The London Metal Exchange is maintaining the status quo on its treatment of Iranian aluminium brand Iralco after the United States said this week that it will reintroduce nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, the bourse said in a notice to members on Thursday May 10. "The LME does not propose any action in respect of Iralco brand metal at this time. The LME will continue to monitor the situation and...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday May 10.Copper prices rallied to a three-week high on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Thursday May 10, with falling stocks continuing to boost prices.On-warrant stocks for the red metal now sit at 230,575 tonnes after 15 consecutive days of decline - leaving available stocks at their lowest...Read More
Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin copper smelter in India is likely to remain closed under an enforced shutdown for at least a week longer after a court in the country set Friday May 17 as the day when opening arguments will be presented in its case to gain permission to restart operations.Tuticorin is a refined copper smelter in the state of Tamil Nadu, with capacity for 400,000 tonnes per year. It was...Read More
Import rod markets have been quiet in the United States, with traders still hesitant to close on cargoes due to ongoing uncertainty around Section 232 exemptions. American Metal Market kept its assessment of import rod prices steady, at $600-635 per ton ($661-700 per tonne), flat from two weeks ago. The price has been unchanged since February 28, when traders grew concerned about future cargoes be...Read More
US wire rod mills have shrugged off a $10-per-gross-ton decline in Chicago shredded scrap to keep steel rod prices flat, market participants said. American Metal Market kept its domestic industrial-quality rod price flat, at $38-$40 per hundredweight, in an assessment on Wednesday May 9. Buyers polled by American Metal Market saw prices in a range of $37-41.50 per cwt, although the $37 per cw...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar prices went down this week because of the weakening lira, while wire rod prices gained some strength from local steel mill Kardemir's new list price, sources said on Thursday May 10.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was $565-570 per tonne ex-works, down from last week's $570-580 per tonne.The fall in the prices was caused by the weakening...Read More
Uncertainty about the international trading situation after the conclusion of the Section 232 investigation in the United States was one of the principal issues discussed during the 78th meeting of the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) in Poland.The US initially decided to apply a 25% import tariff to all imports of steel products, and 10% on aluminium, although some c...Read More
The Turkish rebar and wire rod export markets have remained sluggish this week amid poor demand in the country's export markets, sources said on Thursday May 10.Turkish steel producers continued to offer rebar for exports at around $560-570 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, but there are currently no takers at those prices."Uncertainty [about the Section 232 import...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billetBilletIran, export, billet, traded at $525-530...Read More
Brazil-focused Canadian vanadium producer Largo Resources has reaped the benefits of strong vanadium pentoxide prices in the three months to March 31, with the company reporting its highest ever quarterly net income in its financial report published on Monday May 7. Largo declared a net income of $45.8 million in the first quarter of 2018, while revenues rose 210% year on year in the same period t...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday May 10.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with copper leading the rest of the complex, except aluminium and lead, higher.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.LME snapshot at 03.55 am London timeLatest...Read More
Underlying strength in demand for No 1 busheling took sellers in the United States by surprise when the market held steady and ignored chatter that May's ferrous scrap prices would fall."I thought we were going to see a downside, but inbound flows [to recyclers] are outpacing shipping availability. Yards are having trouble shipping because of logistics," one national broker, who now expects bushel...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 transactions: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, tender, 170,000 tonnes of...Read More
Iron ore prices at ports in China softened on Thursday May 10 while those for seaborne cargoes picked up some strength.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $66.83 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.37 per tonne Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.11 per tonne Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchangedMetal Bulletin 62% Fe Chi...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was largely stable on Thursday May 10 after participants withdrew to the sidelines. Market sources said that a miner had offered a cargo of premium hard coking coal via a tender that was to have concluded at 6pm Singapore time, which is beyond the 5.30pm cut-off time for data collection for Metal Bulletin's daily coking coal indices.Metal Bulletin has proposed that...Read More
Chinese ferrous futures remained subdued during morning trading on Thursday May 10, ending the session little changed from their opening prices after the physical steel and iron ore markets weakened a day earlier.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,587 yuan ($564) per tonne, unchanged October hot-rolled coil: 3,682 yuan per tonne, down 5 yuan per ton...Read More
A 109-day queue for aluminium out of the ISTIM warehouse in Port Klang developed last month following a series of large cancelations on the London Metal Exchange, according to LME data released on Thursday May 10. On-warrant aluminium stocks in Port Klang fell 66% during April leaving just 110,496 of available stock at the ISTIM warehouse. The cancelations followed the announcement of US sanctions...Read More
Silver futures would complement the gold futures that already trade on Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX), chief executive officer Charles Li said in an interview with Metal Bulletin ahead of LME Asia Week.As well, the London Metal Exchange is considering options for LME precious metals as well as hot-rolled coil contracts, Li added.The LME and the World Gold Council teamed up to launch the LME...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday May 9 pricing session in London.Key data from the Wednesday May 9 pricing session in London.Key drivers: - Lack of demand from downstream industries in China due to potential trade war between the United States and China - Surplus of material...Read More
Large-scale tellurium supply commitments to United States-based solar panel manufacturer First Solar could bolster prices for the metal, with some market participants expecting these undertakings to leave the market short a significant amount of spot supply. Canada-based 5N Plus last week announced a three-year contract to supply First Solar with tellurium through to 2021. Although the Canadian fi...Read More