China has basically completed capacity cuts in the steel sector, said Shen Ying, general accountant of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on Wednesday January 17. Moving forward, China will push for a technology upgrade in the steel industry.In 2018, the country aims to further restructure the coal industry and reduce capacity by more than 10 mi...Read More
China has basically completed capacity cuts in the steel sector, said Shen Ying, general accountant of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on Wednesday January 17. Moving forward, China will push for a technology upgrade in the steel industry.In 2018, the country aims to further restructure the coal industry and reduce capacity by more than 10 mi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?SHFE lead stood out from the performance of other nonferrous metals on Wednesday afternoon, with a 0.6% rise. Nickel was down 2% and copper was down almost 2%. Aluminium dipped 1.8%. Zinc and tin also slid slightly.The ferrous complex also dipped. Coking coal fell 2% despite a slight rise of rebar. Coke and iron ore dipped almost 1% and hot-rolled coil slight...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?SHFE lead stood out from the performance of other nonferrous metals on Wednesday afternoon, with a 0.6% rise. Nickel was down 2% and copper was down almost 2%. Aluminium dipped 1.8%. Zinc and tin also slid slightly.The ferrous complex also dipped. Coking coal fell 2% despite a slight rise of rebar. Coke and iron ore dipped almost 1% and hot-rolled coil slight...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 9 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was quiet at US80.38 cents prior to the Bank of Canada's announcement on its overnight lending rate at 10:00 AM EST. Consensus is that rate will be increased by 0.25% to 1.25%.Frequency in release of fourth quarter reports accelerated. Companies that reported since yes...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?SHFE lead stood out from the performance of other nonferrous metals on Wednesday afternoon, with a 0.6% rise. Nickel was down 2% and copper was down almost 2%. Aluminium dipped 1.8%. Zinc and tin also slid slightly.The ferrous complex also dipped. Coking coal fell 2% despite a slight rise of rebar. Coke and iron ore dipped almost 1% and hot-rolled coil slight...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM) – The LME nickel price is forecast to remain above $12,000/mt before mid-March and the SHFE nickel is set to remain over 93,000 yuan/mt, SMM believes.This is because we see little growth in the supply of primary nickel, which includes refined nickel, nickel pig iron (NPI) and other nickel smelting products, despite an increase in Indonesian nickel ore exports...Read More
Huge key reversal yesterday by U.S. equity market! The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially surged to over 26,000, but weakened through most of the day to close at a small loss. The VIX Index spiked.Technical action by S&P 500 stocks was relatively quiet given their volatility. Three stocks broke intermediate resistance (PDCO, UNH, ADP) and four stocks broke intermediate support (MAC, VNO, S...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is expected to trade at $7,030-7,230/mt while the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 53,450-54,600 yuan/mt. On the spot market, the discounts are expected to move at 160-120 yuan/mt.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expected to trade at $2,180-2,200/mt with support at the 20-day moving average while SHFE aluminium is expected to trade at 14,500-14,750...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is expected to trade at $7,030-7,230/mt while the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 53,450-54,600 yuan/mt. On the spot market, the discounts are expected to move at 160-120 yuan/mt.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expected to trade at $2,180-2,200/mt with support at the 20-day moving average while SHFE aluminium is expected to trade at 14,500-14,750...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: LME copper is expected to trade at $7,030-7,230/mt while the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 53,450-54,600 yuan/mt. On the spot market, the discounts are expected to move at 160-120 yuan/mt.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expected to trade at $2,180-2,200/mt with support at the 20-day moving average while SHFE aluminium is expected to trade at 14,500-14,750...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower for the second day in a row at the close on Wednesday January 17, while metals continue to retreat from earlier highs. Copper prices continue to fall, dropping a further $44 per tonne from Tuesday's close price, coming under pressure from profit-taking and concerns of Chinese demand."Copper pulls back to a 3.5-week low after strong...Read More
Trading activity for seaborne hard coking coal picked up this week, with Chinese market participants flagging interest for low-ash, low-sulfur materials. Tier-two cargoes were heard to have changed hands at around $182-185 per tonne fob Australia this week, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 17. "The pick-up in the trading of second-tier materials is along expected lines...Read More
Prices for physical iron ore retreated further on Wednesday January 17 amid concerns of a weakening Chinese steel market, and along with them, margins.Key driversPrices for both seaborne iron ore and port materials declined, tracking the general downtrend in the paper market for most of the day, though the benchmark contract for iron ore picked up just before the close of the trading session.China...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower for the second day in a row at the close on Wednesday January 17, while metals continue to retreat from earlier highs. Copper prices continue to fall, dropping a further $44 per tonne from Tuesday's close price, coming under pressure from profit-taking and concerns of Chinese demand."Copper pulls back to a 3.5-week low after strong...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Southern Europe have risen by ?,?10-20 per tonne over the past week, on higher production costs including those for ferrous scrap, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 17.Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic price assessment for Southern European rebar rose to ?,?530-550 ($649-674) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, from ?,?520-530 per tonne on January 10. The a...Read More
Germanium prices increased on Wednesday January 17 and are expected to rise further after Teck Resources declared a partial force majeure on the sale of the metal from its trial operations.Teck Resources said the force majeure is due to equipment issues related to an operating disruption earlier this month at one of the fuming furnaces.Metal Bulletin assessed germanium at $1,300-1,450 per kg...Read More
Red Kite is undergoing a restructuring process "to consolidate regulatory oversight" but day-to-day operations were not affected, with all funds and the physical copper business performing "well in line with expectations," it confirmed on Wednesday January 17. Metal Bulletin reported earlier this month that London-based RK Capital Management LLP had entered into a restructuring review that "m...Read More
The primary aluminium market was in a deficit of 1.57 million tonnes for the first 11 months of last year, driven mainly by soaring demand, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said on Wednesday January 17. This represents a substantial increase from the 770,000 tonne deficit recorded for the whole of 2016, according to the release. Global demand growth, at 2.6%, in January-November 2017 outpaced...Read More
Assaying firm Alex Stewart International Corporation Ltd has been registered as an authorized sampler and analyst (LSA) for the London Metal Exchange, the company said.Approval for the Liverpool, UK-headquartered company brings the number of LME-approved LSAs to 13. LSAs...Read More