Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part firmer this morning, Tuesday April 24. The exceptions are aluminium (-0.8%) and tin (-0.1%), while the rest are up by an average of 0.4%, with three-month copper prices up by 0.5% at $6,963 per tonne. On Monday, the United States Treasury’s decision that it will not impose secondary sanctions on non-US market participants f...Read More
Alumina prices set a fresh multi-year high on Tuesday April 24, consolidating above $700 per tonne with no immediate respite in supply restrictions on the cards. Metal Bulletin's benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index set a fresh high on Tuesday, calculated at $707.75 per tonne, up from $703.75 per tonne the previous day. The index had dipped to $661.32 per tonne late last week after a c...Read More
Russian steelmaker Severstal, one of two major rebar suppliers in the central region around Moscow, has increased the offer price on its May-rolled rebar because of lower material availability and the weaker rouble, sources told Metal Bulletin this week.Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), another rebar supplier in the region, had not set its offers for May-rolled rebar at the time of publication.Metal Bulle...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday April 24. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange remained broadly firm during morning trading, with the aluminium price the only downward mover.Reaching a low of $2,213 per tonne, the light metal's price tumbled after spending the majority of last week around the $2,500 per tonne mark.Here is how the LME bas...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday April 24.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, with aluminium prices falling the most after the United States announced it would not impose secondary sanctions against UC Rusal.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday April 24, with aluminium and nickel continuing to drop. The three-month nickel price dropped below $14,000 per tonne for the first time since April 13, with volumes traded at their lowest since April 6."Trade tensions dragged nickel into the spotlight, but fundamentals have come back in to play," Geordie...Read More
The pessimism in the seaborne coking coal market is not showing any signs of letting up with sellers lowering their offers for the steelmaking raw material on Tuesday April 24.Offers for premium hard coking coal were heard around $180-185 per tonne cfr China during the day, compared with $185-192 per tonne cfr a day earlier."There are still May-laycan cargoes in the market, and June-laycan cargoes...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up further on Tuesday April 24 on rising futures, but trading activity has thinned. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,920 yuan ($615-621) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,740-3,770 yuan per tonne, narrowed upward by 10 yuan per tonne Rebar futures continued to strengthen during the day, albeit at a less rapid pace as Monday, w...Read More
In light of feedback received as part of the consultation on its international cobalt price specifications, Metal Bulletin is seeking additional input from those active in the cobalt market. Have your say by taking part in the review by Friday April 27. Initial feedback was sought between Monday November 27, 2017, and Friday January 12, 2018. Full details of the November 2017 cobalt pricing consul...Read More
Prices for domestic steel rebar in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were stable this week, although demand was not strong, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday April 24.And demand for imported rebar in both countries remained almost non-existent.Domestic rebarThe major rebar producers in the UAE announced their current prices on March 26.The biggest steel producer, Emirates Steel, is of...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday April 24.Please click...Read More
A new permitting issue has emerged at copper producer Freeport-McMoRan's unit in Indonesia following the introduction of new environmental requirements in April, the United States-based firm said on Tuesday April 24.[Adds details about tailings management, comments from Freeport chief executive officer.]A new permitting issue has emerged at copper producer Freeport-McMoRan's unit in Indonesia foll...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Tuesday April 24*Copper -$98.02 (-620.18 yuan) Aluminium -$471.39 (-2,982.69 yuan) Zinc -$94.69 (-599.14 yuan) Nickel -$1,078.82 (-6,826.12 yuan) *The physical arbitrage numbers...Read More
Emirates Global Aluminium has completed construction of the calcination process facility at its Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi. The Al Taweelah refinery is expected to produce its first alumina in the first half of 2019. At full capacity, it will produce 2 million tonnes of alumina per year, meeting 40% of EGA's alumina requirements. After the completion of the calcination process facil...Read More
A summary of China's base metal imports figures in March 2018.Refined copper Month total: 309,003 tonnes Month-on-month change: +34.58% Year-on-year change: +5.69% Copper ore and concentrates Month total: 1.60 million tonnes Month-on-month change: +10.25% Year-on-year change: -1.57%* Copper scrap Month total: 222,969 tonnes Month-on-month change: +71.76% Year-on-year change: -37.72% *...Read More
Anglo American produced 154,900 tonnes of copper in the first quarter of this year, a 9% jump from 142,600 tonnes in the corresponding period a year ago. On a quarterly basis, production was up 4%, from 142,600 tonnes in October-December 2017. "Our operations have made a solid start to 2018, delivering a 4% increase in total production," said chief executive Mark Cutifani."This reflects our consis...Read More
Competition between Brazilian flat steel producers can get in the way of the companies' plans to increase prices by June, according to local flat steel association Inda."The problem to any price increases is the steelmaker's fight for market share," Inda president Carlos Loureiro said on Tuesday April 24. Earlier this month, Brazil's Usiminas announced plans to increase its domestic prices for...Read More
The United States government has been pushing to apply quotas to steel exports from Brazil following negotiations stemming from the Section 232 investigation, according to Brazilian steel institute A??o Brasil."The US government has flagged it plans to work with quotas," A??o Brasil executive president Marco Polo de Mello Lopes said on Tuesday April 24.Brazil was temporarily excluded from a 25% Se...Read More
Brazilian flat steel sales increased by 3.40% year-on-year in March, amid a slower-than-expected recovery in steel demand, according to national flat steel association Inda.Sales from distributors amounted to 262,900 tonnes last month, compared with 254,200 tonnes in the corresponding period in 2017, Inda said on Tuesday April 24."The recovery of the steel market has lost steam," Inda president Ca...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia increased this week, but demand was not strong enough to support price increases, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday April 24. Buyers preferred to postpone bookings ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan which starts in mid-May and will lead to a further reduction in market activity. Strong demand for...Read More