The new energy vehicle (NEV) story is not a "red herring" and nickel physical market participants need to lock in prices now , according to Robert Hawkes, executive director, Goldman Sachs International. "If you are having to build a budget for [NEV] going forward, you can't rely on nickel prices [and where they might be] in five years' time, you need to lock in prices now," Hawkes...Read More
China's ferrous futures trended downward during morning trading on Thursday May 17 before minimizing their losses toward the end of the session, with the benchmark hot-rolled coil contract performing the best by closing higher than its opening price.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,680 yuan ($577) per tonne, down 4 yuan per tonne October hot-rolle...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have weakened in the past week on sluggish demand in the country's export markets, sources said on Thursday May 17.Turkish steel producers had reduced their offers to $555-560 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, while buyers' bids have fallen to $545 per tonne fob and below, according to sources.Only a...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices have gone down on a US dollar basis over the past week due to the weakening of the domestic lira, sources said on Thursday May 17.Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic price assessment for rebar in Turkey was $555-570 per tonne ex-works, down from the $565-570 per tonne of last week.The local rebar price in the Izmir region was $560-570 per tonne ex-works, while the I...Read More
The price of imported steel billet in Egypt has gone up this week although local rebar prices are unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday May 17.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering material at E ?12,528 ($700) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, while Beshay Steel, also a major domestic producer, is offering...Read More
Trading activity has rebounded in the export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States after a long silence in key outlet regions for the product."The market is still rather quiet, but buyers have started to show an interest in new purchases," a trader told Metal Bulletin on Thursday May 17.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS regi...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell sharply on Thursday May 17 on news of a fresh European cargo being sold on the day.The country's steel producers were trying to get lower prices because of the weak demand in the domestic finished steel markets, sources said.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked the European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) and 10,000 tonnes of bon...Read More
Production of most pig iron and all steel products at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) facility in Ukraine has been halted due to worker protests that began on Wednesday May 16. The protests were started by railroad department workers and spread to all other departments on May 16. Protesters have demanded an increase to monthly salaries to ?,?1,000 ($1,181) and to assurances that all rolling stock...Read More
Turkish domestic and export prices for steel billet have gone down over the past week in line with weakening rebar and scrap prices, while billet import prices have gone up because of positive sentiment in the CIS market, sources said on Thursday May 17.Domestic billet prices in Turkey have weakened with mills reducing their offers for the material under pressure from the falling rebar and scrap c...Read More
The price of imported steel billet in Egypt has gone up this week although local rebar prices are unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday May 17.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering material at E ?12,528 ($700) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, while Beshay Steel, also a major domestic producer, is offering...Read More
Production of most pig iron and all steel products at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) facility in Ukraine has been halted due to worker protests that began on Wednesday May 16. The protests were started by railroad department workers and spread to all other departments on May 16. Protesters have demanded an increase to monthly salaries to ?,?1,000 ($1,181) and to assurances that all rolling stock...Read More
China's ferrous futures trended downward during morning trading on Thursday May 17 before minimizing their losses toward the end of the session, with the benchmark hot-rolled coil contract performing the best by closing higher than its opening price.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,680 yuan ($577) per tonne, down 4 yuan per tonne October hot-rolle...Read More
Sienna Resources Inc. [SIE-TSXV; SNNAF-OTCBB; A1XCQ0-FSE] on Thursday May 17 announced encouraging drill results from the recently completed seven-hole, 942-metre drill program at is Slattberg nickel-copper-cobalt project in Sweden. The company said results show significant intercepts of nickel and cobalt mineralization in areas that are along strike and down dip from the historic mine working in...Read More
Soft demand and limited trading activity kept East Asia's stainless steel prices relatively steady over the past week, although some mills continued to raise their offers amid costlier nickel.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,210-2,310 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday May 16, widening downward by a sligh...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 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 217,000 versus 211,000 last week. Actual was 222,000. Consensus for May Philly Fed Index was 22.0 versus 23.2 in April. Actual was.34.4 Cisco dropped $1.76 to...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 17 (SMM) – The nonferrous complex closed higher except for SHFE zinc that dropped close to 1%. SHFE aluminium rose close to 1%, copper, lead, nickel and tin inched up.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading. Coking coal lost 1.9% while coke and iron ore closed slightly lower. Hot-rolled coil gained over 1% and rebar edged up.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract was dragged down by...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 17 (SMM) – The nonferrous complex closed higher except for SHFE zinc that dropped close to 1%. SHFE aluminium rose close to 1%, copper, lead, nickel and tin inched up.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading. Coking coal lost 1.9% while coke and iron ore closed slightly lower. Hot-rolled coil gained over 1% and rebar edged up.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract was dragged down by...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 17 (SMM) – The nonferrous complex closed higher except for SHFE zinc that dropped close to 1%. SHFE aluminium rose close to 1%, copper, lead, nickel and tin inched up.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading. Coking coal lost 1.9% while coke and iron ore closed slightly lower. Hot-rolled coil gained over 1% and rebar edged up.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract was dragged down by...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 17 (SMM) – Spot copper was mostly offered at a discount of 90-20 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1806 contract on Thursday May 17 in the Shanghai market. Discounts narrowed from 120-60 yuan/mt the previous day.Sellers raised offers from Wednesday as the SHFE 1806 contract soared to a high of 51,070 yuan/mt this morning.Buyers favoured high-quality copper and this narrowed...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 17 (SMM) – China will withdraw tax exemptions on purchases of 319 models of new-energy vehicles (NEVs), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Thursday May 17.The NEVs will be removed from the list of NEVs that are exempted from purchase tax, as no output or imports of those vehicles were seen as of the end of April 2018 from when...Read More