Seaborne coking coal prices remained steady on Tuesday November 5, with premium mid-vol cargoes fetching around $140-142 per tonne cfr China this week, largely in line with last week's levels.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.29 per tonne, down by $0.87 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $146.69 per tonne, up by $0.33 per tonneHard coking coal, fob...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Tuesday November 5, with market participants remaining jittery over high inventories and the upcoming demand lull over the winter season.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.30 per tonne, up $0.03 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.12 per tonne, up $0.03 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.70 per...Read More
The 62% Fe iron ore market moved either side of the $90-per-tonne mark for most of October, with the average price falling by 3.5% month on month, while the average price for 65% Fe iron ore fell by 2.7%.Traded volumes for the Singapore Exchange's 65% Fe derivatives contract - which was launched in December 2018 and which is settled against Fastmarkets' daily index for iron ore, 65% Fe Brazil-orig...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's plans to launch a new trading platform in 2021 could bring a host of new functionality enhancements to its electronic and inter-office market, from variable tick sizes to additional order types and greater self-service user management.Yet with the LME also targeting the eventual decommissioning of its current LMEselect electronic trading system - which was first introdu...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher across morning trading on Tuesday November 5, with price action boosted by a softer dollar index and positive forward spreads. Copper's outright price was recently seen at $5,918 per tonne, with just under 2,500 lots exchanged as at 8.40am London time. Meanwhile, buying in LME copper remains supported by positive forward spreads,...Read More
Chinese rebar prices picked up on Tuesday November 5 despite a dip in trading activity caused by transport curbs put up in conjunction with the China International Import Expo in Shanghai amid gains in the futures market.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,740 yuan ($529-533) per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,630-3,660 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonnesTraffic movements i...Read More
The combination of some easing in Chinese lending rates and talk that United States officials may be prepared to drop some tariffs on China has led to more risk-on in broader markets.The three leading US indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed on record highs on Monday November 4 and US treasury yields are climbing, but the metals are looking quite mi...Read More
Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up during the morning trading session on Tuesday November 5, supported by improved risk sentiment following positive trade developments.News that China is reviewing locations in the United States where Chinese President Xi Jinping would be willing to meet US counterpart Donald Trump to sign the first phase of a trade deal between the two nations...Read More
World manganese ore supply rose 5.4% year on year in September to 1.87 million tonnes of manganese units, according to the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). Over the first nine months of the year, world supply rose 8% year on year due to higher production in Africa and the Americas, which offset production cuts in the Asia and Oceania region and in Europe, according to the IMnI's latest re...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to reduce the frequency of publication of its European germanium metal and tellurium assessments and Chinese germanium dioxide assessment. Fastmarkets selects the frequency of publication of its price assessments after considering the number of data points (deals, bids, offers, deals heard and assessments) that it can reasonably expect to collect on a consistent basis in t...Read More
Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu has reported a "challenging quarter" and a drop in earnings for the period July-September 2019, due to a weak market and a sharp increase in the price of nickel, the company said in its quarterly results statement.Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) were ?,?45 million ($50 million) in the third quarter of the year, down fro...Read More
U.S equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the initial estimate of third quarter non-farm Productivity. Consensus was an annualized growth rate of 0.9% versus an annualized growth rate at 2.3% in the second quarter. Actual was a deficit of 0.3%. HP Inc. gained $1.40 to $19....Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium price closed at $1,815 per tonne on Monday November 4, its highest price since September following 13-month-high daily trading volumes. More than 23,350 lots of aluminium were traded by the close on Monday - the most since October 2018. Supporting higher price action, LME aluminium stocks remain on a downtrend after edging higher in early-October, wi...Read More
Copper miner Antofagasta has cut its 2019 copper production guidance by 10,000 tonnes after demonstrations and unrest affected its operations in Chile.Antofagasta reduced its full-year output guidance to 750,000-770,000 tonnes of copper, from its previous estimate of 750,000-790,000 tonnes.Production from the company's mines was halted amid walkouts from unionized workers and road blockades, but h...Read More
AS Mauskar and N Bhavsar of Bank Muscat led the base metals leaderboard again in the Apex third-quarter 2019 contest, with an accuracy rating of 96.9%, while UBS' Glyn Lawcock was top of the precious metals table with a rating of 97.6%. For steel raw materials, Fastmarkets was at the top of the leaderboard at 90.6% accuracy. Click on the image below to download the full report. Second on the base...Read More
Tightness was beginning to show in the European market for ferro-silicon in the week ended Friday November 1, but prices in China held steady despite lower interest among potential buyers, and the US market remained flat. European market steady but some sources start to notice tightness Chinese domestic alloy prices steady amid lower availability Chinese export market flat on reduced inquiries US...Read More
Copper miner Antofagasta has cut its 2019 copper production guidance by 10,000 tonnes after demonstrations and unrest affected its operations in Chile.Antofagasta reduced its full-year output guidance to 750,000-770,000 tonnes of copper, from its previous estimate of 750,000-790,000 tonnes.Production from the company's mines was halted amid walkouts from unionized workers and road blockades, but h...Read More
The UG2 chrome ore index slid again in China after poor demand prompted suppliers to lower their offers in the week to Friday November 1, while falling ferro-chrome supply in Europe helped the regional high-carbon market edge up by 0.6%. Suppliers cut offers for chrome ore amid weak demand Chinese spot alloy prices flat in thin trading Alloy supply tightens in Europe US price ma...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday November 1. China Key drivers The price of antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China was unchanged for the second consecutive week due to sparse trading activity. Many domestic antimony suppliers held offer prices firm despite thin buying interest, citing the limited availability of ore, while a few were...Read More
South African manganese miner Tshipi recorded a 28% year-on-year drop in net profit in the six months to August 31 due to lower manganese ore prices, owner Jupiter Mines announced on Thursday October 31.Tshipi's net profit for the period - its financial first half of 2020 - was 1.51 billion rand ($101 million), down from 2.09 billion rand in its financial first half of 2019. The miner achieve...Read More