Iron ore prices remained steady around $74 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday January 24 amid mixed signals from China's steel and futures markets.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $74.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $0.24 per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.38 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe...Read More
Prices for iron ore fines were relatively steady on Wednesday January 24 amid mixed signals from China's steel and futures markets, but premiums for lumps continued to rise.Key drivers China's steel futures continued to outperform those for iron ore, with the benchmark rebar and hot rolled coil contracts ending around 1% higher than the previous day's settlement price, while that for iron ore clos...Read More
Iranian export billet and slab prices strengthened over the week ended on Wednesday January 24 with renewed bookings, Metal Bulletin has heard.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Iranian export billet was $508-510 per tonne fob on January 24, against $500-510 per tonne fob a week earlier.Khouzestan Steel, the country's largest billet exporter, was seeking $515-520 per tonne fob in...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices held steady on Wednesday January 24 with rising futures providing some support to the spot market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,850-3,900 yuan ($601-609) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,900-3,950 yuan per tonne, unchanged Rebar futures experienced a slight increase during the day, which failed to stimulate too much buying interest in the spot m...Read More
Domestic prices for hollow steel sections in Southern Europe are likely to rise over the next month, with producers facing a shortage of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the region, sources have told Metal Bulletin.HRC prices have enjoyed a strong start to 2018 in Southern Europe thanks to a lack of available imported material at workable prices and problems with output at Italian steelmaker Ilva."[Steelm...Read More
China's coke export prices continued to weaken over the past fortnight, but the between offers widened amid limited trading activity.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Chinese coke exports with 65% coke strength after reaction (CSR), 12.5% ash, and in physical sizes of 30-90mm, was $340-350 per tonne fob China for the week ending Tuesday January 23.This was down from $350-360 per tonn...Read More
Lithium fans, take note. The metal's crown as the leading raw material in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) is facing increasing competition from other products such as cobalt and nickel. Lithium has hogged the top spot in EV batteries for some time, largely due to its early adoption in technology developed by Tesla. For more than a decade, the US-based company has been using lithium-ion batte...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) have risen in Southern Europe due to lower availability of the material from the region's mills and a lack of competitive import offers, sources told Metal Bulletin this week.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic HRC in Southern Europe went up to ?,?530-545 ($650-669) per tonne ex-works this week, compared with ?,?520-540 per tonne ex-works...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Southern Europe are expected to rise following an increase in slab prices, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 24.A rise in slab prices has had a notable effect on Southern European prices because the majority of plate in the region is produced by re-rollers in Italy.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel...Read More
Domestic prices for hollow steel sections in Southern Europe are likely to rise over the next month, with producers facing a shortage of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the region, sources have told Metal Bulletin.HRC prices have enjoyed a strong start to 2018 in Southern Europe thanks to a lack of available imported material at workable prices and problems with output at Italian steelmaker Ilva."[Steelm...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday January 24.Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange have recovered 1.3% during morning trading despite another large delivery into LME warehouses.The three-month copper price plummeted to a 2018 low of $6,885 per tonne yesterday after inventories increased a net 36,300 tonnes to 248,075 tonnes. A further 2...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Shanghai, as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday January 24.Base metals prices were down across the board during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, with copper leading the losses following a sharp increase in red metal stocks on the London Metal Exchange overnight.LME copper inventories increased a net 36,300 tonnes to 248,075...Read More
Lithium fans, take note. The metal's crown as the leading raw material in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) is facing increasing competition from other products such as cobalt and nickel. Lithium has hogged the top spot in EV batteries for some time, largely due to its early adoption in technology developed by Tesla. For more than a decade, the US-based company has been using lithium-ion batte...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 24 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous metals futures traded lower this afternoon, only nickel and tin edging up slightly. Copper led the loss among base metals with a 1.7% drop, while zinc lost 1%. Aluminium and lead slightly dropped.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading today. While iron ore dropped 1%, coking coal, hot-rolled coil and rebar rose around 1%. Coke also gained 0.5%.Copper: Chinese...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 24 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous metals futures traded lower this afternoon, only nickel and tin edging up slightly. Copper led the loss among base metals with a 1.7% drop, while zinc lost 1%. Aluminium and lead slightly dropped.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading today. While iron ore dropped 1%, coking coal, hot-rolled coil and rebar rose around 1%. Coke also gained 0.5%.Copper: Chinese...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 24 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous metals futures traded lower this afternoon, only nickel and tin edging up slightly. Copper led the loss among base metals with a 1.7% drop, while zinc lost 1%. Aluminium and lead slightly dropped.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading today. While iron ore dropped 1%, coking coal, hot-rolled coil and rebar rose around 1%. Coke also gained 0.5%.Copper: Chinese...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade. Futures are responding to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's comments that prompted weakness in the U.S. Dollar Index.Gold gained $16.50 per ounce in response to Mnuchin's comments.Fourth quarter reports continue to pour in. Reports released since yesterday's close included Capital On, United C...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 24 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Three nickel pig iron (NPI) plants in Inner Mongolia were set to be suspended for maintenance this month due to aging facilities, SMM learned.We estimate about 1,250 mt of nickel ouput will be lost, accounting for 4% of China’s high-grade NPI output.SMM forecast China’s high-grade NPI output to drop 8% to 35,000 in January from the previous month as a numbe...Read More
China Copper Group has generated 706 million yuan of profits in 2017, setting a new record high since its establishment. The article is edited by SMM and is provided for information purpose only. It does not mean SMM agrees with its views and SMM assumes no liability for accuracy of information contained or quoted in the article. Read More
Tin stocks at London Metal Exchange warehouses have fallen further since the start of 2018, with a 34% reduction in on-warrant stocks pushing tin prices to a three-month high.Total tin stock levels are at 1,780 tonnes as of Wednesday January 24 - their lowest since the 1980s - after a series of cancelations and deliveries out since January 10. This is in comparison with the start of 2017, when Jan...Read More