Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday March 12.Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board during Asian morning trading on Monday, with nickel leading the pack higher.The most-traded July nickel contract on the SHFE stood at 104,530 yuan ($16,508) per tonne as of 02.48am London time, up...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – Spot copper in the Shanghai market traded at a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt today. The afternoon saw more active trading of lower-grade copper as downstream consumers restocked. Prices stood at a discount of 140-120 yuan/mt.At noon, higher-grade copper traded at 51,520-51,620 yuan/mt, SMM learned. For editorial queries, please cont...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – Lower inventories of nickel are likely to support prices in the short term, given little pressure from imports from the Philippines and Indonesia, SMM expects. This is despite the modest rebound in consumption of stainless steel driven by high social inventories in Wuxi and Foshan. SHFE nickel slumped on Thursday March 8 given high social inventories o...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – China's industry for new energy cars is likely to see faster growth, supported by new targets in the 2018 government work report, said chairman of the Beijing Automobile Group, Xu Heyi.The report highlighted that promoting new energy vehicles is part of China's drive to become a globally competitive manufacturing nation.A power network for...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – China's industry for new energy cars is likely to see faster growth, supported by new targets in the 2018 government work report, said chairman of the Beijing Automobile Group, Xu Heyi.The report highlighted that promoting new energy vehicles is part of China's drive to become a globally competitive manufacturing nation.A power network for...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – Norilsk nickel in the Shanghai market was offered at a discount of 400 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1804 contract on the morning of Monday March 12.Jinchuan was offered at a discount of 100-0 yuan/mt, and Jinchuan nickel plate was offered at 103,700 yuan/mt, SMM learned.Trading was weak after nickel prices jumped overnight. Trades were heard at 1...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last weekend and what is expected today.Last Friday nightBase metals rose across the board as the US dollar slipped. SHFE nickel jumped over 4% and copper and zinc rose over 1%. LME metals, except tin, rebounded from touching a low at one point. Nickel saw the biggest growth since February. Copper, zinc and lead rose ab...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last weekend and what is expected today.Last Friday nightBase metals rose across the board as the US dollar slipped. SHFE nickel jumped over 4% and copper and zinc rose over 1%. LME metals, except tin, rebounded from touching a low at one point. Nickel saw the biggest growth since February. Copper, zinc and lead rose ab...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – Nickel ore export from the Philippines is expected to drop to 550,000 wmt in February, due to adverse weather conditions, SMM calculated according to publicly available data. This is about 4,600 mt in metal content, down 43% month on month.Exports of nickel ore from Indonesia is likely to stand at 1.93 million wmt in February, up 27% month on month.Mid-gra...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) –Copper: As the US dollar weakened and the US' February nonfarm payrolls performed well, nonferrous metals rebounded across the board and SHFE copper stood above 52,000 yuan/mt. But the pickup was limited by the anticipated trade war. We see it trading at 51,800-52,300 yuan/mt and LME copper trading at $6,950-7,000/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) –Copper: As the US dollar weakened and the US' February nonfarm payrolls performed well, nonferrous metals rebounded across the board and SHFE copper stood above 52,000 yuan/mt. But the pickup was limited by the anticipated trade war. We see it trading at 51,800-52,300 yuan/mt and LME copper trading at $6,950-7,000/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – Supply shortages of nickel concentrate in China are likely to end by 2021, showed SMM data. Global supplies fell in recent years as prices of nickel weakened. The decline in imports of nickel concentrate led to the subsequent decrease in supplies in 2015-2017. In addition, a major producer of nickel pig iron (NPI) in south China raised...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – China's industry for new energy cars is likely to see faster growth, supported by new targets in the 2018 government work report, said chairman of the Beijing Automobile Group, Xu Heyi.The report highlighted that promoting new energy vehicles is part of China's drive to become a globally competitive manufacturing nation.A power network for...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last weekend and what is expected today.Last Friday nightBase metals rose across the board as the US dollar slipped. SHFE nickel jumped over 4% and copper and zinc rose over 1%. LME metals, except tin, rebounded from touching a low at one point. Nickel saw the biggest growth since February. Copper, zinc and lead rose ab...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM) –Copper: As the US dollar weakened and the US' February nonfarm payrolls performed well, nonferrous metals rebounded across the board and SHFE copper stood above 52,000 yuan/mt. But the pickup was limited by the anticipated trade war. We see it trading at 51,800-52,300 yuan/mt and LME copper trading at $6,950-7,000/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts a...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are once again weaker across the board this morning, Monday March 12, with prices off by an average of 0.4%. Losses are fairly tightly grouped between 0.2% and 0.7%, with the three-month copper price down by 0.4% at $6,930 per tonne.Volume has been average with 8,181 lots traded as of 07.17am London time. Today’s weakness follows strong rebounds...Read More
Meeting in Madrid for its 31st year, the Metal Bulletin International Copper Conference saw speakers and attendees from throughout the value chain meet and discuss the state of the market.Topics ranged from the structural - that mine ore grades continue to drop - to the topical, as debate over how tariffs and protectionism could affect copper arose.Metal Bulletin's European copper team provide a b...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at the close on Monday March 12, with overhead selling pressure weakening prices.Lead plummeted 2.7% today as it hit a fresh 2018-low of $2,311 per tonne - the metal failed to hold onto the gains it registered on Friday and lacks significant support. "[Lead] has struggled ever since the 2018-high at $2,685 per tonne due to...Read More
Comex copper prices came under selling pressure on the morning of Monday March 12 in the United States, with markets awaiting to assess the impact of import tariffs that President Donald Trump will sign into law within the next fortnight.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 0.95 cents or 0.3% to $3.1265 per lb. "While further selling pressur...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell further on Monday March 12 following a sharp drop in the futures market. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $69.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: down by $0.16 per tonne Month-to-date average: $74.99 per tonne Metal...Read More