The implementation of tariffs and quotas against US steel and aluminium imports has been heralded and criticized as an unusual trade remedy, with President Donald Trump's administration applying blanket duties rather than more focused - and more typical - anti-dumping and countervailing margins.Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a cold-war era law, allows the president to place restri...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Global scrap prices mostly fell in the week from Monday March 25 to Friday March 29, with only prices for exports from the United States rising on steady demand from the key import market of Turkey. Turkish steel producers buy mid-week Turkish demand supports US ferrous scrap export prices Weaker downstream markets hold back Vietnam ferrous scrap prices Taiwanese prices fall on lower bids India pr...Read More
The export price for pig iron from Brazil has improved because of the long lead times for the material, Fastmarkets learnt during the week ended Friday March 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron exports from the southeastern Minas Gerais region of the country was $343 per tonne fob on March 29, up from $335-340 per tonne a week before.One deal for 50,000 tonnes of pig iron with 0.1...Read More
Chrome steel prices in the UK edged higher in the week ended Friday March 29 on an increase in the quarterly European ferro-chrome benchmark price, Fastmarkets has learnt.The price of steel scrap solids with a chromium content of 12-13% was assessed by Fastmarkets on March 29 at ?190-230 ( ?249-302) per tonne delivered, widening upward by ?10 per tonne. This was the first change in the assessmen...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
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More
In contrast to the clear skies outside, a cloud hung over discussions among Indian scrap traders attending the opening session of the annual conference of the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) earlier this month in Kochi, southern India.Secretary-general Amar Singh praised the superior air quality in the host city, compared with the metropolises of New Delhi and Mumbai. But delegates...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced new warehouse reform proposals - the friendliest to warehousers in seven years - that aim to make LME warehousing attractive again and encourage more metal onto the exchange.In a discussion paper sent to members on Friday March 29, the exchange proposed relaxing queue-based rent capping (QBRC) to 80 days, lower rent and Free On Truck (FOT) fees, as well as m...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More
Stainless steel transaction prices in Europe increased in the week ended Friday March 29 while mills continued to incrementally apply higher alloy surcharges to their sales prices.This week, many mills announced alloy surcharges for a range of stainless steel products for April, at levels increased from those in March. This was the second consecutive such increase.The increases were largely a reac...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The aluminium P1020 Midwest premium in the United States declined to its lowest level in 11 weeks on Friday March 29, with narrowed contango spreads on the London Metal Exchange prompting some traders to discount amid waning spot demand from consumers. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the P1020 Midwest premium at 19-19.25 cents per lb on March 29, after holding the range at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb since t...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale reported reduced nickel production of 244,600 tonnes in 2018, down 15.1% from 2017's 288,200 tonnes.The depressed year-on-year figures come despite the company increasing its fourth-quarter nickel production by 14.9% to 64,000 tonnes, up from 55,700 tonnes in the third quarter of 2018.The figures were published in Vale's fourth-quarter production results on Wedn...Read More
The copper market in the United States jumped in morning trading on Friday March 29 amid optimism that the global trade war will soon be resolved, boosting metals prospects.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 6.85 cents per lb to $2.9410 per lb.Trade talks between the US and China continued to show little progress in their attempts...Read More
A cargo of 30,000 tonnes of Chinese-origin alumina has been sold at 2,810 yuan ($417.10) per tonne fob Yantai port to Glencore in recent days, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29. The price is equivalent to around 2,560 yuan per tonne ex-works, taking into account nearly 250 yuan per tonne for freight to Yantai port and other costs. This is 3.8% or 100 yuan per to...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More