SHANGHAI, Jan 19 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Premiums of non-original briquette for foreign trade are $140-150/mt while premiums of original briquette traded higher at $300/mt due to tight supply. In China, spot briquette on the Wuxi Stainless Steel Market saw discounts of 700 yuan/mt while Russian nickel saw discounts of 200 yuan/mt.China’s domestic steel mills and nickel sulfate plants...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 19 (SMM)? 1/4 ?LME zinc has performed strongly since the start of the year. Similarly, SHFE zinc is also performing well.Downstream companies have cut back operations significantly, SMM learned. As galvanizing companies in north China face environmental restrictions and higher energy costs, some companies have already shut down for the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, w...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 19 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: Copper is expected to remain rangebound today. LME copper is to trade at $7,020-7,120/mt while SHFE 1803 is to trade at 53,190-54,050 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 130-80 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME aluminium trading at $2,220-2,250/mt while SHFE aluminium is likely to follow LME tendency at 14,600-14,800 yuan/mt today. We see spot discoun...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 19 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: Copper is expected to remain rangebound today. LME copper is to trade at $7,020-7,120/mt while SHFE 1803 is to trade at 53,190-54,050 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 130-80 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME aluminium trading at $2,220-2,250/mt while SHFE aluminium is likely to follow LME tendency at 14,600-14,800 yuan/mt today. We see spot discoun...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jan 19 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Copper: Copper is expected to remain rangebound today. LME copper is to trade at $7,020-7,120/mt while SHFE 1803 is to trade at 53,190-54,050 yuan/mt. Spot discounts are expected at 130-80 yuan/mt.Aluminium: We see LME aluminium trading at $2,220-2,250/mt while SHFE aluminium is likely to follow LME tendency at 14,600-14,800 yuan/mt today. We see spot discoun...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths at the close on Friday January 19, after a week of volatility. Zinc and tin both set fresh 2018-highs during the early morning London session, sustaining their gains throughout the day to close in positive territory."Zinc is forecast to continue its strong rally as global production is on track to trail demand for a third stra...Read More
Gains in China's futures market gave seaborne iron ore prices a boost on Friday January 19. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $76.75 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: Up by $1.88 per tonne per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.65 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium...Read More
Prices for both iron ore fines and lumps picked up on Friday January 19 amid an uptick in the futures market. Key drivers China's ferrous futures, having trended downward since Thursday night, surged across the board on Friday afternoon. The benchmark iron ore contract ending the day 1.6% higher than the previous day's settlement price. A futures trader in Beijing attributed the rebound to technic...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths at the close on Friday January 19, after a week of volatility. Zinc and tin both set fresh 2018-highs during the early morning London session, sustaining their gains throughout the day to close in positive territory."Zinc is forecast to continue its strong rally as global production is on track to trail demand for a third stra...Read More
Selenium prices rose over the past week on dwindling supply and buoyant demand from India. "There are usually two reasons for selenium prices to go up or down - a change in demand from either India or China. And both Chinese and Indian markets are hot right now," a market participant said. Metal Bulletin's selenium price rose to $18-19.5 per lb in the midweek assessment on Wednesday January 1...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday January 19:Aluminium scrap Floated Frag: ?,?1,300-1,330 per tonne from ?,?1,290-1,330 Cast: ?,?1,200-1,270 per tonne...Read More
A roundup of changes to aluminium billet premiums, as assessed by Metal Bulletin, in the past month. ...Read More
Comex copper prices were once again trading in negative territory on Friday January 19 despite the dollar trading at the lowest point since January 2015. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 0.85% or 0.3% to $3.1905 per lb. Since the beginning of the month, the...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday January 19.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were trading higher across the board, supported by fresh cancellations of LME stocks and the weakening dollar.The three-month zinc price set a 10-year high this morning of $3,438 per tonne after 24,175 tonnes of metal was freshly cancelled...Read More
Now that the Chinese government has raised the refined nickel import tax to 2%, Chinese nickel market participants are looking to nickel briquettes from Australia and Madagascar due to their lower premiums compared with nickel full plates, Metal Bulletin understands.Non-duty-free nickel briquette prices from London Metal Exchange warehouses or Shanghai-bonded warehouses were assessed at $130-140 p...Read More
Nickel briquette premiums cif China were steady week on week in spite of a production outage at the Ambatovy project in Madagascar. Premiums for nickel briquette from LME warehouses cif China remained at $130-140 per tonne in the week ended Friday January 19, sources told Metal Bulletin. Meanwhile, duty-free nickel briquettes from Australia and Madagascar are being offered at premiums of $350-360...Read More
The decision by the Brazilian government not to impose final trade sanctions against imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China and Russia is expected to create import windows and to raise the pressure on local producers, according to market participants.The option to immediately suspend the sanctions came despite the confirmation of dumping practices by the two nations."The Chinese and Russian e...Read More
UK long steel producer British Steel has decided to permanently close its heavy plate mill in Scunthorpe, northern England, the company announced on Friday January 19.The plate mill was idled by former owner Tata Steel in October 2015.Tata Steel's two...Read More
Severstal, Russia's major steelmaker, increased its exports by nearly 16% in the fourth quarter of 2017 through higher shipment volumes of billet and slab, the company said on Friday January 19.Over October-December last year, the company exported around 1.18 million tonnes of steel products. That was almost 16% more than in July-September.Exports of semi-finished steel products rapidly increased...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Iron ore prices ended the week on the rise, after some falls over the period. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index hit $76 per tonne on Friday, boosted by gains in China's futures market.Buyers of seaborne coking coal are waiting on the market sidelines in expectation of lower prices in the weeks ahea...Read More