SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM) – SMM surveys major Chinese producers in the base metals market every month to get first-hand production data. The following table shows the latest output in December and our forecast for January.CopperChina’s copper output rose in December as some large producers looked to hit their annual production target at the year-end. Qingyuan Jiangxi Copper and Shandong Hu...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 2 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged following release of Canadian December Housing report. Starts at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was 211,000 versus 251,000 in November. Actual was 217,000.Target gained $2.40 to $69.58 after raising its fiscal fourth quarter profit and sales estimatesUnd...Read More
Nickel prices rallied well ahead of the fundamentals during LME Week when the market got carried away by the prospects for demand from the electric vehicle (EV) market. Having set a high of $13,030 per tonne, prices corrected to $10,740, which felt justified given increased ore shipments from Indonesia and the Philippines. Prices have since rebounded back above to $12,000 per tonne but this move i...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nickel ore exports from the Philippines to China were expected to be 720,000 wmt, or 6,600 mt in Ni content, according to SMM research. This is down 76% from volumes seen in November.The slump was mainly led by the raining season in Surigao region while shipments in Palawan and Zambales only rose slightly. Shipments from Tawi-Tawi region was stable.On quality breakdown...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ? The operating rates at zinc smelters in December dropped 4.16 percentage points from the previous month with companies of all sizes seeing declines.Even though some smelters have come out of their maintenance schedules and Hunan Kingstone Mining has resumed its production, overall output was down over 20,000 mt from November, according to SMM research.Shorter supply of...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More
Quiet start to 2018... Tin was fairly quiet on the LME during the first trading week of 2018 as industrial metals experienced some profit-taking after investors overextended their long positioning in final week of 2017. The global macroeconomic backdrop remains robust, however, and we believe the stronger tone to metal prices will continue. ...but tin has some catching up to do For tin specificall...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Cooper: While LME copper sees temporary support at $7,100/mt, the SHFE copper is expected to trade downwards to 54,000 yuan/mt. However, the implementation of copper scrap policy and the expected supply tightness of concentrate would limit the down side. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,090-7,150/mt today and the SHFE 1803 contract is to trade at 54,300-54,900 yuan...Read More
Zinc has opened 2018 in a buoyant mood; LME 3-month zinc has set a fresh high of $3,390/tonne at the start of this week. The fundamentals point to a supply deficit, exchange stocks are falling and demand looks robust, driven by concerted global growth. At the same time higher prices are likely to attract more interest in forward selling and may attract more idle capacity restarts, but the outlook...Read More
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Base metals prices trading on the London Metal Exchange are generally higher this morning, Tuesday January 9, with copper ($7,159 per tonne), aluminium, nickel and zinc up by between 0.2% and 0.5%, while tin prices are little changed and lead prices are bucking the trend with a 0.3% decline to $2,598 per tonne.Volume has been average, with 7,103 lots traded as of 07.23 am London time. This follows...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued their February bookings of scrap imports from the Baltic Sea region on Tuesday January 9, with the United States market still quiet because of the heavy winter conditions.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 24,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $374 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $384 per tonne and 1,000 tonnes of...Read More
Brazilian exports of carbon steel slab and billet increased in 2017, according to the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC.Exports of carbon steel slab reached 7.3 million tonnes in 2017, up 23.49% from the 5.91 million tonnes exported in 2016, according to the figures released late last week.The US was the largest...Read More
Benchmark alumina prices fell on Tuesday January 9, with limited buying interest seen for spot cargoes in the Pacific market, despite a recovery in smelter margins.Metal Bulletin's daily fob Australia alumina index was calculated at $390.43 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $393.36 per tonne the previous day.Market participants foresaw a price floor for the raw material last week, citing stronger al...Read More
Metal Trade Comax Group of the Czech Republic announced on Tuesday January 9 that it has acquired all the shares in Germany's Oetinger Aluminium from private equity group Orlando Management.Details of the deal were not disclosed at the time of publication, but Metal Bulletin first reported on the deal last week.According to a letter sent to customers and seen by Metal Bulletin, Oetinger will conti...Read More
Veteran aluminium trader Holger Ellmann has left HDP, sources told Metal Bulletin. Ellmann was a senior trader at Switzerland-registered HDP for a little bit over...Read More
The steel industries in Europe and Turkey will continue to grapple with elevated costs for graphite electrodes in 2018 despite some easing of prices in recent months.Graphite electrode prices reached $22,000-40,000 per tonne cfr Turkey in 2017, compared with $2,000 per tonne cfr Turkey in 2016, according to market sources.This massive price rise has had significant consequences for the steel indus...Read More
Dutch wire products supplier Van Merksteijn is to build a mesh-quality wire rod mill with capacity for 800,000 tonnes per year at the seaport of Eemshaven in the north of the Netherlands, the company confirmed to Metal Bulletin on Tuesday January 9.The company hopes to start production at the mill in 2020, and is expected to use scrap-based electric-arc furnace (EAF) technology."The capacity we're...Read More