Uncertainties in the Chinese stainless steel market, caused by environmental inspections in the downstream supply chain, were the focus of discussions on nickel's price in the second half at the Shanghai nickel forum held by COFCO Futures on Wednesday June 20. Nickel prices volatile in short term, bullish long term Panelists at the Shanghai forum were mainly positive about nickel prices in the lon...Read More
Nickel and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange resisted a continuously surging dollar index during morning trading on Thursday June 21, recovering from recent sell-offs amid renewed trade tension rhetoric. Climbing back above $15,000 per tonne, nickel's three-month price surged more than 3% since Thursday's low of $14,700 per tonne. Equally, copper's three-month price ticked 0.8% higher ove...Read More
UC Rusal has restarted its Friguia alumina refinery in Guinea more than six years after production was halted, the company said on Thursday June 21. Friguia has an annual nameplate capacity is 650,000 tonnes of alumina and 2.1 million tonnes of bauxite. Rusal reached agreements with the Republic of Guinea, which provide for the ramp up of production up to 550,000-600,000 tonnes of alumina per year...Read More
Export prices for Turkish rebar dipped slightly for the week ended Thursday June 21 amid fresh bookings.Rebar offers varied within a range of $550-560 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, unchanged week on week.A total of 50,000 tonnes was reported sold to...Read More
Turkey's ferrous scrap import market was idle on Thursday June 21, with consumers in Turkey moving to the sidelines ahead of the Turkish general election on Sunday - the result of which has the potential to influence currency moves and interest rates, industry sources told Metal Bulletin.Moreover, Turkish steel producers are being cautious for the time being, with one trader source citing&nbs...Read More
US domestic rebar prices remained flat in the wake of the Section 232 tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union on June 1, with supply said to be tightening on certain sizes.American Metal Market's June 20 price assessment for domestic rebar remained at $35-36 per hundredweight ($700-720 per ton), where it has been since Apr...Read More
Metal Bulletin has today corrected its assessment for the Turkey rebar export market.Metal Bulletin has corrected its Turkey export rebar assessment, which was published incorrectly on June 21 due to a technical error.The published assessment was $540-566 per tonne fob on actual weight basis and was corrected to $540-550 per tonne fob. Metal Bulletin's price book and database have been updated to...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billetBillet CIS, export, billet, traded at...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt rose this week but domestic rebar prices remained unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 21. Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Egypt on June 21 was unchanged at E ?12,525-12,528 ($700) per tonne ex-works. The country's major rebar producer, Ezz...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate have been under pressure from weak demand, sources told Metal Bulletin.Trading activity has been slow because buyers have sufficient stocks of material, market sources said."Buyers have enough material and don't need to re-stock ahead of the traditionally slow, second half of summer," one trader said.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR...Read More
Zimbabwe could become a major producer of high-grade chrome ore, according to South African miner Tharisa, which just announced two acquisitions in the country. Tharisa acquired a 26.8% stake in Karo Mining Holding, a platinum group metals (PGM) and base metals project in Zimbabwe, which could lead to new future chrome and PGM projects, it said last week. In May, it announced it had acquired a 90%...Read More
Pig iron exporters from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have logged four consecutive weeks without large bookings from the key outlets of the United States and Italy, market sources told Metal Bulletin."Buyers from the United States, [which is the largest global pig iron importer,] purchased a lot last month, that is why now they are not in [a] hurry to buy," a pig iron exporter said....Read More
Trading activity in the physical iron ore market was lackluster on Thursday June 21 with prices staying rangebound.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $64.88 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.61 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $53.58 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.03 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.60 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, tender, 190,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Pilbara...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market remained deadlocked on Thursday June 21, with end-user sources in China saying that they saw few factors that might provide more upside to prices.A coke plant source in Tangshan pointed out that coking coal inventory levels were high at the moment amid a lot of uncertainties in the market. "We need some time to digest all these factors before making our next procure...Read More
Chinese ferrous futures were mixed during morning trading on Thursday June 21, with the rebar and hot-rolled coil contracts recording slight decreases while those for steelmaking raw materials edged up.Futures closing prices - morning sessionShanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,812 yuan ($589) per tonne, down 5 yuan per tonneOctober hot-rolled coil: 3,902 yuan per tonne, down 4 yuan per tonn...Read More
Pre-opening Comments for Thursday June 21stU.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 2 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 221,000 versus revised 221,000 last week. Actual was 218,000. Consensus for June Philly Fed Index was a slip to 28....Read More
China's domestic rebar market on Thursday June 21 recovered the losses experienced a day earlier after a major mill issued higher list prices. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,120-4,160 yuan ($636-642) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,900-3,950 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne Major rebar producer Shagang raised its selling price for rebar by 100 yuan per t...Read More
Selenium prices continued to fall this week in Europe dropping by more than 6% amid weakening demand and increasing spot availability, market sources told Metal Bulletin. And worries over demand from Tianyuan Ningxia Manganese Industry Co (Ningxia Tianyuan) - the world's leading manganese flake producer and biggest selenium dioxide consumer - also continued to weigh on sentiment in the selenium ma...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker on the morning of Thursday June 21, with the complex down by an average of 0.2%. Nickel, up by 0.3% at $15,000 per tonne, was the exception. Copper was off by 0.3% at $6,797 per tonne.Volume has been high with 10,539 lots traded as at 7.15am London time.This morning's general weakness follows a more divergent...Read More