The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Tuesday August 27, leaving market participants keenly anticipating the next transaction to gauge the price direction.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.28 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.33 per tonne, up $0.08 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $138.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up during morning trading on Tuesday August 27 after tensions between China and the United States appeared to ease a day earlier after both sides announced fresh tariffs against each other last Friday.Leaders of both countries expressed willingness to return to the negotiations table to resolve trade disputes between the world's two largest...Read More
Key data from the August 23 pricing session in London.Key drivers:- Cobalt prices consolidated their recent gains, with traders continuing to restock in anticipation of tightness resulting from the closure of the Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of the year.- Modest consumer buying took place at similar price levels, but characterized by smaller volume deals. End-users w...Read More
Stainless cold-rolled sheet prices were flat in the United States on Monday August 26, and any future price catalyst might come from the direction of London Metal Exchange nickel trading.Domestic mills held base prices firm, with Fastmarkets' assessment for stainless steel 304 cold-rolled sheet, fob mill, steady at $1.21 per lb on Monday as a result.Lead times were fairly short, pegged a...Read More
Chinese vanadium exporters continued to reduce their offer prices due to lackluster overseas buying interest in the week ended Friday August 23, while European and US markets reported thin trading amid summer mill outages. Chinese exporters reduce offers amid limited buying interest abroad. European ferro-vanadium market faces thin trading. Vanadium pentoxide suppliers in Europe raise...Read More
Fastmarkets MB has today discontinued 40 steel scrap, non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices. After a two-month notice period, Fastmarkets MB has delisted and ceased the publication of steel scrap prices from BDSV; aluminium alloy prices from Affimet; zinc alloy prices from Brock Metals; and non-ferrous scrap and foundry alloy prices from Lettre D'Information Metaux, Assomet and CF Booth. A fu...Read More
Demand worries still dominate sentiment in the base metals Most base metals are continuing to trade sideways-to-lower as they wait for fresh developments to improve the macro picture and their demand-side fundamentals. After last week’s Jackson Hole symposium and the weekend’s G7 meeting failed to provide much of a boost, yesterday’s news from China that the government is considerin...Read More
LME aluminium continues to trade sideways... LME aluminium price action appears unwilling to trade out of the current tight range of $1,750-1,800 per tonne despite recent cancellation of 21,800 tonnes from LME-registered warehouses in Port Klang and Singapore on Thursday August 22. ...but SHFE at 10-month high on supply disruptions However, the Shanghai Futures Exchange most-traded October contrac...Read More
Aluminium LME aluminium price action closed with a negative daily candlestick on Tuesday August 27. The light metal was under strong selling pressure from the declining 20 DMA and, with short sellers still the dominant force in the complex, a revisit towards the August 2019 low of $1,745 per tonne looks highly possible in the coming days. Its technical indicators, the daily RSI and stochastic...Read More
The fundamental picture of the refined copper market tightens this year The ICSG estimates that the refined copper market was in a deficit of 190,000 tonnes in the first five months of the year, compared with a smaller deficit of 131,000 tonnes in the same period of 2018. The slightly deeper deficit was the result of a stronger contraction in global refined output (-1%), which more than offset the...Read More
Prices up, but Asian premiums lower despite Port Pirie outage While benchmark lead prices are being supported by the second significant unplanned disruption at Nyrstar’s Port Pirie smelter in Australia since June – this one a 12-week production outage – it is not lifting premiums, yet. Although it is reportedly spurring more enquiries for lead, Fastmarkets’ latest assessment of...Read More
Consolidation continues in high ground, for now... As nickel waits for the next news from Indonesia, to confirm one way or another whether the ore export ban will be reintroduced from 2022 or earlier, prices are doing well to still be consolidating as high as $16,000 per tonne. Reports suggest it is now up to President Joko Widodo to decide if the country will bring forward the ban. ...despite a m...Read More
Tin prices at their lowest since May 2016 The 3-month LME tin price is at its lowest since May 2016 at $15,625 per tonne, having sold off 10% so far this month and 20% in the year to date. Clearly, LME tin is so far the worst performer this year among its peers, which is consistent with the fact that LME tin stocks have risen the most (+4,600 tonnes or 200%) since the start of 2019. We attribute t...Read More
H1 deficit balanced by stock flows Preliminary ILZSG data showed the deficit in the global zinc market was 134,000 tonnes in H1 2019, versus the 56,000-tonne deficit we had forecast for the period. At the same time, reported inventories (LME, SHFE, SRB, producer, consumer and merchant) increased by 34,000 tonnes. In effect, this implies that unreported inventories were drawn down to the tune of 16...Read More
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Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More
With gold prices up at near six-year highs, markets remain nervous on Wednesday August 28 about just how much damage the United States-China trade war is doing and whether it will be reversible before it leads to a global recession. Comments from last week’s Jackson Hole symposium suggest central bankers have little control because politically-motivated trade policy is now setting the ag...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 8 points in pre-opening trade. Autodesk dropped $18.21 to $132.00 after lowering third quarter guidance. Hewlett Packard Enterprises added $0.50 to $13.43 after reporting higher than consensus fiscal third quarter earnings. Tiffany gained $2.33 to $85.00 after reporting higher than consensus second quarter earnings. B...Read More
* Tin and zinc hit lowest since 2016 * Nickel up 50% this year * Premium for cash nickel against 3-month contract at10-year high * GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with official prices) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Copper prices steadied on Tuesdaybut remained near two-year lows on worries about damage toindustrial activity and demand from the prolonged U.S.-Chinatrade war. Benc...Read More
Trading of copper rod started on the Qianhai Mercantile Exchange (QME) on Friday August 23, becoming the fourth product to trade in the mainland China spot commodity platform following alumina, aluminium ingot and billet.A total of 641.86 tonnes of copper rods, a raw material for electric wires and cables, changed hands on the first trading day, with a turnover of 29.94 million yuan ($4.2 million)...Read More