The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday March 2. Aluminium and tin were the only base metals on the London Metal Exchange to close the day in positive territory on Thursday March 1, with the rest of the complex diving. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Thursday's close:United States President Donald Trump announced in a meeting with US...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange mostly closed the week in negative territory on Friday March 2, with aluminium the sole exception.The three-month aluminium price held steady throughout today's trading while the market assessed news that US President Donald Trump intends impose a 10% tariff on aluminium imports."Who knows what it will mean to for exchange prices? For sure it will affect th...Read More
Refining charges (RCs) on blister copper imported into China stayed at high levels in February, with buyers snapping up tonnages on the well-supplied domestic spot market.China purchased several thousand tonnes of 98-99% blister copper, mainly from African producers, at RCs of $200-210 per tonne cif last month, according to Metal Bulletin's assessment.Metal Bulletin introduced its monthly RC asses...Read More
The Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has increased its mineral resource estimate by 50%, which could bring around 21.5 billion lb (9.8 million tonnes) of copper into the market, Ivanhoe Mines said earlier this week. Research conducted in 2017 revealed Kakula's mineral resources at the Kamoa-Kakula mine stand at an estimated 174 million tonnes of which 5.62% is...Read More
A manganese ore price ceiling agreed by Chinese alloy smelters has collapsed a day after representatives agreed not to pay more than $8 per dry metric tonne unit for low-grade ore, Metal Bulletin understands. Representatives from manganese alloy smelters met on Thursday March 1 and agreed a price ceiling for 37% manganese ore after prices for the raw material continued to soar, several market sour...Read More
Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco), Tsingshan Group and Baosteel have all raised their high-carbon ferro-chrome tender prices month on month for March due to tight supply of the stainless steel raw material, higher chrome ore prices and rand appreciation. Tisco has bid 7,750 yuan ($1,221.42) per tonne for high-carbon ferro-chrome for March delivery,100 yuan higher than its February tender price. The day...Read More
Refining charges (RCs) on blister copper imported into China stayed at high levels in February, with buyers snapping up tonnages on the well-supplied domestic spot market.China purchased several thousand tonnes of 98-99% blister copper, mainly from African producers, at RCs of $200-210 per tonne cif last month, according to Metal Bulletin's assessment.Metal Bulletin introduced its monthly RC asses...Read More
The Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has increased its mineral resource estimate by 50%, which could bring around 21.5 billion lb (9.8 million tonnes) of copper into the market, Ivanhoe Mines said earlier this week. Research conducted in 2017 revealed Kakula's mineral resources at the Kamoa-Kakula mine stand at an estimated 174 million tonnes of which 5.62% is...Read More
Peru's government has hailed the successful auction of the Michiquillay copper project as a sign of a revival in mining investment in the Andean nation, but several industry participants dispute that notion.Southern Copper Corp, controlled by Grupo Mexico, last week won a public tender to develop the world-class mining project in Peru's northern region of Cajamarca with an offer of $400 million. T...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of China's minor metals markets in the week of February 26-March 2 and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Scrap prices in the global markets have continued to increase his week, amid strong demand for material in the major importing countries and upward momentum in the US export markets.Turkish steel mills continued to book more-deep sea scrap for April at escalating prices, with the country still enjoying strong demand for its finished steel products.Meanwhile, Taiwan import scrap prices also rose fu...Read More
The UK inter-merchant price range for austenitic alloy steel scrap has gone unchanged this week because a rise in nickel prices at the end of last week was offset by a later drop this week, sources said on Friday March 2.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for inter-merchant 18/8 scrap solids in the UK was ?950-990 ($1,306-1,361) per tonne delivered on Friday, unchanged over the week."The ni...Read More
Strengthening export demand from Europe to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent has pulled up prices for light iron, grade-5C steel scrap in the United Kingdom this week, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 2.The UK light iron scrap market has now moved up for three weeks in a row. Metal Bulletin's price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant b...Read More
South American flat steel import prices increased significantly this week, with mills in China returning to the market with high-priced offers after the Chinese New Year holiday."On Thursday and Friday last week, the market seemed to open weakly in China, so all mills held their offers," a South America-focused trader said. "Then on Monday, the market opened very strongly, and mills applied strong...Read More
Some coated coil producers in Turkey have raised their prices this week, but market participants were expecting prices to increase further.Domestic pricesOne Northern Turkish producer was offering hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil in 0.50mm gauge at $830 per tonne ex-works this week, while a second producer in the same region was fully booked until late May and did not offer any price.https://www.m...Read More
Flat steel prices in Turkey's domestic, import and export markets kept increasing this week amid strong demand, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 2.Local producers were fully booked until the middle of May, and were not giving discounts.Domestic pricesHot-rolled coil (HRC) producers in Turkey have been offering material at $660-670 per tonne ex-works for May production, up fr...Read More
Turkish steel exports to the United States will not be seriously affected by trade sanctions under Section 232 as long as the 25% tariff is applied equally to all countries, the Turkish Steel Exporters Assn (??IB) said on Friday March 2.US President Donald Trump announced his much-anticipated decision on whether to impose trade sanctions under Section 232 before the deadline of April 11, bowing to...Read More
Indian local secondary billet prices rose by 100 rupees ($2) per tonne week on week on Friday March 2, after recovering from significant fall on Monday and Tuesday. Metal Bulletin's price assessment for domestic billet in India, which is mainly produced through the induction furnace route, ended the week at 33,100-33,700 rupees per tonne ex-mill, up 100 rupees compared with&nbs...Read More
Steel mills in the United Kingdom will be heavily disadvantaged if blanket 25% tariffs are applied to their exports to the United States, Richard Warren, head of policy at industry group UK Steel, said on Friday March 2."There is significant apprehension about the indirect effects of these measures in the form of steel trade diverted away from the US to other markets, such as the UK," Warren said....Read More