SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) - Copper: As SHFE copper stayed firm with support at the 52,000 yuan/mt level, we expect the 1805 contract to trade at 52,000-52,600 yuan/mt today, with LME copper at $6,880-6,950/mt. Spot discounts are seen slightly smaller at 180-130 yuan/mt today with the recovery of downstream consumption.Aluminium: With the US dollar index falling below the 90 level, LME aluminium i...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part weaker this morning, Monday March 5, with the complex down by an average of 0.4%.Nickel leads on the downside with a 1.1% fall, copper prices are down by 0.4% at $6,887 per tonne and tin is the only metal where prices are higher, up by 0.2% at $21,595 per tonne.Volume has been high with 10,045 lots traded as of 07.30am London ti...Read More
The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years has swung zinc's London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread into contango for the first time in 2018. Some 78,950 tonnes were delivered into LME-approved warehouses in New Orleans on Monday March 5 - the largest inflow since July 2013, increasing on-warrant stock levels by 94%. And it is not just the LME which has seen stocks rising; Shanghai Futur...Read More
The Atlantic alumina market will swing back to a premium over the Pacific as a result of a 50% cut to output, and subsequent force majeure announcement, from Hydro's Alunorte refinery in Brazil, according to market participants spoken to by Metal Bulletin. The tightness resultant from the cut to Hydro's production will be sufficient to see alumina trade at a premium in the Atlantic, while absolute...Read More
Lead and zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange both closed lower on Monday March 5, reflecting recent stock increases. Zinc hit a two-month low of $3,273.50 per tonne today after a massive 78,950-tonne delivery into LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans. The metal was still $59 per tonne lower at $3,296 at the 5pm London close.The metal's cash/three-month spread briefly swung back into contango...Read More
The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years has swung zinc's London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread into contango for the first time in 2018. Some 78,950 tonnes were delivered into LME-approved warehouses in New Orleans on Monday March 5 - the largest inflow since July 2013, increasing on-warrant stock levels by 94%. And it is not just the LME which has seen stocks rising; Shanghai Futur...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Monday March 5 after China's ferrous futures weakened across the board.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $77.03 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $1.31 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $78.25 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $60.78 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.89 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $61.50 per tonneMetal....Read More
So President Trump confirmed, last week, that from later this week, he will formally introduce a blanket tariff on steel imports, at 25%, and aluminium, at 10%.Both tariffs are in fact higher than those recommended by the DOC (Dept. of Commerce). In return, he stated to a number of metal manufacturers Thursday (March 1) "You'll have to regrow your industries; that's all I'm asking". To be fair to...Read More
Growth in the Chinese manufacturing sector slowed significantly in the first two months of 2018, and coupled with falling figures for car and house sales the outlook would appear to be far from positive.With a large portion of the year so far having been taken up by official holidays, however, the overall health of China's economy is clearly distorted right now, so it is difficult to draw any clea...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have continued their April scrap bookings at comparatively higher prices, sources said on Monday March 5.A steel mill in the Izmir region was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $372 per tonne and bonus at $382 per tonne cfr. The breakdown of the cargo was not clear at...Read More
European aluminium premiums have dipped below $100 per tonne in recent days due to a prolonged tightness in London Metal Exchange spreads, but could rebound now that the market is back in contango, despite the prospect of US import duties, market participants said. The benchmark Rotterdam P1020a duty-unpaid premium dropped to $95-105 per tonne on Friday March 2 from $100-107 per tonne the day...Read More
Comex copper prices inched higher in early-Monday trading on March 5 after trending lower last week.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.1 cents or 0.1% to $3.1255 per lb. Last week, the contract traded at a multi-week low before recovering slightly Friday afternoon."We should now get an update on how bullish underlying support...Read More
The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years has swung zinc's London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread into contango for the first time in 2018. Some 78,950 tonnes were delivered into LME-approved warehouses in New Orleans on Monday March 5 - the largest inflow since July 2013, increasing on-warrant stock levels by 94%. And it is not just the LME which has seen stocks rising; Shanghai Futur...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday March 5.The three-month zinc price is trading 1.5% lower on the London Metal Exchange, following a large stock delivery into New Orleans.On-warrant stock levels in LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans have almost doubled following the 78,950 tonne delivery. This is the largest one-day net increase for zinc stoc...Read More
Hydro chief financial officer Eivind Kallevik has been appointed interim head of bauxite and alumina amid the company's disrupted operations and a force majeure at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Par??, Brazil. Kallevik held the position as head of finance for bauxite and alumina in Brazil for two years before becoming CFO in 2013. He also led the bauxite and alumina division for an interim perio...Read More
The three-month zinc price is trading 1.5% lower on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Monday March 5, following a large stock delivery into New Orleans. On-warrant stock levels in LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans have almost doubled following the 78,950 tonne delivery. This is the largest one-day net increase for zinc stocks in this location since July 2013. The backwardation in the cash...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday March 5*Copper -$63.99 (-406.20 yuan) Aluminium -$440.42 (-2,795.73 yuan) Zinc -$109.02 (-692.06 yuan) Nickel -$426.25 (-2,705.82 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical...Read More
Brazilian exports of carbon steel slab and billet fell in February, according to figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, on Monday March 5. Exports of carbon steel slab reached 511,172 tonnes last month, down by 16.82% from the 614,560 tonnes sold in February 2017.The United States was the largest buyer of carbon slab during the month, with 221,934 tonnes, a growth from 103...Read More
Brazilian long steel imports increased by 198.66% year-on-year in February 2018, with higher shipment volumes coming from Turkey.Imports of non-alloyed long steel products amounted to 29,392 tonnes during the month, against 9,841 tonnes in the February 2017, according to figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC,...Read More
Brazilian flat steel import volume dropped by 10.55% year-on-year in February 2018, mostly because of lower inbound shipments from China.Imports came to 56,048 tonnes, against 62,656 tonnes in February 2017, according to figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, on Monday March 5.China was the...Read More