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
For a number of years problems at Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe, have been casting shadow over the performance of the whole Italian steel industry. Will an acquisition of Ilva by a consortium led by ArcelorMittal, now in its final stage, be a game changer for the market?Following multiple reports of environmental and health problems caused by the Taranto plant, in 2013 Ilva was placed und...Read More
The reduced availability of steel billet and increased prices for ferrous scrap resulted in the global steel billet market trending mostly upward during the week ended Friday March 9, Metal Bulletin has learnt.CIS, Turkey, North AfricaCIS export billet prices continued to climb during the week, supported by strong demand, lower supply of the semi-finished material and rising scrap costs.Mills were...Read More
The Turkish steel mills paused their deep-sea scrap purchases on Monday March 12, following the news about the United States applying import duties under Section 232, heard late last week.Market participants were unsure about the future direction of the market after US President Donald Trump used his powers under Section 232 to officially sign the previously announced tariffs on steel and aluminiu...Read More
A week-long strike by workers with trade union representation at South America's largest zinc smelter, Cajamarquilla, has ended, owner Nexa Resources has confirmed."The strike is over. Nexa Resources reached an agreement with the Labour Union on Friday [March]...Read More
Poland's KGHM has sacked its third chief executive officer in two years, according to a company statement released on March 10.Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki, who had been acting as the state-owned copper miner's CEO since October 2016, has been dismissed from the management board, the company said. KGHM did not disclose the reason for his dismissal; however, it said that vice president Rafal...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
Increased aluminium availability in Europe has applied further downward pressure to falling premiums in the region, following the Section 232 announcement.The benchmark duty-paid premiums fell 3% to $158-168 per tonne on Friday March 9 from $163-173 per tonne the week before, while the duty-unpaid premium fell to $93-103 per tonne last Friday from $95-105 per tonne on Tuesday March 6.US Presi...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday March 12.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange dipped slightly during morning trading on Monday March 12 while looking to consolidate Friday's rally.Here's how base metals...Read More
Australia's exemption for forthcoming US aluminium import tariffs have drawn mixed responses from the Asian aluminium market, with some sources suggesting this could lead to good western aluminium supply tightness in the region while others downplayed any possible impact on premiums.US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had both tweeted on March 9 that the US wil...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday March 12*Copper -$110.66 (-701.65 yuan) Aluminium -$432.88 (-2,744.86 yuan) Zinc -$96.03 (-608.89 yuan) Nickel -$464.87 (-2,947.71 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producer Usiminas will carry out planned maintenance work on the No3 blast furnace at its Ipatinga works, in the country's south-eastern Minas Gerais state, after the restart of the No1 unit in April.The outage was decided for the replacement of the equipment's staves, and is scheduled to last 14 days starting sometime in July, the mill told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 9."T...Read More
Italian long steelmaker Pittini has completed the acquisition of the "commercial and logistic facilities" at compatriot steelmaker Ori Martin's Ceprano rebar mill in central Italy, a spokesman confirmed to Metal Bulletin on Monday March 12."The [distribution] center will work in synergy with our other Italian plants in Potenza [in southern Italy], Osoppo, Verona and Nave [in northern Italy]," the...Read More
Turkey should avoid reducing its import duty on hot-rolled coil (HRC) because such a move would cause dumped goods to enter the market and harm local producers, an executive with a Turkish HRC producer has told Metal Bulletin.Turkey reduced the import duty on HRC for re-rollers to 3.5% from the previous 5% with effect from January 1, 2018."This means a state subsidy, because the state allows a tax...Read More
Kuwait's ministry of finance has increased the duty applied to imports of rebar to 10% from the previous 5%, effective from March 1 this year until the end of February 2019, Metal Bulletin has heard.There is only one rebar producer active in Kuwait, KWT Steel, with capacity for 1.2 million...Read More