SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) ? 1/4 ? To promote new energy cars, Xining city of Qinghai province will build 1,000 more charging stations for new energy cars in 2018, and to gradually replace all petrol- and diesel-powered taxis with electric ones, SMM learned from local authorities.The charging stations were introduced to Xining in 2016. At the end of 2017, there were 1,034 charging stations across 16 p...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – Social inventories of zinc in Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin stood at 265,100 mt as of Friday March 16, according to SMM data. This is up from 261,500 mt on Friday March 9. Social inventories in Shanghai and Tianjin declined, while those in Guangdong rose.Inventories are likely to dip as production recovers when the two political sessions end. For editoria...Read More
Iron ore output at Anglo American's Brazilian Minas-Rio operation is still halted after a slurry pipeline rupture, but shipments are not expected to be affected, it told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 16."So far, there is no impact forecast," the miner said. "There are around 700,000 tonnes of iron ore stocked, which is a sufficient volume to meet the shipping schedule of the next vessels."The com...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – Norilsk nickel in the Shanghai market was offered at a discount of about 400 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1804 contract on the morning of Friday March 16.Jinchuan nickel was offered at a discount of 100-0 yuan/mt, and Jinchuan nickel plate was offered at 102,000 yuan/mt, SMM learned.As nickel prices fell overnight, traders sold actively while dow...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar returned to stand above 90, following remarks from President Donald Trump's newly-appointed top economic advisor Larry Kudlow.Most nonferrous metals weakened. SHFE nickel and copper dropped about 1%. SHFE tin edged down slightly, while aluminium, zinc and...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part stronger this morning, Friday March 16, with all of the metals, except tin, showing average gains of 0.4%. Copper is up by 0.5% at $6,956 per tonne, while tin is off by 0.1% at $20,970 per tonne. Volume has been light with 4,565 lots traded as of 06.29am London time. This follows a day of weakness on Thursday, with the complex c...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – Prices of zinc futures in the Shanghai market are likely to stablise, from declines in March, as demand grows and consumption improves, SMM data showed. Zinc prices weakened in early-March as operations recovered at concentrate mines but operation rates at smelters remained unchanged. A subsequent drop of 77,000 mt in LME inventories rattled the m...Read More
New long steel capacity in the pipeline in the Philippines may well disrupt trade flows in Asia once they come on stream, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.This is because the Philippines could reduce its reliance on imports, which would result in seaborne cargoes being diverted elsewhere in the region. Major Philippine rebar producer SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp plans to increase its c...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar returned to stand above 90, following remarks from President Donald Trump's newly-appointed top economic advisor Larry Kudlow.Most nonferrous metals weakened. SHFE nickel and copper dropped about 1%. SHFE tin edged down slightly, while aluminium, zinc and...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper dipped under pressure from the strong dollar, but the pressure is expected to ease as the Federal Reserve's interest rates hike in March will weaken the upward momentum of US dollar. We see copper prices remaining rangebound in the short term while rising in the long term in anticipation of the destocking period. We expect LME copper to trade at...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightThe US dollar returned to stand above 90, following remarks from President Donald Trump's newly-appointed top economic advisor Larry Kudlow.Most nonferrous metals weakened. SHFE nickel and copper dropped about 1%. SHFE tin edged down slightly, while aluminium, zinc and...Read More
Some steel product prices in the United States have risen in response to the looming introduction of 25% tariffs on imports, while sentiment in steel markets outside the US has been dampened by fears of potential shifts in trade flows. US president Donald Trump signed the 25% tariff into law on March 8 after the conclusion of his government's Section 232 investigation, and from Friday March 23 the...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper dipped under pressure from the strong dollar, but the pressure is expected to ease as the Federal Reserve's interest rates hike in March will weaken the upward momentum of US dollar. We see copper prices remaining rangebound in the short term while rising in the long term in anticipation of the destocking period. We expect LME copper to trade at...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) –Copper: LME copper dipped under pressure from the strong dollar, but the pressure is expected to ease as the Federal Reserve's interest rates hike in March will weaken the upward momentum of US dollar. We see copper prices remaining rangebound in the short term while rising in the long term in anticipation of the destocking period. We expect LME copper to trade at...Read More
Global scrap prices remained generally stable except in Taiwan during the working week from Monday March 12 to Friday March 16, amid the uncertainty created by the implementation of Section 232 tariffs in the United States and widespread weak demand for finished steel products.Turkish steel mills have stepped back from the deep-sea scrap markets since the end of the last week and have made no sign...Read More
Trades of ferrous scrap in containers to India have declined sharply this week, amid worries about the knock-on effect of the steel import tariffs being imposed in the United States, sources said on Friday March 16.Buying activity for shredded scrap in containers was steady at the beginning of the week, and at high prices. Toward the end of the week, activity cooled off dramatically although price...Read More
The base price assessments for flat and long stainless steel products in Europe widened upward this week despite continued import pressure, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 16.Metal Bulletin's weekly base price assessment on Friday for 2mm, grade-304 CR stainless steel sheet was ?,?1,050-1,130 ($1,296-1,395) per tonne delivered in Northern Europe, marginally up from ?,?1,050-1,100 per t...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday March 16.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading - with tin being the only metal in negative territory.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:11pm London time:Read our live futures report here."Overall, we see base metals prices consolidating as they wait to...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday March 16.The base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Friday. Zinc and sister metal lead bucked the general weakness, however, albeit with marginal gains.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.LME snapshot at 02.0...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment charges and refining charges (TCs/RCs) have shown little variation over the past two weeks despite an explosion in the numbers of direct trades while the market settled on second-quarter pricing.Smelters in China and elsewhere returned to the spot market for large tonnages, lowering their bids from more than $80 per tonne/$0.08 per lb to settle deals in the mid-$70/$0....Read More