New long steel capacity in the pipeline in the Philippines may well disrupt trade flows in Asia once they come on stream, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.This is because the Philippines could reduce its reliance on imports, which would result in seaborne cargoes being diverted elsewhere in the region. Major Philippine rebar producer SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp plans to increase its c...Read More
Zinc was the only base metal on the London Metal Exchange to close in positive territory on Friday March 16, while the majority of the market lacked significant drivers to push higher.The three-month zinc price closed $25 per tonne higher on support from a 15,425 tonne cancellation in New Orleans today. Aluminium's three-month price was unchanged at $2,085 per tonne while the market continues to s...Read More
Iron ore prices tumbled on Friday March 16 following a decline in the futures market amid doubts whether downstream demand for steel in China has truly started to recover after the Chinese New Year.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $69.84 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down $2.27 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $73.61 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $56.91 per...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market took a breather on Friday March 16, though buyers outside of China are still anticipating prices to experience a downward correction.A cargo of mid-vol premium hard coking coal was traded at $215 per tonne fob Australia while a lower-ranked second-tier product changed hands at $182 per tonne fob Australia, sources told Metal Bulletin during the day. "The market is s...Read More
Zinc was the only base metal on the London Metal Exchange to close in positive territory on Friday March 16, while the majority of the market lacked significant drivers to push higher.The three-month zinc price closed $25 per tonne higher on support from a 15,425 tonne cancellation in New Orleans today. Aluminium's three-month price was unchanged at $2,085 per tonne while the market continues to s...Read More
The light iron scrap market in the UK has been steady this week, consolidating the gains made in a four-week bull run built on strengthening demand to key export markets such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?105-135 ($147-188) per tonne on Friday March 16. This compared with a price of ?90-115 pe...Read More
A roundup of changes to aluminium billet premiums, as assessed by Metal Bulletin, in the past month. Read More
Henry Bath opened a new bonded warehouse in the free trade zone (FTZ) of Shanghai's Yangshan district on Friday March 16 at a time of growing domestic copper production and a jump in Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks.The new bonded warehouse has 20,000 square meters of capacity, can store 120,000 tonnes of metals indoors and has the same standards as an LME-listed warehouse, Henry Bath said.Chinese...Read More
Comex copper prices fell again in morning trading on Friday March 16, with a stronger dollar and lack of marker activity combining to weigh on the metal.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.65 cents or 0.5% to $3.1110 per lb recently. The contract has been varied this week, swinging between positive and negative closes.Trade is expected to be.....Read More
China's refined copper output rose 7.4% year on year for the first two months of 2018, despite the Lunar New Year lull and the shutdown of a major refinery.The combined output stood at 1,481,000 tonnes in 2018, compared to 1,371,000 tonnes produced during the same period last year, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday March 16. China typically combines January and...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment charges and refining charges (TCs/RCs) have shown little variation over the past two weeks despite an explosion in the numbers of direct trades while the market settled on second-quarter pricing.Smelters in China and elsewhere returned to the spot market for large tonnages, lowering their bids from more than $80 per tonne/$0.08 per lb to settle deals in the mid-$70/$0....Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday March 16.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading - with tin being the only metal in negative territory.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:11pm London time:Read our live futures report here."Overall, we see base metals prices consolidating as they wait to...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Friday March 16 - with tin being the only metal in negative territory. Copper prices recovered $33 per tonne this morning but remain below the $7,000 per tonne support level while volumes are thin. The three-month nickel price regained some of Thursday's losses but remains unsteady, while zinc prices were...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Once again, Metal Bulletin's team has written extensively about the effects of the United States government's recent decision to impose tariffs of 25% on steel imports. Reactions from global economies, the effect on US prices and market comments were all analyzed. You can find a summary of these analyse...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has started a review procedure of anti-dumping measures in place affecting certain organic coated flat steel products from China, the EC said on Wednesday March 14.Following the publication of a notice of expiry of measures in June 2017, European steel association Eurofer lodged a request for review of measures on December 13 last year.Europe's anti-dumping duty on imp...Read More
Indian local secondary billet prices recovered from a steep fall in the first two days of the current week to go up by about 700 rupees per tonne over the past three days on rising finished product prices.Prices for Indian domestic secondary billet, mainly produced via the induction furnace route, ended the week at 33,000-33,400 rupees ($508-514) per tonne ex-mill, narrowing from Metal Bulletin's...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil rose this week, with offers approaching the $600 per tonne fob mark while buyers were left with few options to procure material from CIS and Brazilian suppliers.Metal Bulletin's weekly assessment of Brazil export slab reached $580-590 per tonne fob on Friday March 16, up from $560-570 per tonne fob a week earlier. Sparse domestic offers were reported within the $580-...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have been largely stable this week due to limited market activity, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 16.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,300-2,350 zloty ($674-689) per tonne ex-works on March 16, compared with 2,300-2,340 per tonne ex-works a week...Read More
Coated coil producers in Turkey mostly kept their prices unchanged this week amid moderate demand in the domestic market. Domestic prices One Northern Turkish producer was offering 0.50mm gauge hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil at $860-865 per tonne ex-works this week, while a second producer in the same region was offering the same product at $900 per tonne ex-works. A southern producer...Read More
Flat steel prices in Turkey's domestic market went down slightly this week, while import and export prices were unchanged amid weak demand, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 16.Local producers were fully booked until June.Domestic pricesHot-rolled coil (HRC) producers in Turkey have been offering material at $670 per tonne ex-works for late-May and early-June production, whil...Read More