Key data from the Wednesday October 16 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers The price for cobalt metal in China's domestic market edged down this week amid caution from spot buyers following a slump in local futures prices. But persistent tightness for certain domestic brands of the blue metal limited the price decline. In battery raw materials,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 16 that are worth another look.Slab shipments to foreign subsidiaries and affiliates of Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), fell by 43% year on year in the third quarter of 2019.A strike kicked off on October 16 at Antofagasta's Antucoya copper project after workers could not reach an agreement...Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves. Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 16.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market has stabilized losses this week amid a pick-up in traded tonnages, both on a prompt and longer term basis, with sectors such as cored wire and chemicals showing firmer demand than other steel production areas. The spot ferro-titanium price was unchanged at $4.40-4.60 per kg delivered...Read More
China's ferro-silicon market has been stable since participants returned from a week-long national holiday in the country on October 1-7, with prices hemmed between tighter supply amid production cuts and weaker demand.In Europe, prices increased for the first time since the start of August amid supply worries after a recent announcement of cuts to domestic production combined with low trader stoc...Read More
The US ferrous scrap export market was quiet in the week to Wednesday October 16; prices were stable on both coasts, but sellers expect their local docks to increase prices in line with Turkish bulk prices, which inched upward in the latest transactions.No cargoes were sold from the United States in the past seven days, which left Fastmarkets' steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob New Yor...Read More
The European non-ferrous scrap market is oversupplied and sellers at this week's Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in Hungary were eagerly approaching buyers in the hope of offloading materials by the end of this year.In a hotel lobby crowded with scrap market participants, a typical pick-up line one would hear at the conference, held October 13-15 in Budapest, was: "Are you buyin...Read More
Global copper supply faces an immediate squeeze but any move in the price looks unlikely.Around 8% of mine supply of copper is at risk of disruption now or in the near future due to strikes, blockades and power shortages in production centers in the United States, Chile, Peru and Zambia.But at $5,700 per tonne, the three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange is near two-year lows and dow...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 2 points in pre-opening trade.American Express added $1.83 to $120.93 after reporting higher than consensus third quarter earnings. Coca Cola gained $0.52 to $54.31 after reporting higher than consensus third quarter revenues. Schlumberger advanced $0.48 to $32.37 after reporting higher than consensus adjusted third qu...Read More
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices, U.S data, tin smelter closure) By Zandi Shabalala LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Copper inched higher on Thursdayas negotiators from the United States and China worked onfirming up the first phase of a trade deal as part of efforts toend a protracted dispute. The tit-for-tat trade war has rocked global markets,disrupted supply chains and sapp...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 7 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that a tentative Brexit deal between the European Union and the United Kingdom has been reached.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for the October Philly Fed Index was 8.0 versus 12.0 in Septe...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday October 15.Please click...Read More
Nickel rallied on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday, with the market seeing the continued decline in exchange stocks as price-supportive, although it failed to close above resistance at $17,000.The three-month nickel price rose 2.6% to close at $16,995 per tonne on Tuesday October 15 from the previous day's closing price of $16,550 per tonne. Still, it t closed below the psychologically signifi...Read More
Supervisors at Antofagasta's Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile will not take industrial action after signing an agreement to increase salaries, the company said on Tuesday October 15.Supervisors voted unanimously last week to strike at Los Pelambres, which produced 357,800 tonnes of copper in...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 15 that are worth another look.China's sustained presence as a buyer in Southeast Asia's spot billet market has been boosting prices in the region, sources told Fastmarkets.An oversupply of manganese ore weighed on seaborne manganese ore prices cif China, causing some producers to make multiple lower offers to attra...Read More
Supervisors at Antofagasta's Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile will not take industrial action after signing an agreement to increase salaries, the company said on Tuesday October 15.Supervisors voted unanimously last week to strike at Los Pelambres, which produced 357,800 tonnes of copper in...Read More
An oversupply of manganese ore weighed on seaborne manganese ore prices cif China, causing some producers to make multiple lower offers to attract business in the week ended Friday October 11. Sharp fall in ore prices dampens buying appetite China portside ore prices continue to drop Alloy prices in China fall on muted buying Indian alloy market slides, but floor appears E...Read More
China's ferro-silicon market has been stable since participants returned from a week-long national holiday in the country on October 1-7, with prices hemmed between tighter supply amid production cuts and weaker demand.In Europe, prices increased for the first time since the start of August amid supply worries after a recent announcement of cuts to domestic production combined with low trader stoc...Read More
Turkish steelmakers have paused their deep-sea scrap purchases following the news that the United States government will double its Section 232 tariffs on the country, sources said on Tuesday October 15.Late on Monday October 14, US President Donald Trump said he will impose a 50% tariff on imports of steel from Turkey in response to that country's military actions in northeastern Syria."The steel...Read More
Steelmakers in Germany have settled their monthly scrap contracts for October with an average month-on-month fall of ?,?30 ($33) per tonne, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap No E3 (old thick steel scrap) domestic, delivered mill Germany, was ?,?225-235 ($215-226) per tonne in the middle of October, down by ?,?30 per tonne from ?,?225-235 per t...Read More