Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part consolidating after recent weakness, the exceptions are aluminium prices that are up by 0.7% at $2,147 per tonne and lead prices that are down by 0.5% at $2,490 per tonne. The rest are little changed, with copper prices recently quoted at $6,943 per tonne.Volume has been average with 8,708 lots traded as of 07.12 am London time....Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 1 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightAs the US dollar continued to go up, with the dollar index hitting a post-Chinese New Year high at 90.62, and China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) failed to meet expectations, we saw a big slump in base metals futures except for SHFE alumi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 1 (SMM) -Copper: LME copper lost support at the $7,000/mt level and SHFE copper fell to a low of 52,380 yuan/mt overnight as the US dollar remained strong. With pressure on base metals, we see copper staying rangebound in the short term with possible upward room in the medium term. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,900-6,970/mt and the SHFE 1804 contract to trad...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 1 (SMM) -Copper: LME copper lost support at the $7,000/mt level and SHFE copper fell to a low of 52,380 yuan/mt overnight as the US dollar remained strong. With pressure on base metals, we see copper staying rangebound in the short term with possible upward room in the medium term. We expect LME copper to trade at $6,900-6,970/mt and the SHFE 1804 contract to trad...Read More
Codelco's commercial vice president, Rodrigo Toro, and the general manager of its Salvador division, Juan Carlos Avenda??o, are leaving the company, the Chilean copper miner said late on Wednesday February 28.Toro will leave Codelco on April 1 and will be replaced by Roberto Ecclefield, who is currently in charge of sales for the company's...Read More
Nickel stocks in the Shanghai-bonded zone surged in February due to the enlarged negative arbitrage between London Metal Exchange prices and the Chinese domestic market, while higher zinc stocks were attributed to sufficient domestic supply and soft demand in the China market. In February 2018, Shanghai-bonded nickel stocks increased by 69.8% month on month, after the sustained negative arbitrage...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce a financial over-the-counter (OTC) booking fee, which will be payable from June 1, the exchange said on Thursday March 1. Following a consultation period with the market, the exchange announced on Thursday that it will set a OTC booking fee of $1 per equivalent LME lot which will be paid by financial institutions for each OTC trade executed in place of an L...Read More
Iron ore prices recovered some losses on Thursday March 1 and returned above $79 per tonne though demand remained sluggish.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $79.39 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $0.78 per tonne Month-to-date average: $79.39 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $62.05 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $0.43...Read More
Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market remains thin, though some buyers are expecting prices to rise amid a paucity of Australian supply. A cargo of tier-two product was heard offered around $195-200 per tonne fob Australia while top-tier materials were said to be available at $240-250 per tonne cfr China. "It is definitely a sellers' market at this stage with very few seaborne cargoe...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce a financial over-the-counter (OTC) booking fee, which will be payable from June 1, the exchange said on Thursday March 1. Following a consultation period with the market, the exchange announced on Thursday that it will set a OTC booking fee of $1 per equivalent LME lot which will be paid by financial institutions for each OTC trade executed in place of an L...Read More
Nickel stocks in the Shanghai-bonded zone surged in February due to the enlarged negative arbitrage between London Metal Exchange prices and the Chinese domestic market, while higher zinc stocks were attributed to sufficient domestic supply and soft demand in the China market. In February 2018, Shanghai-bonded nickel stocks increased by 69.8% month on month, after the sustained negative arbitrage...Read More
The global alumina supply picture would likely look very different were it not for the introduction and adoption of alumina indices published by price reporting agencies, according to Mark Roggensinger, senior market analyst at Hydro.Had alumina prices been locked into long-term contracts as a percentage of the aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange, prevailing alumina prices would have been...Read More
Brazil will look for ways to avoid being included in any measures related to the US Section 232 investigation into steel and aluminum imports."The Brazilian government is deeply concerned about the information released today that the United States intends to impose an additional tariff of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports as a result of the investigation based on Section 232," the...Read More
Northeast Asia is becoming the "price-maker" for caustic soda going forward, with the market in a price upswing cycle, according to an analyst at IHS Global Chlor-Alkali. "The Northeast Asia region has become today's caustic consumption powerhouse," Hazel Kreuz said, referring to China, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea. "It is shifting to the high cost global chlor-alkali region, becoming the price...Read More
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.Lead prices hit a two-and-a-half-month low of $2,443.50 earlier today and closed down 2.1% after recent stock inflows eased the nearby spreads significantly. The cash/three-month spread is now at a $6.15-per-tonne contango from a $...Read More
Spain, Europe's third largest zinc consumer, used almost a third less zinc last year compared with 2016, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS). In 2017, the country's annual consumption dropped 28% to 203,900 tonnes, versus 283,400 tonnes a year earlier, the data released on Wednesday February 28 showed. By comparison, there was a 4.3% decline...Read More
Evraz has signed an agreement to sell its last Ukrainian asset - Evraz DMZ (EDMZ) - the company announced on Thursday March 1.The buyer is Senalior Investments, part of the DCH Group owned by Ukrainian businessman Alexander Yaroslavskiy. The approximate cost of the deal is $106 million.In June 2017, DHC Group also purchased Evraz's Kryvyi Rih-based iron ore asset Sukha Balka.EDMZ is located in Dne...Read More
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the eurozone manufacturing sector has contracted for the second month in a row, amid a slowdown in the growth of new export orders, data organization IHS Markit said on Thursday March 1.February's final manufacturing PMI for the eurozone was 58.6, compared with 59.6 for January and the record high of 60.1 in December 2017.Anything above 50 indicates that th...Read More
German metals distributor Kl??ckner made a 12.3% year-on-year increase in earnings over the full year of 2017 because of higher prices and efficiency measures, the company said on Wednesday February 28.Kl??ckner's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose to ?,?220 million ($269 million) in 2017, up from ?,?196 million in 2016.The increase was a result of interna...Read More
The Brazilian competition regulator has rejected CSN's appeal against the decision to approve a merger between long steel producers ArcelorMittal Brasil and Votorantim Siderurgia.The members of Cade's administrative court unanimously rejected on Wednesday February 28 the...Read More