China's domestic rebar market maintained its upward momentum on Tuesday February 6 amid an improved outlook for prices after the Chinese New Year holiday.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,940 yuan ($616-626) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,940-3,980 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Trading houses have raised their offers slightly on expectations of healthy...Read More
Tight supply resulted in import prices strengthening for steel billet in Southeast Asia and slab in the wider region encompassing East Asia over the past week.Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $535-550 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday February 5, widening upward by $5 per tonne from a week earlier. Deals involving Middle Eastern and Japanese cargo...Read More
After slab prices increased in most regions in January, market participants anticipate limited room for further rises - but material availability is expected to remain tight. Supply was limited in Brazil, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Southeast Asia, while demand has been lively in Turkey and Europe, according to market participants. BrazilIn Brazil, market participants disputed wheth...Read More
Chinese and European ferro-vanadium prices softened last week amid lackluster spot market demand, while the US market held firm under similar conditions. Chinese market slows as Chinese New Year holidays approachEuropean market slightly softer on sluggish spot demandUS market holds course despite thin trading activity Inquiries were thin for fob China vanadium products over the past week, but dome...Read More
Car production in Brazil increased by 24.6% year on year in January, driven by higher sales to both local and export markets.Output came to 216,800 units, against 174,100 vehicles a year before, according to figures released by national automobile association Anfavea on Tuesday February 6. This is the highest output level for the...Read More
Vehicle production in Argentina decreased 18.3% on an annual basis in January, according to figures released by the country's auto association, Asociacion de Fabricas de Automotores (Adefa), on Monday February 5.Automotive production amounted to 21,858 units last month, compared with 26,762 units a year earlier. Production was affected by a lower number of working days in January 2018, compared wi...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have returned to the deep-sea scrap markets for two US cargoes, after a short break for negotiations, sources said on Tuesday February 6.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo on February 6, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $343 per tonne, 20,000 tonnes of shredded at $348 per tonne and 5,000...Read More
Comex copper prices were pulled lower on Tuesday February 6 by a combination of the recent equity sell-off and a dollar increase. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 3.75 cents or 1.2% to $3.2250 per lb. The red metal dipped to a one-week low on Friday following a heavy sell-off in equity markets. "Judging by the limited pullback in the base...Read More
The benchmark Rotterdam duty-unpaid premium touched a fresh one-year high of $100-107 per tonne on Monday February 5, fuelled by a surging US Midwest premium. The aluminium P1020A in-warehouse Rotterdam, duty-unpaid premium touched highs of $105 per tonne in February 2017. Participants short of material and some who want to ship metal to the Midwest, where the premium is at a four-y...Read More
Mining investors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are united in their desire to fight the country's new mining code, and could take legal action if they fail to reach a mutually-agreeable solution, according to the chief executive officer of Randgold Resources.Speaking during an interview with Metal Bulletin on a panel at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, Bristow said that it was...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday February 6.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading today on further profit-taking.Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 12.04pm London time:For a snapshot of exchange news, check out our live futures report.Premiums for index-linked cargoes...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday February 6.Much like yesterday, most base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were under pressure during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, with sharp falls in the US stock market overnight damping market sentiment.Nickel prices continued their recent run of weakness as t...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) – SHFE aluminium led the loss in base metals today with an over 1% drop, while nickel was down 0.75% and lead was 0.66% lower. Copper slid 0.51%.The ferrous complex showed much stronger performance today as coke and coking coal rose 2%. Iron ore also edged up slightly but hot-rolled coil and rebar dipped.Copper: SHFE copper was weaker due to an overall bearish sentiment...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) – SHFE aluminium led the loss in base metals today with an over 1% drop, while nickel was down 0.75% and lead was 0.66% lower. Copper slid 0.51%.The ferrous complex showed much stronger performance today as coke and coking coal rose 2%. Iron ore also edged up slightly but hot-rolled coil and rebar dipped.Copper: SHFE copper was weaker due to an overall bearish sentiment...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) – SHFE aluminium led the loss in base metals today with an over 1% drop, while nickel was down 0.75% and lead was 0.66% lower. Copper slid 0.51%.The ferrous complex showed much stronger performance today as coke and coking coal rose 2%. Iron ore also edged up slightly but hot-rolled coil and rebar dipped.Copper: SHFE copper was weaker due to an overall bearish sentiment...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) – SMM assessed imported copper concentrate treatment charges (TCs) at $74-86/mt as of Friday February 2, unchanged from a week ago as the holiday mood kicked in.Trading liquidity was thin and enquiries were few and far between, sources told SMM. We expect the copper concentrate spot market to be quiet until early March.In the domestic market, the pricing coefficient of...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) –Copper: We see firm support for SHFE copper at the 53,000 yuan/mt level with both sides of the market at a standoff. In the spot market, sellers were unwilling to let go their cargoes at big discounts as the price spread between the SHFE 1802 and 1803 contracts continued to expand. We expect spot copper to trade at a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) – LME nickel inventory fell for the 10th consecutive trading day to 350,652 mt as of Monday February 5, marking the lowest level since late September 2014. Nickel inventory at SHFE was also lower for three weeks in a row, at 56,194 mt as of Friday February 2. For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on how to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) –Copper: We see firm support for SHFE copper at the 53,000 yuan/mt level with both sides of the market at a standoff. In the spot market, sellers were unwilling to let go their cargoes at big discounts as the price spread between the SHFE 1802 and 1803 contracts continued to expand. We expect spot copper to trade at a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) –Copper: We see firm support for SHFE copper at the 53,000 yuan/mt level with both sides of the market at a standoff. In the spot market, sellers were unwilling to let go their cargoes at big discounts as the price spread between the SHFE 1802 and 1803 contracts continued to expand. We expect spot copper to trade at a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 20 yuan/mt to...Read More