SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading on Friday May 4 with SHFE zinc leading the loss with a dip of nearly 2%. Nickel fell almost 1%, while copper, aluminium, lead, and tin inched up.The ferrous complex saw iron ore dropping over 1%. Rebar lost nearly 1%, and hot-rolled coil slid almost 0.7%. Coke and coking coal went up slightly.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract c...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) –Copper: Technically, LME copper struggles at the 40-day moving average with support at the five-day moving average. With weak support, the SHFE 1807 contract failed to stand above the moving averages. We expect copper prices to stabilise today with LME copper trading at $6,830-6,890/mt and the SHFE 1807 contract at 51,000-51,500 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are se...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – The 2018 annual benchmark zinc concentrate treatment charges (TCs) dropped 14.5% from that of 2017 to a 12-year low as supply dwindled.The settlement at $147/dmt was delayed for two months and was reportedly reached between Teck Resources and Korea Zinc. This compared with TCs at $172/dmt last year.Zinc concentrate supply has been declining over the past few year...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – SMM assessed imported clean copper concentrate treatment charges (TCs) at $71-78/mt on Friday May 4, with the average up $0.5/mt from a week ago.Smelters slowed down stockpiling this week as most have procured sufficient cargoes for the second quarter, SMM learned. For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) –Copper: Technically, LME copper struggles at the 40-day moving average with support at the five-day moving average. With weak support, the SHFE 1807 contract failed to stand above the moving averages. We expect copper prices to stabilise today with LME copper trading at $6,830-6,890/mt and the SHFE 1807 contract at 51,000-51,500 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are se...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – Spot copper was mostly offered at a discount of 30 yuan/mt to a premium of 10 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1805 contract on Friday May 4 in the Shanghai market. This compared with a discount of 60 yuan/mt to a premium of 10 yuan/mt on Thursday.Sellers increased their offer prices as the SHFE 1805 contract gained over 200 yuan/mt from the previous day and rose to a high of 51...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – Spot copper in the Shanghai market was offered at a discount of 30 yuan/mt to a premium of 10 yuan/mt on the morning of Friday May 4, SMM learned.This was slightly up from a discount of 50-10 yuan/mt in the previous morning. For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on how to access our research reports, plea...Read More
SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) –Copper: Technically, LME copper struggles at the 40-day moving average with support at the five-day moving average. With weak support, the SHFE 1807 contract failed to stand above the moving averages. We expect copper prices to stabilise today with LME copper trading at $6,830-6,890/mt and the SHFE 1807 contract at 51,000-51,500 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are se...Read More
Domestic prices for steel products in Argentina are unchanged this month, but some market participants have reported fears of future changes because of the country's currency instability.Metal Bulletin's monthly assessment of Argentina's domestic price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained unchanged at $750-755 per tonne ex-works on Friday May 4, with the price of cold-rolled coil (CRC) stable at $86...Read More
Indian steel mills have raised their prices for commercial-grade hot-rolled coil (HRC) by about 800 rupees ($12) per tonne for domestic sales in May.HRC producers in India have been successful in increasing prices consecutively over the past three months while international prices for the commodity continue to be higher than domestic Indian prices."The price increase [of 800 rupees per tonne] is v...Read More
The export market for Brazilian pig iron waned at the beginning of May, with prices edging downward amid reduced product availability for shipment to foreign buyers and uncertainties about scrap prices in the United States.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Minas Gerais-origin pig iron exports came to $390-395 per tonne fob on Friday May 4, against $395-400 per tonne fob a week earlier.T...Read More
Domestic prices for steel products in Argentina are unchanged this month, but some market participants have reported fears of future changes because of the country's currency instability.Metal Bulletin's monthly assessment of Argentina's domestic price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained unchanged at $750-755 per tonne ex-works on Friday May 4, with the price of cold-rolled coil (CRC) stable at $86...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday May 4.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly up during morning trading, although zinc and tin prices bucked the general strength.Zinc's three-month price continued to trade below $3,000 per tonne - levels last seen in August 2017.Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 12.07pm Lon...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Singapore as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday May 4.Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange diverged during Asian morning trading on Friday, with zinc prices spooked by the overnight weakness on the London Metal Exchange. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 03.48 am London timeLatest thre...Read More
Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsKorea Zinc, the world's largest custom zinc smelter by volume, has agreed to annual zinc concentrate supply contracts based on the treatment charges (TCs) set between Teck Resources and European smelters, Metal Bulletin understands.South Africa and New Zealand's non-exemption from the...Read More
Last week's delivery of more than 60,000 tonnes of zinc into Antwerp's LME-listed warehouses, the largest single inflow since May 2013, has sent the zinc price spiralling lower to fresh 2018 troughs.Zinc's three-month price dropped 1.2% to a low of $2,970 per tonne during morning trading on Friday May 4, and finished the day 2.7% higher at $3,055 per tonne.Yet in response to the spike in inventori...Read More
Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange have gained increasing influence over the physical market since listing in 2013. Their trading volume reached 657.49 million lots, or 65.749 billion tonnes in 2017, down 3.95% on the year, according to the exchange. China imported 1.075 billion tonnes of iron ore last year, a year-on-year increase of 5%, the National Bureau of Statistics reported....Read More
Singapore Exchange (SGX) achieved a record net profit in the January-March quarter of 2018, with revenue from the derivatives business rising on a year-on-year basis. The exchange posted a net profit of S$100 million ($75 million) in the March quarter, up 21% year on year. Revenue stood at S$ 222.2 million in the period, up 10% in an annual comparison. The derivatives business accounted for 41% of...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended the week on a high at the close of trading on Friday May 4, with aluminium's three-month price rocketing 3.5% over the day. The light metal found support during the afternoon, rebounding to a high of $2,367.50 per tonne. Aluminium's cash/three-month spread moved from a backwardation of $1 per tonne earlier in the day, to $20.50b per tonne by clos...Read More