U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures advanced 21 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that the Chinese central bank injected monetary stimulus into the Chinese economy valued at $173 billion.The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 229.92 to 2746.61 on its first day of trade following the Chinese New Year holiday. The 7.72% drop implies a reco...Read More
Base metals prices have reacted quite aggressively to the spread of the coronavirus, more so than most equity markets, leaving markets sending out different signals. While it is too early to say how this will unfold, here are some early concerns and observations.Once the outbreak of the coronavirus became widely reported in mid-January, various markets reacted differently and continue to do so. Ba...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price was higher by close of trading on Friday January 31, regaining the bulk of losses made earlier in the week against moderately low turnover, while tin futures similarly made gains over the afternoon.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,879 per tonne this afternoon, recovering from an intraday low of $1,828 per tonne, while turnover was at...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged this week, despite monthly allow surcharges increasing slightly for February, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 31.In fact, prices are more likely to move down than up because of recent losses in the nickel market, sources said. The February surcharges are based on alloy component prices during the period December...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday January 31. Europe The high-carbon ferro-chrome market ticked up with demand continuing to recover and contract customers increasing their tonnages, according to some producers. But there were also reports of...Read More
Global manganese ore supply increased 6% year on year in 2019 to 22.14 million tonnes of manganese units, amid rising output in Africa and the Americas, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI).Supply from Africa and the Middle East increased by 12% to 12.3 million tonnes in 2019, driven by Gabon, Ghana and South Africa, while smaller suppliers in Ivory Coast,...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK dropped in the week ended Friday January 31, with British domestic prices dragged down by persistent weakness in the European export market to key buyers in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, w...Read More
The price of austenitic alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market decreased this week because of lower nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 31. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?750-780 ($979-1,018) per tonne on Friday, down by ?20-30 per tonne from ?780-800...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India dropped again in the week ended Friday January 31, while trading activity paused following a mid-week drop in international scrap prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $291.99 per tonne on Friday, down from $296.51 per tonne on January 24, marking the thi...Read More
A summary of Nornickel's full-year production results 2019. Production for all key metals increased year on year in 2019 due to ongoing ramp ups at the company's majority-owned Bystrinsky project in Chita, Siberia. Nickel output increased by 5% over the period to 229,000 tonnes due to output increases at Nornickel's refining operations on the Kola Peninsula...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Global battery grade lithium markets were steady in the week to Thursday January 30 with Chinese markets still away for the Lunar New Year holiday which has been extended due to the Wuhan coronavirus and European and United States prices yet to be affected by any impact from the health emergency Chinese spot lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices were rolled over on Thursday for the Lunar New Year...Read More
South American flat steel import prices either rose or held firm during the week ended Friday January 31, while the absence of China from the market drove customers to look for materials from other origins.The Chinese government postponed the country's return from the lunar new year holiday to February 3, from January 31 originally, amid the outbreak of a coronavirus in Wuhan. Shanghai has extende...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have increased day on day due to mills' good order books and a lack of competitive imports, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 31.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe was ?,?474.02 ($522.46) per tonne on Friday January 31, up by ?,?6.45 per tonne day on day from ?,?467.57 per tonne on Janua...Read More
Indian steel producers were likely to increase their prices for hot-rolled coil by at least 1,000 rupees ($14) per tonne for February sales to take account of rises in the costs of raw materials such as iron ore, Fastmarkets has heard.HRC prices for the current week, however, remained unchanged on Friday January 31 because February prices were likely to be announced early next week.The price of st...Read More
Just as China and the United States started to reach a deal and trade tensions eased, providing some longed-for certainty, the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) has again increased fear and uncertainty in the steel and feedstock markets.Although there may be no impact of the coronavirus on China's GDP in the long run, we have already passed the point of "no effect" on the market, as raw material price...Read More