Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker across the board by an average of 0.6% this morning, Thursday April 26. Aluminium, nickel and zinc led the decline with losses ranged between 0.7% and 1%, while the rest were all down by 0.3%, with the three-month copper price at $6,955 per tonne. This follows a mixed performance on Wednesday when consolidation set in following recent wee...Read More
Underlying demand for stainless steel will remain solid in both Europe and the United States in the second quarter of 2018, Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu said.Stainless steel base prices will trend higher in the US, supported by steel import tariffs, the company said on Thursday April 26.Meanwhile, domestic prices in Europe will remain under pressure due to competition and growing volumes...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures are responding to higher than consensus sales and earnings reported by most of the 31 S&P 500 companies that released quarterly results since yesterday's close. European Central Bank maintained its key lending rates at current levels. Index futures were virtually unchang...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – LME zinc price registered an intra-day fall of 1.7% as inventory at the exchange’s warehouses continued to rise.LME zinc inventory stood at 228,150 mt as of Thursday April 26, up 18,675 mt from the previous day. This added to an increase of 28,150 mt seen just one day ago. A large delivery was believed to have been made into the warehouse at Antwerp.The SHFE zi...Read More
Losses in job and output terms in metals-consuming sectors in the United States in the fallout from the Section 232 probe threaten to outweigh any benefits to domestic metal-producing industries from the tariffs the US government subsequently introduced.In turn, the prices of metals that are strongly correlated to the performance of metal-consuming sectors - such as AISI 4130, a widely used medium...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals continued their weak performance on Thursday April 26. SHFE zinc saw a wider decline of close to 3%. Copper, aluminium, lead and nickel dipped. Tin closed slightly higher.The ferrous complex fell across the board. Iron ore led with a loss of over 1%. Coke dropped 0.62%. Rebar, hot-rolled coil and coking coal edged down.Copper: The SHF...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals continued their weak performance on Thursday April 26. SHFE zinc saw a wider decline of close to 3%. Copper, aluminium, lead and nickel dipped. Tin closed slightly higher.The ferrous complex fell across the board. Iron ore led with a loss of over 1%. Coke dropped 0.62%. Rebar, hot-rolled coil and coking coal edged down.Copper: The SHF...Read More
China's ferrous futures were largely stable during morning trading on Thursday April 26 following a subdued steel market a day earlier. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3.568 yuan per tonne, up 6 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,677 yuan per tonne, up 9 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange September iron ore: 467 yuan per tonne, up 2 yu...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals continued their weak performance on Thursday April 26. SHFE zinc saw a wider decline of close to 3%. Copper, aluminium, lead and nickel dipped. Tin closed slightly higher.The ferrous complex fell across the board. Iron ore led with a loss of over 1%. Coke dropped 0.62%. Rebar, hot-rolled coil and coking coal edged down.Copper: The SHF...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Spot copper with invoices for April was mostly offered at a premium of 240-300 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1805 contract on Thursday April 26 in the Shanghai market, slightly down from the previous day, SMM learned.Lacking support from downstream consumption, trading stayed lacklustre amid sufficient supply. This was despite sellers lowering offers to a premium of 240-250...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Global demand for nickel is likely to rise to 2.34 million mt in 2018 from 2.19 million in 2017, the International Nickel Study Group (INSG) said on Wednesday April 25.The group forecast the global nickel output to increase to 2.23 million mt in 2018 from 2.08 million mt in 2017.SMM expects China to consume 1.22 million mtof nickel and to produce 817,000 mt in 2...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – Amid pessimistic sentiment, China's zinc spot market traded thinly on Thursday April 26 as SHFE zinc dipped in the morning, SMM learned.Most long-term orders halted today, before the Labour Day holiday. Some smelters were also not keen to sell as the value-added tax (VAT) cut on May 1 loomed. In Shanghai, #0 zinc mostly traded at 23,950-24,080 yuan/mt....Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) –Copper: The copper market saw rangebound trading overnight. LME copper stood above all the moving averages with support from the five- and 10-day moving averages. SHFE copper’s trading level slightly rose to between the five- and 60-day moving averages with the 10-day moving average expanding upwards to adhere to the 40-day moving average. We expect LM...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 25 (SMM) – Norilsk nickel in the Shanghai market traded at a premium of 700-900 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1805 contract on Thursday April 26, while Jinchuan traded at a premium of 1,300-1,400 yuan/mt, SMM learned.Jinchuan offered nickel plate at 104,000 yuan/mt.With the impending cut in value-added tax on May 1, traders were relatively unkeen to offer wh...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) –Copper: The copper market saw rangebound trading overnight. LME copper stood above all the moving averages with support from the five- and 10-day moving averages. SHFE copper’s trading level slightly rose to between the five- and 60-day moving averages with the 10-day moving average expanding upwards to adhere to the 40-day moving average. We expect LM...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) –Copper: The copper market saw rangebound trading overnight. LME copper stood above all the moving averages with support from the five- and 10-day moving averages. SHFE copper’s trading level slightly rose to between the five- and 60-day moving averages with the 10-day moving average expanding upwards to adhere to the 40-day moving average. We expect LM...Read More
Vale's fall in iron ore production in the first quarter of 2018 will not affect the Brazilian miner's output guidance for the year, executive officer for ferrous minerals and coal Peter Poppinga said this week."We continue [to be] committed to the 390 million tonnes production target,"' he told analysts during a conference call on Thursday April 26.Vale's first quarter iron ore output&nb...Read More
Brazilian iron ore pellet producer Samarco will aim to resume production at the beginning of 2019, "in the best scenario," chief executive officer, Fabio Schvartsman, said."We are struggling to resume activities, but we don't have control over this because it depends on [Brazilian] environmental agencies," Schvartsman told analysts during a conference call on Thursday April 26.Samarco is a 50:50 j...Read More
China exported 221,062 tonnes of cold-rolled coil (CRC) in March, down 19.7% from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data released on Tuesday April 24.The drop in CRC exports was likely due to high fob China offers for March-shipment cargoes compared to last year, even once demand resumed after the Lunar New Year break in mid-February,...Read More
Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange steadied at the close of trading on Thursday April 26, while aluminium climbed 1.3% during the afternoon. "Afternoon news that Oleg Deripaska has no plans to restructure Rusal, sent aluminium prices quickly higher, through $2,300-2,315.20 per tonne area, adding to underlying market volatility and tightening of the spreads," Liz Grant, senior account e...Read More