The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Wednesday April 4:Minor metals Antimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $8,500-8,600 per tonne from $8,500-8,750 per tonneAntimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $8,450-8,550 per tonne from $8,500-8,660 per tonne Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $5.10-5.30...Read More
The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, Vietnam and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price quotations, follow the links below:China- APT, fob China- Ferro-tungsten, fob ChinaEurope- APT, cif Rotterdam- Ferro-tungsten, in-warehouse Rotterdam...Read More
The European charge and high-carbon ferro-chrome benchmark is likely to drop for the third quarter, according to market participants spoken to by Metal Bulletin. The second-quarter settlement was agreed at $1.42 per lb on Thursday March 29, which was only $0.02 per lb higher than Metal Bulletin's benchmark indicator. The second-quarter benchmark had been pushed higher by increased costs in So...Read More
The Chinese charge chrome index, spot ferro-chrome prices and the UG2 index all slipped on Friday March 30, following lower-than-expected April tender prices from major Chinese stainless steel mills, while ferro-chrome prices in the European and US markets were stable. Major stainless steel mills' April ferro-chrome tender prices lower Chinese charge chrome, spot ferro-chrome prices and UG2...Read More
Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco), Tsingshan Group and Baosteel have lowered their high carbon ferro-chrome tender prices month on month for April amid a sluggish stainless steel market.All three mills dropped their tender purchase prices by 500 yuan ($80) per tonne from the previous month, they announced on Friday March 30.Tisco set its high carbon ferro-chrome tender price at 7,250 yuan per tonne for...Read More
Ferrous scrap export prices from the United States are facing downward pressure following last week's bulk deals to Turkey, with containerized shredded scrap the first to show signs of distress. There was little activity on the bulk export front, with no deals done from either the US East or West Coast this past week. Turkish buying has been sparse since the country returned to the marke...Read More
Sellers are lowering their expectations and indicating that ferrous scrap prices in the US Midwest will rise by $20 per gross ton on most grades in the Chicago, Detroit and Indiana regions.Some cut grades are officially trading in Chicago at a $20-per-ton premium to March sales, with an expectation that prime will follow suit.Shredded scrap has not been sold but could trade at a premium larger tha...Read More
Turkish steel producers started their May bookings with mostly steady prices on Wednesday April 4.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 19,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $356 per tonne, 9,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) and 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $361 per tonne, and 5,000...Read More
Turkey must impose new trade measures to protect its domestic steel industry from the potential effects of a new wave of imported material that will be turned away by the United States and Europe because of their new trade protections, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said this week.The US imposed a 25% import duty on steel and a 10% import duty on aluminium with effect from March 2...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was steady on Wednesday April 4 as market participants continued to monitor the weather in the coal producing hub of Queensland, Australia. Late evening on Wednesday, the Queensland Weather Bureau cancelled the tropical cyclone Warning for the Queensland coast. "Tropical cyclone Iris moving away from the coast and expected to weaken further," the bureau said.The bur...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market softened further on Wednesday April 4 amid falling steel prices in China, with premiums for index-linked cargoes of Pilbara Blend fines remaining subdued. Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $63.57 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.19 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $51.79 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.30 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Inde...Read More
Queensland's Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) has declared force majeure amid unfavorable weather conditions caused by a cyclone off the Australian state's coast, well-informed market sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday April 4. Earlier in the day, the Queensland weather bureau had said that the tropical Cyclone Iris continued to move southeast off the state's central coast and was expected...Read More
China's ferrous futures apart from iron ore rose during the morning trading session on Wednesday April 4 amid a proposal to increase import duties on Chinese steel products by the United States.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,367 ($535) per tonne, up 23 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,737 yuan per tonne, up 39 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodit...Read More
Comex copper prices dropped nearly 2% on Wednesday April 4 amid growing fears of a possible trade war between the United States and China following a fresh round of tariffs issued by both countries. Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 5.90 cents or 1.9% to $3.0045 per lb. Over the past few weeks, tensions between China and the US have escalat...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Wednesday April 4*Copper -$95.55 (-602.74 yuan) Aluminium -$250.65 (-1,581.16 yuan) Zinc -$129.73 (-818.36 yuan) Nickel -$587.91 (-3,708.71 yuan) *The physical arbitrage numbers are...Read More
Copper premiums ticked higher in Shanghai, Taiwan, Japan and Southeast Asian markets this week on solid demand and the fresh cancellation of 16,000 tonnes in London Metal Exchange Asian sheds on April 3. LME's on-warrant stocks down by 19,275 tonnes from a week ago and the cash/three-month spread narrowed to a contango of $35.50 per tonnePremiums broadly unchanged in other markets following Easte...Read More
Base metals prices edged lower on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Wednesday April 4, as the prospect of a trade war between the United States and China continued to dampen sentiment.Aluminium's three-month price was the only contract to rise and appeared to be in consolidation mode after dropping below $2,000 per tonne on Tuesday for the first time since August 2017. Yet the ch...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices were largely stagnant on Wednesday April 4 amid fluctuations in the futures market ahead of a four-day break in the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,850-3,900 yuan ($612-620) per tonne, widened upward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,840-3,870 yuan per tonne, unchangedHRC prices in Shanghai rose in the morning following strong gains in the f...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday April 4 pricing session in London.Indium ingots MB $/kg in-warehouse Rotterdam Key drivers: -Lack of crude raw material leads to lower output-Tender due on April 10-Tomb-sweeping Day in China from April 5-7 will create supply shortageKey quotes:...Read More
Shalina Resources and its Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)subsidiary, Chemaf SARL, have signed a marketing agreement for cobalt hydroxide with Trafigura, Chemaf said on Wednesday April 4. The marketing agreement covers cobalt output from existing producing assets operated by Chemaf - which specializes in cobalt and copper exploration, mining and processing in the DRC - and runs until Decembe...Read More