The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday March 14.Lead was the strongest performer on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday March 13, closing 2.2% higher at the 5pm close. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Tuesday's close:Early starts to the multitude of labor negotiations due at Chilean copper mines this year could mitigate the r...Read More
The European Commission is investigating whether the United Kingdom imposes enough tax on commodity derivative trades, according to the UK Treasury. The Commission issued a "letter of formal notice" in the first stage of what is known as an infraction process, which allows it to sue European Union member states if they fail to adhere to EU law. The letter sets out the Commission's initial views on...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday March 14.Lead was the strongest performer on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday March 13, closing 2.2% higher at the 5pm close. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Tuesday's close:Early starts to the multitude of labor negotiations due at Chilean copper mines this year could mitigate the r...Read More
Teck Resources and Asian smelters have agreed to cut annual lead concentrate treatment charges (TCs) by 28% in 2018 supply contracts, sources with knowledge of the deals told Metal Bulletin.The deals bring lead concentrate TCs, fees paid to smelters for the costs of processing concentrates into metal, down to $99 per tonne from $138 per tonne last year. Market sources also noted a drop in containe...Read More
Workers at Cobre Panama, the only major copper mine scheduled to come onstream in 2018, have gone on strike, operator First Quantum said on Wednesday March 14."A small number of personnel and their outside union leadership" downed tools on Friday last week, according to a company statement.Although the dominant union is not involved in the strike, development can only be carried out in two of the...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths at the close on Wednesday March 14, with copper leading the gains. The three-month zinc price was the worst affected today because prices were over 2% lower at the close - fresh deliveries into LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans put pressure on prices. "Zinc is down on account of another 10,000 tonne increase in LME stock ho...Read More
Teck Resources and Asian smelters have agreed to cut annual lead concentrate treatment charges (TCs) by 28% in 2018 supply contracts, sources with knowledge of the deals told Metal Bulletin.The deals bring lead concentrate TCs, fees paid to smelters for the costs of processing concentrates into metal, down to $99 per tonne from $138 per tonne last year. Market sources also noted a drop in containe...Read More
Workers at Cobre Panama, the only major copper mine scheduled to come onstream in 2018, have gone on strike, operator First Quantum said on Wednesday March 14."A small number of personnel and their outside union leadership" downed tools on Friday last week, according to a company statement.Although the dominant union is not involved in the strike, development can only be carried out in two of the...Read More
Weakening demand for rebar in the Turkish domestic and export markets has kept Turkish steel producers out of the deep-sea scrap markets, sources said on Wednesday March 14.Turkish steel producers paused their deep-sea scrap purchases after the Section 232 import tariffs were officially signed into effect in the United States, adding a 25% import duty on all steel product imports, exempting only C...Read More
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reassessing its approach to formulation, implementing and enforcing its regulations, the chairman of the regulatory body said. The regulator is committed to "right-sizing" the CFTC's regulatory footprint following years of expansive Dodd-Frank rule writing, J Christopher Giancarlo told delegates at the 43rd annual Futures Industry Association (...Read More
Comex copper prices hit a multi-week high in Wednesday morning trading in the United States after the publication of positive Chinese data.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 4.7 cents or 1.5% to trade recently at $3.1850 per lb Earlier this morning, China's industrial production grew 7.2% year on year in January-February 2018, a full percent...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part consolidating this morning, Wednesday March 14, although copper and lead prices are showing gains of 0.5% and 0.3% respectively, with the former at $6,984 per tonne.Volume has been average with 7,085 lots traded as of 07.06am London time. This follows a day when most prices rebounded on Tuesday, with the complex closing up by an...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the EU have gone unchanged over the past week due to a limited market, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 14.Buyers have been in "wait-and-see" mode until the price trend becomes clear."The mills are sold out and buyers have enough material," an Italian trader said. "Because the third-quarter-production prices for hot-rolled coil [HRC]...Read More
Prices trend in the market for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the EU remain positive despite weak market activity and stable prices, sources told Metal Bulletin this week.Despite the limited trading activity, prices are not expected to go down, according to market sources.European mills have already almost sold out their second-quarter production material, but have not announced new prices yet. The new...Read More
Italian steel re-rollers have been trying to achieve price increases for heavy plate products following the recent rise in slab costs, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 14.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel plate in Southern Europe was ?,?580-590 ($717-729) per tonne ex-works on Wednesday, unchanged over the week.The lower end of the assessm...Read More
Prices for steel beams in Europe could come under downward pressure in the coming weeks because of waning demand, despite mills plotting further price rises, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 14."Demand for beams is not strong, which means that we are selling below our budget in terms of tonnes," one Northern European distributor said.Stockholders continue to hold bloated volumes of b...Read More
Prices for hollow steel sections in Northern Europe have fallen by ?,?5 ($6) per tonne this week, with some mills accepting lower bids to secure orders, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 14.Meanwhile, Southern European prices widened upward by ?,?5 per tonne, with the large Italian mills being more successful in driving up their offer prices, sources said.Metal Bulletin's...Read More
Weakening demand for rebar in the Turkish domestic and export markets has kept Turkish steel producers out of the deep-sea scrap markets, sources said on Wednesday March 14.Turkish steel producers paused their deep-sea scrap purchases after the Section 232 import tariffs were officially signed into effect in the United States, adding a 25% import duty on all steel product imports, exempting only C...Read More
Iron ore prices rebounded by close to $2 per tonne on Wednesday March 14 after demand picked up in the wake of prices falling below $70 per tonne cfr China a day earlier. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $71.64 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $1.86 per tonne Month-to-date average: $74.13 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $57.56 per tonne cfr Qingdao Dail...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market appears to have regained some stability on Wednesday March 14 after a two-week decline, with a few big trading companies bottom-fishing for high-grade products after prices fell below $70 per tonne cfr China.Key drivers Sources at several major trading companies said they were looking to buy April-delivery cargoes of Pilbara Blend fines and lumps as well as a few for d...Read More