Domestic rebar prices in Egypt fell this week while demand remained low, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday April 12.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is currently offering rebar at E ?12,528 ($708) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, down from E ?12,790 per tonne ex-works.Beshay Steel, also a major domestic producer, is offering rebar at...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices declined again on Thursday April 12 with sellers attempting to destock to cut their losses.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,630-3,680 yuan ($578-586) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,660-3,690 yuan per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonne Stockists made a bid to get their inventories down before their value decreases further, cutting prices t...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia rose over the past week with Chinese suppliers maintaining their high offers amid costlier nickel, although there was no considerable uptick in demand.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,100-2,230 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday April 11, up $20-100 per tonne...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures were weaker for the most part except for SHFE nickel. Zinc plunged nearly 3.6%, copper lost over 1%, tin fell almost 1%, while aluminium and lead slipped.The ferrous complex also closed lower, except for hot-rolled coil. Coking coal slid nearly 4%, coke dropped 3%, iron ore fell nearly 1%, and rebar edged down.Copper: SHFE copper was dragged...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures were weaker for the most part except for SHFE nickel. Zinc plunged nearly 3.6%, copper lost over 1%, tin fell almost 1%, while aluminium and lead slipped.The ferrous complex also closed lower, except for hot-rolled coil. Coking coal slid nearly 4%, coke dropped 3%, iron ore fell nearly 1%, and rebar edged down.Copper: SHFE copper was dragged...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures were weaker for the most part except for SHFE nickel. Zinc plunged nearly 3.6%, copper lost over 1%, tin fell almost 1%, while aluminium and lead slipped.The ferrous complex also closed lower, except for hot-rolled coil. Coking coal slid nearly 4%, coke dropped 3%, iron ore fell nearly 1%, and rebar edged down.Copper: SHFE copper was dragged...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the Weekly Jobless Report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was 230,000 versus 242,000 last week. Actual was 233,000.Delta Airlines added $1.33 to $52.80 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings.Blackrock gained $6.6...Read More
China's vehicle production and sales continued to rise on an annual basis in March. The country produced 2.68 million vehicles last month, up 1.2% from a year earlier. Sales rose 4.7% year on year to 2.66 million units, according to data released...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – Auto producers in China are not expected to be short of the “credits” needed to operate in the country after 2020 as more new-energy vehicles are produced, according to Mo Ke, chief analyst at RealLi Research.Carmakers in China that sell over 30,000 units annually must earn “credits” equivalent to 10% of their output and imports. Those who fai...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – China’s new-energy vehicles sales in the first quarter more than doubled year on year as the country sees actual demand grow, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).The country saw 143,000 units of new-energy vehicle sales during January-March, up 154% from the first quarter of last year. Output stood at 150,000 units, up 157% ye...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – SHFE zinc tumbled during the day and touched a low at 23,605 yuan/mt on Thursday April 12 despite better fundamentals since the start of this month.This is mainly because sentiment turned bearish when market talk suggested China’s State Reserve Bureau may release 50,000-60,000 mt of zinc ingot to be received by some state-owned enterprises.Speculative investors...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – High-nickel ternary cathode materials are expected to lead the market by 2025 with surging demand, according to She Shengxian, research and development manager at Ningbo Ronbay Material.This is due to its “exceptional performance” in terms of capacity, circulation, discharge rate, and resistance to high temperature, he told delegates at the SMM CoLiNi Sum...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange experienced downward pressure this morning, Thursday April 12, with the complex posting an average loss of 1.0% amid robust volumes. Zinc is down the most with a 2.3% decline, while tin (-0.1%) is the most resilient. The downward pressure across the industrial metals is being driven by a fragile risk appetite in Asia, evident in domestic equity losse...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – China’s new-energy vehicles sales in the first quarter more than doubled year on year as the country sees actual demand grow, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).The country saw 143,000 units of new-energy vehicle sales during January-March, up 154% from the first quarter of last year. Output stood at 150,000 units, up 157% ye...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightWeighed down by potential US military action in Syria, the US dollar index edged down slightly and hovered around 89.5, but received some support from the Fed’s March meeting.The Syria factor also depressed base metals except for LME aluminium. LME aluminium...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – The ratio of nickel used in electric car batteries is expected to rise to 11% by 2022, from just under 4% in 2016, according to Zhao Yingxiang, analyst at Macquarie.She added that the nickel supply-demand landscape would change dramatically if the ratio hit 15% by 2025, she said at the SMM CoLiNi Summit in Quzhou, Zhejiang on Thursday April 12. Nickel prices ha...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightWeighed down by potential US military action in Syria, the US dollar index edged down slightly and hovered around 89.5, but received some support from the Fed’s March meeting.The Syria factor also depressed base metals except for LME aluminium. LME aluminium...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper registered a loss overnight, along with its Shanghai counterpart. We see it trading at $6,910-6,960/mt today. With strong support from the five- and 20-day moving averages, the SHFE 1806 contract is likely to trade at 50,800-51,500 yuan/mt with spot prices ranging from a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt today.Aluniniu...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) – China’s new-energy vehicles sales in the first quarter more than doubled year on year as the country sees actual demand grow, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).The country saw 143,000 units of new-energy vehicle sales during January-March, up 154% from the first quarter of last year. Output stood at 150,000 units, up 157% ye...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 12 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper registered a loss overnight, along with its Shanghai counterpart. We see it trading at $6,910-6,960/mt today. With strong support from the five- and 20-day moving averages, the SHFE 1806 contract is likely to trade at 50,800-51,500 yuan/mt with spot prices ranging from a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt today.Aluniniu...Read More