Increased supply of bauxite from Indonesia is likely to prevent any price rally and could even weaken prices in 2018 after Jakarta relaxed its export ban on the raw material last year, market participants said.Indonesian bauxite is attractive to Chinese alumina refineries because of very competitive pricing due to its low-cost production and cheap freight costs to China, they added."With...Read More
The Brazilian government and national steel institute A??o Brasil are deciding whether to "immediately file an appeal" with the United States government against its "extreme" decision to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports, the association said late on Thursday March 8.The group understands that the "blockage" of Brazilian steel exports to the US market - mostly slab steel, which is re-rolled by...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) in the European Union have been largely unchanged this week, but the price trend remains positive, sources told Metal Bulletin.The upward trend is supported by good order books of domestic mills and bullish sentiment in the hot-rolled coil (HRC) market.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic HDG in Northern Europe was sta...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have increased further this week, thanks to strong demand and rising costs for scrap and billet, sources said on Thursday March 8.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar was $620-635 per tonne ex-works, up from the $605-625 per tonne of last week.The local rebar price in the Izmir region was $620-625 per tonne...Read More
Spot prices for European molybdic oxide and ferro-molybdenum have been relatively stable in Metal Bulletin's midweek assessment, with market activity muted while dealers await the result of second-quarter delivery tenders from consumers in the steel sector. Oxide prices have been unchanged on only 20 tonnes of reported trades, while the alloy market price range has widened on reported trades of ab...Read More
Tungsten miner Wolf Minerals saw its losses narrow in the second half of last year, supported by a significant increase in revenue from its tungsten concentrate and tin businesses during the period. Wolf recorded a net loss of $35.4 million after tax for the half year ended December 31, down by 6% from a loss of $37.7 million in the corresponding period of 2016, according to the company's interim...Read More
Turkish steel producers spent Thursday March 8 without making any deep-sea scrap transactions, but they are still expected to book more cargoes for April, according to market sources.The mills have booked a number of deep-sea cargoes this week, leading to an increase in the prices."Today, the scrap market was quiet, but Turkish mills need more...Read More
China's coke export offers have risen to track domestic price increases after the country's Chinese New Year break, but trading activity has yet to pick up.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Chinese coke exports with 65% coke strength after reaction (CSR), 12.5% ash, and in physical sizes of 30-90mm, was $355-365 per tonne fob China for the week ended Tuesday March 6.This has widened upward fro...Read More
Iron ore prices tumbled to $73 per tonne cfr China on Thursday March 8 amid a weakening Chinese steel market.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $73.23 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $2.61 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $76.65 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $59.28 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $1.05 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $60.78 p...Read More
Seaborne coking coal buyers are expecting prices for premium hard coking coal to fall amid ample availability of cargoes in the market. A shipment of premium low-vol materials was heard to have traded at $235 per tonne cfr China on Thursday March 8. Half of the 10 cargoes of premium materials offered in the market have a March-laycan while the rest are scheduled for loading in April, according to...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBeijing Iron...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to drop on Thursday March 8 with the April swaps contract hitting the $70-per-tonne-cfr-China mark amid a weakening Chinese steel market.Key driversChina's ferrous futures tanked across the board for a second day, with the benchmark contracts falling 2.9-3.8% from the settlement levels a day earlier. The iron ore contract had the worst performance, ending just ab...Read More
China's ferrous futures, especially those of finished steel, remained weak during morning trading on Thursday March 8.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,858 ($610) per tonne, down 27 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,940 yuan per tonne, down 21 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 512.50 yuan per tonne, down 0.50 yuan per tonneMay...Read More
China's iron ore imports edged up by 0.9% on the year in February despite the Chinese New Year break.The world's largest buyer of the steelmaking raw material took in 84.27 million tonnes last month, up from 83.49 million tonnes a year earlier, according...Read More
Prices for high and low-grade cobalt metal rallied through the $40 per lb psychological barrier in the midweek pricing session, with scope to keep rising over the coming days and weeks. High prices are, at least for now, unlikely to deter purchasing, because tight supplies, strong demand from the battery and super-alloy sectors and larger volume inquiries are sufficient to underpin the latest gain...Read More
Cobalt log based on trades, bids and offers confirmed to Metal Bulletin.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Click here for Metal Bulletin's cobalt pricing specifications. Click here for Metal Bulletin's January cobalt trade log. Click here for Metal Bulletin's February cobalt trade log. Metal Bulletin prices Click here for...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are split into two camps this morning, Thursday March 8, with copper ($6,924 per tonne), nickel, zinc and tin prices all down by an average of 0.6%, while aluminium and lead prices are up by an average of 0.3%.Volume has been average with 7,370 lots traded as of 06.43am London time. This follows a day of weakness on Wednesday when prices were down by...Read More
Stainless cold-rolled coil prices in East Asia widened over the past week with offers from China and Taiwan going in opposite directions, while those for stainless hot-rolled sheet narrowed on thin trading.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed CRC was $2,235-2,350 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday March 7, widening from $2,250-2,330...Read More
Copper product manufacturers are already suffering from the growing trend for protectionism, panelists at the Metal Bulletin Copper Conference said, and prices could suffer if global trade founders in the coming years.The physical steel and aluminium markets are reeling after the United States said it intends to introduce tariffs on imports of 25% and 10% respectively.The LME three-month copper pr...Read More
Major aluminium producers and Japanese buyers are closer to reaching a premium settlement for its second-quarter aluminium supply after further deals were concluded at a premium of $129 per tonne to main Japanese ports (MJP). Second-quarter deals amounting to close to 40,000 tonnes have been reported to Metal Bulletin since the start of this week. The first deal was confirmed on Monday. The $...Read More