Coal shipments from Australia's metallurgical coal hub of Queensland fell 4.4% on the year in February. Ports in the Australian state shipped 15.98 million tonnes of coal - including some thermal coal - last month, compared with 16.71 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the latest data...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the EU have been largely unchanged over the past week because market activity has been slow, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 7."The majority of buyers have booked the volumes they needed and now prefer to wait and see where the market will move," a German trader said.Northern EuropeMetal Bulletin's weekly price assessment...Read More
Prices for domestic mesh-quality wire rod produced and delivered in Europe remained flat this week, with the market being underpinned by healthy lead times, sources said."Stocks are low, there is not much material around and the 'good' season is coming," one Southern European mill source said on Wednesday March 7.A Northern European producer source agreed, adding that his mill was...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the EU have been largely stable over the past week, with buyers remaining in "wait-and-see" mode, sources have told Metal Bulletin.European mills have been offering June-production HRC but buyers have held back from booking significant volumes until the market trend becomes clear for the third quarter of the year.In addition, end-users have not fully tr...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are down across the board by an average of 0.3% this morning, Wednesday March 7. Nickel leads the decline with a 0.9% drop to $13,520 per tonne, while the rest are off between less than 0.1% and 0.3%, with three-month copper prices at $6,977 per tonne.Volume has been average with 6,272 lots traded as of 06.48am London time. Precious metals prices are...Read More
The restriction on imports of some copper scrap products to China has already caused the industry to make some process changes but many questions are still unanswered, a panel of scrap experts said at the Metal Bulletin Copper conference.The number of licenses granted by the Chinese government for copper scrap imports dropped by 94% year on year to account for 136,685 tonnes in the first two...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 15 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are responding to the resignation of Gary Cohn, top White House economic advisor. U.S. equity index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February ADP employment report at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was a slip to 203,000 from 234,000 in January. Actual was 235,...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday March 7.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading- with nickel diving 1.6%.Here's how prices looked at 12:07 London time:Read our live futures report here. "Most of the base metals remain on a back footing this morning and that seems to be a resul...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – The 0# common brand zinc traded at a discount of 50-30 yuan/mt against the SHFE 1804 contract on Wednesday March 7, compared with discounts of 40-20 yuan/mt a day earlier, SMM learned.The Shuangyan brand traded at a premium of 0-10 yuan/mt, down from a premium of 20-40 yuan/mt.At noon, 1# zinc traded at 25,400-25,460 yuan/mt. For editorial queries, please contact...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China is likely to eliminate its dependency on overseas refined copper and move to develop foreign copper ore supplies by optimising its industry, SMM believes.China will intensify efforts to improve capacity structure and reorganise steel, coal and power enterprises, said deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Nin...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightMarkets were rattled following the resignation of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn. The US dollar declined and hovered at 89.4.Base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE tin edged down while nickel rose over 1%. LME nickel jumped close to 2%, copper rose almost 1% while...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Singapore as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday March 7.Aluminium prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, after market participants were left with little to cheer about due to the uncertainty surrounding China's plans for further aluminium capacity cuts this year.Check Metal...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightMarkets were rattled following the resignation of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn. The US dollar declined and hovered at 89.4.Base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE tin edged down while nickel rose over 1%. LME nickel jumped close to 2%, copper rose almost 1% while...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightMarkets were rattled following the resignation of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn. The US dollar declined and hovered at 89.4.Base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE tin edged down while nickel rose over 1%. LME nickel jumped close to 2%, copper rose almost 1% while...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More