Comex copper prices bounced-back from a multi-week low on Monday April 30 morning in the US, with investors preventing another wave of selling despite the dollar climbing once again.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.15 cents or 0.4% to $3.0810 per lb. On Friday, the contract fell to its lowest point since April 6 on a bout of technical...Read More
Spot demand for cobalt slowed in late April while availability of the material increased, leaving metal prices to move only slightly higher at the end of the month.Metal Bulletin's benchmark low-grade cobalt assessment closed the week at $43.70-44.45 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday April 27, stable with the midweek assessment, and up from $43.55-44.45 per lb at the end of the previous week. Prices...Read More
Import prices for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil sold into Vietnam were stable over the past week amid limited trading activity.Metal Bulletin's assessment of HRC import prices in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $590-605 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday April 30, stable from a week earlier.Market sentiment was...Read More
Turkey's biggest steel producer, Erdemir Group, sold 1.937 million tonnes of flat steel products in January-March 2018, up by 9.19% from the 1.774 million tonnes sold in the corresponding period of 2017, the group said last week.The group reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for January-March 2018 of TRY1.67 billion ($411.91 million*). This was up by 25....Read More
CIS exporters of rebar and wire rod increased their offers in the week ending Monday April 30, on improving demand and low stocks in the global market, and in China in particular."At the moment we see an increase in demand in the major sales outlets. Stocks of material are minimal and there is already a [shortage] in the markets," a producing source told Metal Bulletin. Metal Bulletin's weekly pri...Read More
Earnings at Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa more than doubled in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the corresponding period of last year on higher sales prices.The mill reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of 97 million nuevos soles ($29.97 million), against 39 million nuevos soles the previous...Read More
Turkish steel producers booked more deep-sea scrap for May at the end of last week, and prices continued to inch upward in trades on Monday April 30.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $352 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $362 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the same region booked a Canadian cargo, comprisin...Read More
Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices have gone up in line with imported scrap prices while ship scrap prices have remained stable over the past week, sources said on Monday April 30.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle scrap (DKP grade) in Turkey was TRY1,370-1,500 ($339-372) per tonne delivered, narrowing upward from last week's TRY1,270-1,500 per tonne.This...Read More
The seaborne iron ore concentrate market saw higher premiums and increased enquiries last week.The weekly Metal Bulletin 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index was at $89.57 per tonne cfr China on Friday April 27, up $1.69 per tonne - or 1.90% - from a week earlier. The daily Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $84.88 per tonne cfr China over the week, up $1.22 per tonne - or 1.5% - from the...Read More
Prices for CIS-origin billet remained largely unchanged in the week ending Monday April 30 amid reduced buying activity.Mills and traders sold significant volumes of billet in the preceding week and took a wait-and-see position over the past seven days, preferring to assess the market situation.Traders expect to see another round of price falls in the near term, but mills were more optim...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia have edged up again over the past week despite the level of general demand remaining soft, while prices for slab fell on lower offers after a period of high prices that lasted for several weeks.BilletMetal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $540-555 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday April 30, widening upwar...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market has rebounded in the week to Friday April 27, ending a steady run of losses since early March, because of supply worries and renewed buying from traders; prices in Europe and the US have gone the other way, however, due to slack demand for alloy on a prompt basis. China pares losses, eyes more gains as China futures jumps Europe, US suppliers cut offer prices...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for March Personal Income was an increase of 0.4% versus a gain of 0.4% in February. Actual was an increase of 0.3%. Consensus for March Personal Spending was an increase of 0.2% versus a g...Read More
World silico-manganese supplies rose by 41.9% year on year in March to 1.37 million tonnes due to soaring Chinese production feeding strong demand from domestic steel mills, according to the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). In the first quarter of 2018, world supply of the alloy rose 36.9% year on year.In March alone, output was up 8.9% compared with February. The institute said global de...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part little changed this morning, Monday April 30. Lead, zinc, tin and copper were slightly firmer, with the latter at $6,815 per tonne, while aluminium and nickel were slightly weaker. With Chinese and Japanese markets closed, volume has been light with 2,195 lots traded as at 07.36 am London time. This follows a generally weak day...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday April 30, with nickel dropping 1.5% from Friday. Nickel recorded a high-low range of $270, reaching a high of $13,940 per tonne during morning trading. With consolidation now firmly in place, nickel's three-month price is continuing to slide lower below the $14,000 per tonne support level. Despite this, sentiment...Read More
Spot demand for cobalt slowed in late April while availability of the material increased, leaving metal prices to move only slightly higher at the end of the month.Metal Bulletin's benchmark low-grade cobalt assessment closed the week at $43.70-44.45 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday April 27, stable with the midweek assessment, and up from $43.55-44.45 per lb at the end of the previous week. Prices...Read More
Sluggish demand continued to put pressure on the antimony market in the week to Friday April 27, with little spot business taking place in Europe and China. Metal Bulletin assessed the MMTA standard grade II antimony, in-warehouse Rotterdam price at $8,150-8,300 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the mid-week assessment when prices had also stayed stable. The trioxide grade antimony pri...Read More
Softening demand and delayed tenders from Chinese stainless steel mills weighed on prices and activity for the country's ferro-chrome and chrome ore markets. Strong imports of chrome ore into China added to bearishness Falling ferro-chrome prices weigh on charge chrome and UG2 Stability for South Korean and Japanese markets Trades show drop in European ferro-chrome US prices firm slightly on limit...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday April 30.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Monday April 30, with aluminium and nickel continuing to dip from recent highs.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:10 London time:Read our live futures report here.South Korea's Public Procurement Service h...Read More