Lithium producer SQM is confident it will retain its market share amid forecasts of global supply growth, while cautioning of the industry's poor track record on delivering lithium projects. SQM plans to keep its 25% share of the global lithium market, senior commercial vice president Daniel Jimenez told delegates at Industrial Minerals' and Metal Bulletin's inaugural Battery Materials conference...Read More
Iron and steel imports handled by the Port of Antwerp in Belgium fell by 9.9% year on year in the first quarter of 2018, the port authority said this week.Imports from China were down "sharply in comparison with the first quarter of 2017, although this decline - which first became apparent in the second quarter of last year - has now stabilized," the port authority said.Exports from...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Thursday April 19 with the paper market posting more gains following the release of data showing a drop in inventory levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,000-4,050 yuan ($637-645) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,940-3,960 yuan per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonne Inventory levels in the spot market continued to d...Read More
Rebar prices in the United States have risen after multiple mills announced $20-per-ton increases in a tight market, even as a leading producer remained silent. Commercial Metals Co (CMC), Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI) and Gerdau Long Steel North America all came out with $20-per-ton hikes this week. Nucor is the sole producer to not make any official announcement on rebar prices.But the pric...Read More
Prices for imported steel reinforcing bar have been offered in a wide band in the United States, with domestic traders setting a new price range after digesting potential Section 232 tariffs.American Metal Market's assessment for imported rebar rose to $617-794 per short ton cfr port of Houston on Wednesday April 18, up an average of 21% from $576-590 per ton previously.The low end of th...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices went up slightly on a US dollar basis, following the strengthening lira, sources said on Thursday April 19.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic rebar was $570-590 per tonne ex-works, widening upward from $570-580 per tonne last week.Market participants were surprised by the early election decision announced on Wednesday April 18.T...Read More
The export market for CIS-origin pig iron has shown signs of falling due to the weakening scrap market, sources have told Metal Bulletin."The scrap price in the US domestic market is likely to go down in May," a trader said. "But what is more important now is that the scrap price in Turkey is falling - that is a strong indicator for the pig iron market."Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped Thursday April 19 with no deep-sea bookings, although another booking from the previous day came to light.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo of 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $348 per tonne cfr on Wednesday. However, the cargo was sold before a Baltic Sea trade was done at...Read More
Physical iron ore traded at much higher prices on Thursday April 19 following a surge in the paper market.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $68.45 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.57 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.92 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.82 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $86.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.60 per tonneMetal Bulleti...Read More
Turkish prices for imported and exported billet have gone down over the past week, in line with the low demand for both finished and semi-finished steel products and weakening imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday April 19.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for billet imports into Turkey was $520-530 per tonne cfr, widening downward from last week's $525-530 per tonne.Suppliers in t...Read More
Imported billet prices in Egypt fell this week while local rebar prices remained unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday April 19.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering rebar at E ?12,528 ($707) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, while Beshay Steel, also a major domestic producer, is offering rebar at E ?12,525 per...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Thursday April 19 amid big gains in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,750-3,800 yuan ($597-605) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,730 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne Rebar futures strengthened on Thursday following the release of data showing a 600,000-tonne decline in spot...Read More
ZK International Group intends to build a new mill in its native China, to capture a larger share of the demand for stainless and carbon steel pipe that is vitally needed for water and natural gas transmission in the nation's immense infrastructure build-out.ZK also may seek acquisitions of existing pipe-making facilities while it attempts to quintuple production within about three years. The...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was a dip to 226,000 from 233,000 last week. Actual was a dip to 231,000. Consensus for the April Philly Fed Index was a drop to 20.1 from 22.3 in March. Actual wa...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia maintained their upward momentum over the past week, with rapidly rising production costs resulting in higher Chinese offers.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,150-2,230 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday April 18, narrowing upward by $50 per tonne from a week...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures carried over their strong performance today, with SHFE nickel surging over 4% and aluminium jumping over 3%. Zinc gained close to 3%, copper rose over 2%, lead went up over 1%, and tin inched up slightly.The ferrous complex also rose across the board. Iron ore led a gain of 6.5%, coke surged over 3%, coking coal rose 2.5%, with rebar up 2% a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures carried over their strong performance today, with SHFE nickel surging over 4% and aluminium jumping over 3%. Zinc gained close to 3%, copper rose over 2%, lead went up over 1%, and tin inched up slightly.The ferrous complex also rose across the board. Iron ore led a gain of 6.5%, coke surged over 3%, coking coal rose 2.5%, with rebar up 2% a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures carried over their strong performance today, with SHFE nickel surging over 4% and aluminium jumping over 3%. Zinc gained close to 3%, copper rose over 2%, lead went up over 1%, and tin inched up slightly.The ferrous complex also rose across the board. Iron ore led a gain of 6.5%, coke surged over 3%, coking coal rose 2.5%, with rebar up 2% a...Read More
After the eventful rally on Wednesday, both the base and precious metals complexes have continued their upward momentum in the morning of Thursday April 19 with a broad-based commodity rally supporting all metals prices higher. Gains on base metals prices have averaged 1.2%, while precious metals have seen a 0.3% rise as of 6.27am London time. Trading volume on the London Metal Exchange is signifi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) – China will ban imports of 16 more scrap metal and chemical waste products from December 31, 2018, according to release by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on Wednesday April 19. This includes Category Seven copper scrap materials, such as waste electric motors, that account for two-thirds of China's imports of copper scrap. W...Read More