Korea and Japan Korea FeCr market on an...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday May 18:Noble alloys Molybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $11.30-11.45 per lb from $11.50-11.70 Molybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib $11.70-11.90 per Ib from $11.90-12.00 Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $28.00-28.50 per kg from $28.15-28.65 Ferro-molybdenum US 65...Read More
Mark Teroerde has resigned from his role at Swiss-based trading house Telf as a head of sales of ferro-alloys; his responsibilities have been taken on by David Kramer, who widens his existing portfolio at Telf covering refined ferro-alloys. Teroerde plans to set up his own venture in the US, he told Metal Bulletin. He started his role as head of global sales for ferro-alloys at Telf in March 2016....Read More