Strong LME spreads bolstered aluminium premiums in both the US Midwest and Europe in the week ended on Tuesday April 9, while increased metal availability in Trieste helped increase market liquidity in Italy and main Japanese port (MJP) premiums held firm amid active trading despite short supply. Benchmark Rotterdam duty-unpaid premium touches $100 per tonne for first time since June 2018US Midwes...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices retreated on Wednesday April 10 with trading activity in the domestic market said to be at moderate levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-3,980 yuan ($591-593) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,930-3,940 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said buyers were only placing orders on an as-needed basis, rather...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Wednesday April 10, with most metals trading in narrow ranges and buying appetite in Europe subdued. Volumes traded have been thin this morning. The most-traded metal is copper with just over 4,000 lots changing hands as of 9:30am London time. The three-month copper price is trading just below $6,480 per tonne d...Read More
Electric vehicles will shift to using solid-state batteries using lithium metal in the long term, but requisite developments in the manufacturing process mean batteries with liquid electrodes will remain in use until at least the late 2020s, according to Emily Hersch, managing partner of DCDB Group. "The practical reality of how [solid-state technology] goes from laboratory to supply isn't so much...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday April 10:Antimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 44,000-45,000 yuan per tonne from 43,500-45,000 yuanCobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $16.50-17.30 per lb...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday April 10 pricing session in Europe.Key driversThe European ferro-titanium price moved up in the past week, while scrap markets also increased amid firm fundamentals that have fueled a price rally since March. Current business conditions are expected to persist through April and into May. There were reports that a major German steelmaker booked 150 tonnes of alloy for sh...Read More
Chinese domestic prices for antimony gained some momentum late last week when all the private antimony producers in Lengshuijiang, in China's central province of Hunan, were required to halt production for safety checks, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 9.On April 3, before a national public holiday on April 5, relevant authorities in Lengshuijiang, which is China's major antimony product...Read More
Global risk sentiment soured overnight following news that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its global growth outlook for 2019 to 3.3% from 3.5% previously. The IMF forecasts the slowdown seen in the second half of 2018 to continue into the first half of this year before picking up in the second half of 2019. The projected growth rate for next year was unchanged at 3.6%.As a re...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday April 10:Aluminium scrapLoose old rolled cuttings: ?680-710 per tonne from ?690-720Cast wheels: ?1,140-1,170 per tonne...Read More
Share this articleA Vale SA iron ore mining operation. Source: Vale SA.Vale SA [VALE-NYSE], the world's largest producer of iron ore and nickel, is facing charges in Brazil over a deadly tailings dam breach.A Wall Street Journal report says prosecutors are planning to file criminal charges against the Brazilian miner and its employees over the collapse of the mine waste dam in January 2019, that k...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 responded to encouraging news on China/U.S. trade negotiations.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for the March Producer Price Index was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.2% in February. Actual was an incr...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday April 9.Please click...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday April 9, with a dip in the dollar index below the psychological level of 97 doing little to prompt rallies, while stock inflows continue push prices lower. Despite trading comfortably above $6,500 per tonne for much of the day, copper's three-month price closed $13 per tonne shy of the psychologica...Read More
Soci?(C)t?(C) Generale will close its proprietary and over-the-counter (OTC) commodities business including its metals trading, as part of a global cost cutting exercise involving 1,600 job losses, the company said on April 9.The French bank is a category I London Metal Exchange dealer and plans to continue this activity through its brokerage arm Newedge Group, informed sources confirmed to F...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan is moving ahead at "full throttle" with plans to develop a new smelter in Indonesia in partnership with state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (PT Inalum), the chief executive officer of the US copper producer said.The smelter is part of a package agreed by the company and the government, ending several years of negotiations over the fate of Freeport's activities in Indonesia,...Read More
Sustainability is an essential factor in mining or corporations run the risk of serious economic and reputational damage, Codelco chief executive officer Nelson Pizarro said. The world looks at the mining industry very negatively when there are disasters such as landslides, wall collapses and tailings dam breaches, he said at CRU's 18th World Copper Conference in Santiago, Chil...Read More
The world will need the same amount of copper over the next 25 years that it has produced in the past 500 years if it is to meet global demand, according to the head of copper at global miner Rio Tinto.Arnaud Soirat, chief executive officer of the mining company's copper and diamonds division, said that consumption of copper arising from what he termed the "electrification of everything" made the...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to show minimal interest in deep-sea scrap purchasing on Tuesday April 9, with only one transaction heard so far this week, sources said.Some market participants had expected the mills to resume their deep-sea purchases at the recent International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association conference (Irepas 80), which took place in Barcelona on April 7-9.A...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan is moving ahead at "full throttle" with plans to develop a new smelter in Indonesia in partnership with state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (PT Inalum), the chief executive officer of the US copper producer said.The smelter is part of a package agreed by the company and the government, ending several years of negotiations over the fate of Freeport's activities in Indonesia,...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices are generally subdued this morning, averaging up 0.2% while trading volume is considerably lower at 5,790 lots as of 06:23am London time on Tuesday April 9. While the United States and China trade negotiations are grinding closer to a positive conclusion, the Trump administration is considering imposing additional tariffs of $11 billion wort...Read More