SHANGHAI, May 11 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China continued to decline as of Friday May 11 as deliveries arriving warehouses across Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin from smelters dwindled due to maintenance works at smelters in May, SMM believed.China's zinc inventories in warehouses across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong shrank 11,900 mt to 136,100 mt as of Friday May 11, according to S...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 11 (SMM) – Operating rates in May across zinc oxide plants, especially in Shandong, Jiangsu and Hebei provinces, are likely to be affected as environmental inspections intensify ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, Shandong province, in June. Hebei and Jiangsu border Shandong in the north and south,...Read More
China's vehicle production and sales maintained their year-on-year upward trend in April. The country produced 2.40 million vehicles last month, up 12% from 2.14 million units in April 2017, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Friday May 11. The sales...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 11 (SMM) –Copper: The US dollar fell as the US consumer-price inflation growth for April missed expectations. Crude oil prices extended its gains as closing prices registered a new high since 2014, and this buoyed copper prices. LME copper surged overnight with a higher trading range, and now stands among moving averages. The SHFE 1807 contract cli...Read More
ArcelorMittal predicts that demand for steel will continue to pick up after posting positive financial results for the first quarter of 2018, the company said on Friday May 11."The improvement in global steel market dynamics has continued into 2018, supporting an encouraging financial performance in the first quarter," chairman and chief executive officer Lakshmi Mittal said.The world's biggest st...Read More
ArcelorMittal Europe's first-quarter 2018 earnings jumped 14.9% year-on-year due to higher steel shipments and prices, the company said on Friday May 11.Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) at ArcelorMittal Europe increased to $1.04 billion in the first three months of 2018, up from an Ebitda of $909 million in the corresponding period in 2017. The increase was m...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States inched up for a third straight week as some market participants questioned whether widespread speculation about a summer correction would survive a recent plunge in imports.American Metal Market's hot-rolled coil index stands at $43.96 per hundredweight ($879.20 per ton), up 0.2% from $43.87 per cwt ($877.40 per ton) a week ago and up 34.7% from $32...Read More
Export prices for Brazilian steel slab material declined this week, with companies struggling to sell volumes to the United States after an annual quota was set in the wake of the northern country's Section 232 trade investigation.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Brazil export slab narrowed downward to $560-580 per tonne fob on Friday May 11, from $560-600 per tonne fob a week before.S...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices were mostly going higher during the working week ended Friday May 11 with prices beginning to climb out of the price trough.Turkish buyers were mostly on the market sidelines due to higher offers and sluggish demand, but a deal concluded at higher prices supported their negotiating position.Upticks in US ferrous scrap export prices to Turkey were capped by a large reduc...Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India went down this week with the weakness of the rupee against the dollar putting buying activity on hold, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 11.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $385.94 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on May 11, down by $4.79 week-on-week from $390.73 per tonne cf...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday May 11.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading, with aluminium the only metal trading lower."Despite a retreat in the dollar index and talks of peace in the Korean peninsula, overall sentiment in the base metals complex remains...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday May 11.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during Asian morning trading on Friday, with copper and nickel prices putting in the strongest performances of the complex, on the back of a weaker dollar.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snap...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsTwo of the world's largest aluminium producers are teaming up with Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec in a technology joint venture that could revolutionize the sector. South Korea's Public Procurement Service has floated a tender to procure 1,000 tonnes of Grade...Read More
Two of the world's largest aluminium producers are teaming up with Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec in a technology joint venture that could revolutionize the sector. Alcoa and Rio Tinto equally own the majority of the joint venture, to be called Elysis, with the government of Quebec holding a small equity stake of 3.5%. Alcoa had been quietly working on the technology to produce emi...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended the week predominantly higher at the close of trading on Friday May 11, although aluminium fell 2% and edged below its $2,300 per tonne support level. The light metal fell to a low of $2,263.50 per tonne over the course of the afternoon, while its cash/three-month spread has widened into a contango of $10 per tonne, from $4.75c per tonne earlier in th...Read More
Average daily volumes (ADV) on the London Metal Exchange rocketed as much as 63.2% year on year for the month of April, with aluminium's ADV difference soaring 117.5% higher, according to the bourse's latest monthly trading report. The LME's monthly trading report includes a breakdown of ADV, with its latest report excluding unallocated trades (UNA) for each metal. An UNA trade is a new service th...Read More
As members of the metals industry, including the London Metal Exchange, brokers, traders, producers, consumers, banks and warehouse companies, prepare to gather for LME Asia Week in Hong Kong from Monday May 14, Metal Bulletin reviews the likely topics of discussion.Opening up China's markets China has been opening up its economy and markets recently. In May, China allowed foreign investors to tra...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended the week predominantly higher at the close of trading on Friday May 11, although aluminium fell 2% and edged below its $2,300 per tonne support level. The light metal fell to a low of $2,263.50 per tonne over the course of the afternoon, while its cash/three-month spread has widened into a contango of $10 per tonne, from $4.75c per tonne earlier in th...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for monthly deliveries to consumers in May were unchanged this month, with any possible planned price increases cancelled out by the weakness of sterling against the dollar, trade sources told Metal Bulletin on May 11.Prices for trend-indicating grades in the UK such as HMS 1&2 (old steel) and OA (plate and structural) were flat this week, remaining at ?180-205 ($244-277)...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsTwo of the world's largest aluminium producers are teaming up with Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec in a technology joint venture that could revolutionize the sector. South Korea's Public Procurement Service has floated a tender to procure 1,000 tonnes of Grade...Read More