Turkish billet prices drifted down over the past week, amid sluggish demand for both domestic and imported material, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday March 29.CIS billet suppliers reduced their offers into Turkey to $550-560 per tonne cfr, but sources said that Turkish buyers are not interested in paying any higher than $540 per tonne.Metal...Read More
The base price assessments for flat and long stainless steel products in Europe remained stable this week amid strong competition between stockholders, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday March 29.Metal Bulletin's weekly base price assessment for 2mm, grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet was ?,?1,050-1,130 ($1,299-1,397) per tonne delivered in Northern Europe on Thursday, unchanged...Read More
China's ferrous futures experienced a third morning of gains on Thursday March 29 after big losses toward the end of last week after both the country and the United States announced fresh tariffs against each other's products.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,260 yuan ($518) per tonne, up 42 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,616 yuan per tonne,...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part stronger today, Thursday March 29, with prices up by an average of 0.6%. Nickel leads the advance with a 2% rise to $13,300 per tonne, while copper is up by 1% at $6,732 per tonne.Volume has been high with 12,789 lots traded as of 07.56am London time. This morning's strength builds on recent consolidation, with most of the metal...Read More
Persistently low buying interest in East Asia, inventory pressures in China, and falling nickel prices continued to push down the region's stainless steel market over the past week.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed CRC was $2,090-2,180 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday March 28, down $70-80 per tonne from a week earlier. Metal B...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures rose across the board during the afternoon trading session on Thursday March 29 with SHFE nickel up close to 2% and copper up nearly 1%.Ferrous metals, meanwhile, all closed over 1% higher, except for coke, which was down just over 1%.Copper: The SHFE 1805 contract hit a high at 50,100 yuan/mt today as some investors added to their long bets...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures rose across the board during the afternoon trading session on Thursday March 29 with SHFE nickel up close to 2% and copper up nearly 1%.Ferrous metals, meanwhile, all closed over 1% higher, except for coke, which was down just over 1%.Copper: The SHFE 1805 contract hit a high at 50,100 yuan/mt today as some investors added to their long bets...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures rose across the board during the afternoon trading session on Thursday March 29 with SHFE nickel up close to 2% and copper up nearly 1%.Ferrous metals, meanwhile, all closed over 1% higher, except for coke, which was down just over 1%.Copper: The SHFE 1805 contract hit a high at 50,100 yuan/mt today as some investors added to their long bets...Read More
Tech Talk will not be publishing tomorrow, Good Friday. Next report is to be released on Monday April 2nd. Have a Happy Easter weekend.Pre-opening Comments for Thursday March 29thU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 9 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – Norilsk nickel in the Shanghai market traded at a discount of 100-200 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1804 contract on Thursday March 29, while Jinchuan traded at a premium at 400 yuan/mt, SMM learned.Jinchuan offered nickel plate at 96,900 yuan/mt.Prices of nickel futures traded rangebound in the morning and traders made offers actively due to ampl...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – Copper prices are likely to be rangebound at a relatively high level in 2018 as supplies of copper concentrate tighten, Jiangxi Copper said in its earnings report on Thursday March 28.The growth in global copper concentrate output is set to slow down in the next two to three years as the last round of copper mine investment comes to an end. Consumption, meanwhile, wi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index rose to 90 given the inflow of month-end capital and as concerns of a trade war eased. Positive economic data from the US released overnight also buoyed the index.Base metals saw mixed trading as SHFE metals, except for copper and lead, fell. L...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index rose to 90 given the inflow of month-end capital and as concerns of a trade war eased. Positive economic data from the US released overnight also buoyed the index.Base metals saw mixed trading as SHFE metals, except for copper and lead, fell. L...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar index rose to 90 given the inflow of month-end capital and as concerns of a trade war eased. Positive economic data from the US released overnight also buoyed the index.Base metals saw mixed trading as SHFE metals, except for copper and lead, fell. L...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) –Copper: A stronger US dollar and falling oil prices are likely to keep copper prices under pressure. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,640-6,690/mt today and the SHFE 1805 contract at 49,400-49,900 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 200-140 yuan/mt.Aluminium: A total of 18,000 lots of short positions were added to SHFE aluminium at the start of the trading...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) –Copper: A stronger US dollar and falling oil prices are likely to keep copper prices under pressure. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,640-6,690/mt today and the SHFE 1805 contract at 49,400-49,900 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 200-140 yuan/mt.Aluminium: A total of 18,000 lots of short positions were added to SHFE aluminium at the start of the trading...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 29 (SMM) –Copper: A stronger US dollar and falling oil prices are likely to keep copper prices under pressure. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,640-6,690/mt today and the SHFE 1805 contract at 49,400-49,900 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 200-140 yuan/mt.Aluminium: A total of 18,000 lots of short positions were added to SHFE aluminium at the start of the trading...Read More
This year marks the start of a new age of steelmaking for China, according to Chi Jingdong, vice-chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association.The Chinese steel industry will continue to strive for improvements, especially in structural changes and meeting the demand of the country's economy, he said."The Chinese steel industry will work to ensure that domestic steelmakers work to support a stabl...Read More
Measures taken in conjunction with the safeguard case against a number of imported steel products in the EU will have a negative impact on Europe's independent distributors, sources have told Metal Bulletin.The European Commission (EC) launched a safeguard case into 26 carbon and stainless steel products imported into the EU on March 26. The EC claims that the investigation was started to prevent...Read More
The Japanese government is calling on the United States to exempt high-quality Japanese steel from its Section 232 import tariffs.Motofuni Kusachi, chief representative of Japan Iron & Steel Federation, told delegates at the China Iron & Steel Association's 16th International Steel Market and Trade Conference in Xi'an on Thursday March 29 that because Japan exports high-quality prod...Read More