SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (SMM) - Copper: The physical market has been sluggish with the approaching Chinese New Year dragging copper prices. However, a weak US dollar would prevent them from dropping dramatically. We expect the SHFE 1803 contract to trade at 53,000-53,500 yuan/mt today and the LME copper at $7,060-7,110/mt. Spot discounts are seen stable at 160-100 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME alumi...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are stronger by an average of 1% this morning, Monday January 29. Nickel and zinc prices lead the way with gains of around 2%, followed by lead prices that are up by 1% and copper prices ($7,147 per tonne) that are up by 0.8%, while aluminium and tin lag with gains of 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.Volume has been strong with 13,382 lots traded as of 07....Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (SMM) – China’s zinc import in January is likely to drop from levels seen in December with lower SHFE/LME price ratio and increased loss for imports, SMM believes.Zinc import last month amounted to 100,845 mt, up over 300% from December 2016, according to customs data. China’s total zinc imports for 2017 were up 59% year on year to 674,789 mt.Higher zinc inflows...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (SMM) - Copper: The physical market has been sluggish with the approaching Chinese New Year dragging copper prices. However, a weak US dollar would prevent them from dropping dramatically. We expect the SHFE 1803 contract to trade at 53,000-53,500 yuan/mt today and the LME copper at $7,060-7,110/mt. Spot discounts are seen stable at 160-100 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME alumi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (SMM) - Copper: The physical market has been sluggish with the approaching Chinese New Year dragging copper prices. However, a weak US dollar would prevent them from dropping dramatically. We expect the SHFE 1803 contract to trade at 53,000-53,500 yuan/mt today and the LME copper at $7,060-7,110/mt. Spot discounts are seen stable at 160-100 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME alumi...Read More
Zinc was the best performer on the London Metal Exchange at the close on Monday January 29, while the other metals diverged.Zinc's three-month price was up $72, or 2%, to $3,550 per tonne, mostly on the back of supply-side factors. Tighter stocks on the LME and adverse weather in zinc-producing provinces of Northwestern China, which makes it difficult to transport zinc out of the region, have...Read More
Commodity markets were mixed on the morning of Monday January 29, with Comex copper picking up a little buying in start-of-week trading.Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.3 cents or 0.1% to trade recently at $3.2020 per lb. Prices have been volatile over the past week, with the weaker dollar - it remains around its lowest in more than...Read More
Iron ore prices softened but remained at the $74-per-tonne-cfr-China mark on Monday January 29 amid declining futures and a subdued steel market in ChinaMetal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $74.33 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: down by $0.07 per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.12 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $60.70 per tonne...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued to trend downward in the Black Sea market in the week ended Monday January 29, with buying activity remaining low and customers expecting more price cuts in the near term.Traders were also said to have built up high levels of stock at ports in recent weeks, which also served to restrict buying activity.Metal Bulletin's weekly export CIS Billet Index dropped to $4...Read More
Zinc miners hope to halve the annual concentrate Treatment Charges (TCs) in initial offer prices to smelters this year, while the market prepares for what could be one of the most vibrantly contested negotiations for years.Miners have offered smelters outside of China a flat TC. This is a discount on the London Metal Exchange price for zinc paid to smelters for converting concentrate to metal. Thi...Read More
European alloy surcharges for January deliveries of grade-316 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet have risen sharply month on month amid higher nickel and molybdenum costs.The February assessment for molybdenum-containing 2 mm grade-316 CR sheet - compiled by Metal Bulletin based on data released by Outokumpu, Acerinox and Aperam - rose ?,?99-155 ($123.03-192.62) per tonne to ?,?1,923-1,963 per...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) for spot market zinc concentrates dropped to multiyear lows while Chinese smelters re-entered the market for tonnages in January.TCs for lead concentrates also remain depressed, with supply shortages restricting the amount of material on offer and traded lots shrinking.Zinc concentrate TCs dropped $10 per tonne over January to a $10-30 per tonne level. Direct trades were re...Read More
Codelco has reached an early wage deal with unionized workers at its Andina division, the Chilean copper producer said on Saturday January 27. The agreement, signed with Andina's two trade unions, includes a 1% pay rise and an end-of-negotiation bonus of 8.2 million Chilean pesos ($13,592) per worker, Codelco said. The state-run miner added that the deal also includes improved benefits and variabl...Read More
There is more to excite the metals industry than the batteries boom, argues Lord Copper, with the global economy's gradual emergence from the 2008 recession boding well for metal demand. Talk to anybody about metals these days and they are almost guaranteed to turn the conversation to batteries, electric vehicles and the metals that produce the motive power. Tesla's Elon Musk certainly garners far...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange began the week in positive territory during London morning trading on Monday January 29, with nickel up over 2%.Nickel was the best performer, up $305 per tonne, or 2.2%, while zinc was also strong, up $59.50 or 1.7%."Metals are trending up, but it's largely trend flowing behavior, continuing the uptrend from last week," said Oliver Nugent, commodities stra...Read More
Brazilian slab producer Companhia Sider??rgica do Pec?(C)m (CSP) announced on Monday January 29 that its chief executive officer, Eduardo Parente, will resign from his position and join the company's board of directors.Parente has been the steelmaker's CEO since October 2016, when he replaced S?(C)rgio Leite.Parente will remain in his position until a new...Read More
Mexico's output of crude steel increased by 6.20% in 2017, compared with the previous year, to 20 million tonnes, according to national steel association Canacero.Most of the increase was due to a growth of 32% in the production of semi-finished steel products, Canacero said. Meanwhile, finished steel production increased by 0.10%...Read More
Oman's Jindal Shadeed, part of India's Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), produced.420,000 tonnes of crude steel in October-December 2017, the company said on Thursday January 25.This was up quarter-on-quarter by 34.48% from 310,000 tonnes produced in the third quarter of the year, it added.Its rebar production reached 240,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2017, and...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to fall on Monday January 29 on thin demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,890 yuan ($604-616) per tonne, down 10-30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,900-3,940 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonne Most construction projects have stopped work due to bad weather as well as because the Chinese New Year is just a little o...Read More
Chinese ferro-silicon prices have been steady in the past week, stabilizing losses made through the month when idled production was restarted; meanwhile, the European price set another record high, and US prices climbed after a period of inactivity due to strong overseas prices. Consumer demand shores up Chinese market Chinese market awaits new steel mill tenders Europe hits record hi...Read More