Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part firmer this morning, Tuesday April 24. The exceptions are aluminium (-0.8%) and tin (-0.1%), while the rest are up by an average of 0.4%, with three-month copper prices up by 0.5% at $6,963 per tonne.On Monday, the United States Treasury's decision that it will not impose secondary sanctions on non-US market participants for doi...Read More
Summary of Anglo American's production results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.(First-quarter total, % change year-on-year) Copper 155,000 tonnes, +9%...Read More
Here are 10 key takeaways from Metal Bulletin's and Industrial Minerals' first Battery Materials conference in Shanghai on April 18-19. Bringing online new lithium supply remains a painful process: Bringing new capacity on stream is not easy and it is still difficult to bring new lithium projects online due technical and weather-related issues, as well as lack of investment and know-how, according...Read More
The demand for graphite in China will rise alongside growth in the new energy vehicles (NEVs) market due to its importance as an anode material in batteries, the chairman of Matrass c-Graphene Science Technology Group said at Industrial Minerals' and Metal Bulletin's inaugural Battery Materials conference in Shanghai on Thursday April 19. The rapid development of NEVs will drive graphite demand in...Read More
China will lead the electric vehicle (EV) battery chemistry evolution - moving from popularized nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM)523 and NCM622 batteries to the NCM811 battery, while the West would keep NCM622 for longer, according to speakers at Metal Bulletin's Battery Materials Conference, held in Shanghai from April 18-19.The adoption of high nickel-content EV batteries will happen much faster in...Read More
Russian producers of hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet have increased their offer prices for May-rolled products to keep domestic market profitability high while the rouble is weak.Normally, Russian steelmakers export around 35% of their steel products output, according to Metal Bulletin estimates. But in the first quarter of this year, Severstal increased the export share of its to...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Tuesday April 24 following early gains in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,080-4,120 yuan ($647-653) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Tianjin): 3,990-4,020 yuan per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonne HRC futures rose to a high of 3,708 yuan per tonne during the day - 1.7% higher than the Monday's sett...Read More
China's ferrous futures continued to edge up during morning trading on Tuesday April 24, with strengthening domestic demand supporting the physical steel market. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,584 yuan ($568) per tonne, up 27 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,701 yuan per tonne, up 5 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange September iro...Read More
Gerdau has appointed Chia Yuan Wang president of its North American long steel division, with immediate effect, the Brazil-based steel producer said on Tuesday April 24.Wang takes over from Gerdau's chief executive officer, Gustavo Werneck, who took an interim role as president of the North American business after Peter Campo left the firm at the end of January, when a change in the mill's...Read More
Russian steelmaker Severstal, one of two major rebar suppliers in the central region around Moscow, has increased the offer price on its May-rolled rebar because of lower material availability and the weaker rouble, sources told Metal Bulletin this week.Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), another rebar supplier in the region, had not set its offers for May-rolled rebar at the time of publication.Metal Bulle...Read More
Earnings at Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), soared by 31% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018 on favorable pricing conditions and higher export volumes.NLMK's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the three months totaled $812 million, against $618 million in the corresponding period last year, according to its latest financial sta...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for ferrous scrap from shipbreaking went up slightly during the week that ended on April 23, while domestic auto bundle scrap prices were largely stable, sources said on Tuesday April 24.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for melting scrap from shipbreaking in the Turkish domestic market was $348-355 per tonne delivered, up from last week's $341-352...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Tuesday April 24, in line with a decline in the paper market.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $67.26 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.41 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $56.08 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.10 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.30 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.30 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe China Port Pri...Read More
Anglo American is anticipating a reduction of about $300-400 million in earnings for 2018 due to an outage at its Minas-Rio iron ore operations in Brazil, where it does not expect to resume material production for the remainder of the year."The current expectation is that the operations will begin to ramp up in the fourth quarter of 2018," the miner said on Tuesday April 24.Output at Minas-Rio dro...Read More
Prices for domestic steel rebar in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were stable this week, although demand was not strong, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday April 24.And demand for imported rebar in both countries remained almost non-existent.Domestic rebarThe major rebar producers in the UAE announced their current prices on March 26.The biggest steel producer, Emirates Steel, is of...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up further on Tuesday April 24 on rising futures, but trading activity has thinned. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,920 yuan ($615-621) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,740-3,770 yuan per tonne, narrowed upward by 10 yuan per tonne Rebar futures continued to strengthen during the day, albeit at a less rapid pace as Monday, w...Read More
Import prices for billet in Southeast Asia picked up some strength over the past week amid higher offers from China as a result of a recovery in its domestic market, while those for slab were flat again on thin trading.BilletMetal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $540-545 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday April 23, narrowing upward by $5 per tonne from...Read More
Chinese vanadium exporters lowered their offer prices over the past week due to the weakened Chinese domestic market and a lack of interest from foreign buyers. Meanwhile, the European and US markets continued their slide. Chinese export prices slide on softer domestic prices, limited foreign buyer interestEuropean ferro-vanadium prices continue to suffer from profit-taking US ferro-vanadium marke...Read More
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Increased volatility for aluminium prices Aluminium...ACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the la...Read More