* Zinc breaks 200-day moving average * Historically low zinc inventories offer price support (Updates with closing prices) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Zinc prices rose to two-monthhighs on Monday after a break of key technical levels triggereda flurry of buying and as the market worried about historicallylow inventories. Benchmark zinc on the London Metal Exchange (LME)ended 0.6% u...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 17 that are worth another look.Import prices of flat-rolled steel in South America made no clear trend for the past week while negotiations between sellers and buyers for March shipments intensified and put some markets under pressure ahead of the Chinese New Year break (January 24-30).Aluminium billet premiums in Brazil...Read More
Chinese steel production increased in 2019 amid stronger demand from the construction sector, according to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday January 17.2019 outputCrude steel: 996.34 million tonnes, up 8.3%Finished steel: 1.2 billion tonnes, up 9.8% ...Read More
Market participants in China say they are not worried by the expected increase in steel imports from the United States, even after the two major economic powers signed the phase one economic and trade agreement on Wednesday January 15. While the agreement does not set out the increase in quantity of US-origin steel exports China will accept, Chinese market participants do not expected the increase...Read More
Central China-based Henan Luoyang Iron & Steel is to sell its 1.04 million tonnes per year of crude steel capacity to a mill in southern China's Guangdong province, according a notice released by the Henan Industry & Information Technology Department on Tuesday January 14.Seller: Luoyang Iron & SteelLocation: Luoyang city, Henan...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 17 that are worth another look.Import prices of flat-rolled steel in South America made no clear trend for the past week while negotiations between sellers and buyers for March shipments intensified and put some markets under pressure ahead of the Chinese New Year break (January 24-30).Aluminium billet premiums in Brazil...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will on February 1 introduce a reporting process that will increase transparency into levels of off-warrant stocks. The exchange announced the plans in November 2019 and aims to attract more metal back in LME sheds. It is controversial, but its passage into the LME rulebook on February 1 follows a consultation last year. Some market participants are now saying the LME sho...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday January 17 that are worth another look.Import prices of flat-rolled steel in South America made no clear trend for the past week while negotiations between sellers and buyers for March shipments intensified and put some markets under pressure ahead of the Chinese New Year break (January 24-30).Aluminium billet premiums in Brazil...Read More
Broader markets were generally firmer but quiet on Monday January 20, with equities in Asia mainly stronger, as were the base metals, while gold was holding up in high ground.Equities in Asia are consolidating recent gains, but multi-year highs in many regional equity indices suggests sentiment is bullish overall. Markets quiet ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, which start on Friday in China....Read More
World equity markets were mixed in quiet overnight trading. U.S. equity markets are closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. European equity indices moved slightly lower. Far East equity indices moved higher, led by a 20.29 point gain by the Shanghai Composite Index to 3,095.79.The TSX Composite Index is expected to open slightly higher in quiet trade. Focus at the opening is on the energy secto...Read More
Chinese steel production increased in 2019 amid stronger demand from the construction sector, according to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday January 17.2019 outputCrude steel: 996.34 million tonnes, up 8.3%Finished steel: 1.2 billion tonnes, up 9.8% ...Read More
Market participants in China say they are not worried by the expected increase in steel imports from the United States, even after the two major economic powers signed the phase one economic and trade agreement on Wednesday January 15. While the agreement does not set out the increase in quantity of US-origin steel exports China will accept, Chinese market participants do not expected the increase...Read More
Central China-based Henan Luoyang Iron & Steel is to sell its 1.04 million tonnes per year of crude steel capacity to a mill in southern China's Guangdong province, according a notice released by the Henan Industry & Information Technology Department on Tuesday January 14.Seller: Luoyang Iron & SteelLocation: Luoyang city, Henan...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will on February 1 introduce a reporting process that will increase transparency into levels of off-warrant stocks. The exchange announced the plans in November 2019 and aims to attract more metal back in LME sheds. It is controversial, but its passage into the LME rulebook on February 1 follows a consultation last year. Some market participants are now saying the LME sho...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More