China's domestic rebar prices remained the same as before the country's Chinese New Year break on Thursday February 22 amid thin trading. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,920 yuan ($608-618) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,950-3,990 yuan per tonne, unchanged Very few traders were offering rebar on the first working day after a weeklong holiday. Most market participants h...Read More
China's ferrous futures tumbled during the morning trading session on Thursday February 22 with sentiment cooling continually in the opening hours after the country returned to work after a weeklong Lunar New Year holiday.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,860 yuan ($608) per tonne, down 78 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,924 yuan per tonne, down...Read More
If US President Donald Trump approves Section 232 recommendations made by the country's Commerce Department, it could threaten the European steel market with export reduction and the growth of redirected import flows, sources told Metal Bulletin.The decision, however, might also allow European exporters to sell increased quantities of long steel products into the US market, should President Trump...Read More
Unfavorable weather conditions in Queensland, Australia have left buyers of seaborne coking coal anxious about how they might affect supply, though some services on the state's coal rail network have been restarted following recent disruptions.Some sections of the Goonyella line in the Central Queensland Coal System were re-opened to traffic on Thursday February 22 following track inspections this...Read More
Taiwan saw a 25% year-on-year increase in ferrous scrap imports in December, according to the territory's customs agency.The island imported 236,058 tonnes of ferrous scrap during that month, 46,570 tonnes higher than the 189,488 tonnes it took in a year earlier, data from its Customs Administration...Read More
Apple has been experimenting with ways to recover cobalt from its lithium-ion batteries and to use recycled cobalt. The company says it could potentially recover 550 kilograms of cobalt from every 100,000 iPhone 6 devices it recycles. Now there are reports it's looking to secure cobalt directly from miners, marking a further move by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ensure certainty of ra...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was the only base metal to close in positive territory on Thursday February 22, with the rest of the complex caught in a sell-off. "Through the afternoon sessions, and with the US dollar lower again, upward momentum was maintained and some prices recovered broadly to yesterday's levels." Sucden Financial noted. Copper dipped as low as $7,00...Read More
Exporters of CIS-origin pig iron sold large tonnages of material this week at lower prices, but are now preparing to increase their offers amid a bullish scrap market, sources have told Metal Bulletin.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment on Thursday February 22 for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS region was $345-370 per tonne fob Black Sea, unchanged week-on-week.After the price assessmen...Read More
Wieland-Werke will strengthen its position as Europe's largest semi-finished copper products producer by acquiring Aurubis' rolled-products division later this year, yet the deal is intended to kickstart growth in the US and Asian markets, chief executive officer Erwin Mayr told Metal Bulletin. The two German companies said they were in talks over the acquisition, which will see Wieland take on a...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading as China reopens after the week-long holiday with SHFE lead, nickel and copper up slightly while aluminium slid over 1%. Both tin and zinc also edged down.In the ferrous complex, both coking coal and coke went up while rebar was down 1.7% and hot-rolled coil slipped 1.4%.Copper: SHFE copper came off from highs registered ea...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading as China reopens after the week-long holiday with SHFE lead, nickel and copper up slightly while aluminium slid over 1%. Both tin and zinc also edged down.In the ferrous complex, both coking coal and coke went up while rebar was down 1.7% and hot-rolled coil slipped 1.4%.Copper: SHFE copper came off from highs registered ea...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the weekly jobless report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was unchanged from the previous week at 230,000. Actual was 222,000.The Canadian Dollar dropped 0.24 to US 78.52 cents following release of Canadian December Retail Sales. Conse...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bullet's London office, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday February 22.Base metals on the LME fell across the board this morning, with a sell-off taking place following China's return to the market.Below is an LME...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading as China reopens after the week-long holiday with SHFE lead, nickel and copper up slightly while aluminium slid over 1%. Both tin and zinc also edged down.In the ferrous complex, both coking coal and coke went up while rebar was down 1.7% and hot-rolled coil slipped 1.4%.Copper: SHFE copper came off from highs registered ea...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) – This is a roundup of major news in the world of metals in China over the past week.- The People’s Bank of China issued 350 billion yuan of reverse repo on the first working day after Chinese New Year in a bid to maintain the stability of liquidity in the banking system. The injection was made through a seven-day, 160-billion-yuan reverse repo, a 28-day, 130-bil...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) –Copper: While LME copper rebounded and hit a high at $7,144.5/mt overnight, a possibly stronger US dollar poses risks following the Federal Reserve Board’s hint of interest rates increase. We expect LME copper to trade at $7,050-7,160/mt today with SHFE copper at 52,500-53,500 yuan/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 200-150 yuan...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday February 22.Base metals on the SHFE were all down on the Chinese market opening after the one-week holiday. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.SHFE snapshot at 12:37pm Shanghai timeMost-traded SHFE contracts Price (yuan per tonne)Change since previous session's close (yuan...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) –Copper: While LME copper rebounded and hit a high at $7,144.5/mt overnight, a possibly stronger US dollar poses risks following the Federal Reserve Board’s hint of interest rates increase. We expect LME copper to trade at $7,050-7,160/mt today with SHFE copper at 52,500-53,500 yuan/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 200-150 yuan...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) –Copper: While LME copper rebounded and hit a high at $7,144.5/mt overnight, a possibly stronger US dollar poses risks following the Federal Reserve Board’s hint of interest rates increase. We expect LME copper to trade at $7,050-7,160/mt today with SHFE copper at 52,500-53,500 yuan/mt today. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 200-150 yuan...Read More
The metals prices on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday February 22 are down an average of 1.6%, with nickel prices down the most with a 2.3% decline to $13,460 per tonne and copper prices off 1.6% at $7,024 per tonne. With China back at work after the Lunar New year holiday, volumes on the LME have been high with 16,127 lots traded as of 07:32 am London time. Wednesday’s trading had seen...Read More