Comex copper prices failed to recover on Thursday May 9 morning in the United States amid persistent worries over the Sino-US trade talks.The copper price for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 3.70 cents to $2.7375 per lb"The intense selling pressure in the copper market since the start of May is...Read More
Fastmarkets will launch a Chinese export price assessment for electrolytic manganese flake on Friday May 10.After a consultation period, Fastmarkets will launch a weekly price assessment for electrolytic manganese flake, 99.7% basis, fob China, $/tonne. The introduction of the price will expand Fastmarkets' current price coverage for electrolytic manganese flake, providing the marke...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday May 9 that are worth another look.Aluminium traders in Europe have been switching business to the Italian port of Trieste in the past month, due to high stock levels leading to opportunistic trading. Market sources told Fastmarkets that the port is ideal for sending material into neighboring Central and Eastern Europe, with tru...Read More
When the London Metal Exchange amended its policies related to its physical delivery network a few years ago, it overlooked one key thing. The issue centers on LME's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule, which operates by linking the amount of metal a warehouse loads in to the amount it is obligated to load out for warehouses that have queues of over 50 days.The rule changes were part of package of...Read More
Aluminium traders in Europe have been switching business to the Italian port of Trieste in the past month, due to high stock levels leading to opportunistic trading. Market sources told Fastmarkets that the port is ideal for sending material into neighboring Central and Eastern Europe, with trucking costs relatively low. Stock levels in Italy have been rising since the start of the year, with most...Read More
The Chinese steel market is likely to be caught between the poles of production cuts in Tangshan and bearish sentiment arising from a threat of higher import tariffs in the United States in May.As such, market participants are expecting steel prices to experience some short-term fluctuation, albeit in a narrow range."Spot prices in the coming weeks will depend on whether Tangshan strictly implemen...Read More
Lead's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange had tumbled by 2.5% by the close of trading on Thursday May 9, reaching its lowest level since August 2016 at an intraday low of $1,830.50 per tonne.Three-month lead prices were down by just under 10% since late-February, when prices last exceeded $2,000 per tonne. The price of lead spent most of 2018 above that threshold level, and while LME s...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to recover on Thursday May 9 morning in the United States amid persistent worries over the Sino-US trade talks.The copper price for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 3.70 cents to $2.7375 per lb"The intense selling pressure in the copper market since the start of May is...Read More
Iron ore prices were generally little changed on Thursday May 9, while the low-alumina Yandi fines traded actively at stronger prices.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $95.38 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.19 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $94.06 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.19 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $98.23 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.06 per tonne. MB 58% Fe...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices have fallen further on the back of sluggish demand in the country's major markets, sources said on Thursday May 9.Turkish steel producers reduced their rebar offer prices by another $5 per tonne to $470-480 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, while bids came in at $460 per tonne or lower, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' weekly price...Read More
Domestic rebar and wire rod prices in Turkey have continued to increase in response to the weakening of the country's lira, while demand for the products was still very sluggish, sources said on Thursday May 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,330-3,420 ($539-553) per tonne ex-works, including 18% VAT. This was up from the TRY3,300-3,350 per ton...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday May 9 that are worth another look.Aluminium traders in Europe have been switching business to the Italian port of Trieste in the past month, due to high stock levels leading to opportunistic trading. Market sources told Fastmarkets that the port is ideal for sending material into neighboring Central and Eastern Europe, with tru...Read More
Brazilian copper products manufacturer Termomecanica has decided to invest most of its budget for 2019-21 in the expansion of its aluminium division, after an increase in sales of the newly processed metal, according to a press statement on Friday May 3.Capital expenditures were expected to be 80 million Reais ($20 million) over the three years, with the aluminium sector receiving 69% of the total...Read More
The Chinese spot alumina price could rise over the course of 2019 despite new capacity planned this year due to new downstream aluminium projects which outpace the raw material's capacity expansion, Fastmarkets learned during LME Asia Week in Hong Kong this week. China is projected to add 5.4 million tonnes of new alumina capacity this year, a year-on-year rise of 69% from 3.2 million tonnes of ne...Read More
Aluminium traders in Europe have been switching business to the Italian port of Trieste in the past month, due to high stock levels leading to opportunistic trading. Market sources told Fastmarkets that the port is ideal for sending material into neighboring Central and Eastern Europe, with trucking costs relatively low. Stock levels in Italy have been rising since the start of the year, with most...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its downtrend during morning trading on Thursday May 9, drifting further away from its nearby $1,800-per-tonne support level amid a fresh cancelation of 23,000 tonnes.Aluminium futures are now trading at their lowest level since January 2017 at an intraday low of $1,784 per tonne.This month, more than 170,000 tonnes of aluminium...Read More
Guangxi Nanguo Copper's cathode output is unlikely to be affected by a halt of its copper anode operation line in late April, market sources told Fastmarkets MB on the sidelines of LME Asia Week in Hong Kong this week.Guangxi Nanguo Copper, also known as Guangxi Nanko, started up its 300,000-tonnes-per-year phase II project in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of southern China on April 10 befo...Read More
Brazilian steel producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will pursue another price increase of 10% for its flat steel products, because of the current high prices for imported material in the country, chief executive officer Benjamin Steinbruch has said."We have a possibility to recover [steel] prices by 10%, depending on the product," Steinbruch said during a conference call with analysts t...Read More
Rebar prices in Egypt's domestic market widened downward in the week to Thursday May 9 because of limited demand caused by Ramadan and uncertainty over import duties.The Islamic holy month of Ramadan started earlier this week.Egypt imposed temporary import duties on billet and rebar on April 15 at a rate of 25% for rebar and...Read More
Turkey has terminated an investigation into the effects of steel product imports on the country's domestic steelmaking industry, the Official Gazette announced on Tuesday May 7.No additional duties or other measures will be imposed after the conclusion of the investigation.The probe was begun in April 2018, and considered imports from all origins of flat, long and stainless steel, along with steel...Read More