Copper prices were working lower during most of December and in the absence of any bullish triggers we had been expecting that trend to continue. But in late December, fund buying picked up aggressively, driving prices to a fresh multi-year high of $7,203/tonne. There was little fundamental justification for this and we should consider it a warning that speculators and investors feeling optimistic...Read More

Lead prices remain on their steady uptrend since the summer lows last year and in January have been eroding resistance around October's 6-year high above $2,600/tonne. We expect the underlying strengthening fundamentals, especially on the supply side, to maintain the uptrend this year. Primary producers may well struggle to respond to higher lead prices and we doubt there is much hoarded scrap aro...Read More

For a number of years problems at Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe, have been casting shadow over the performance of the whole Italian steel industry. Will an acquisition of Ilva by a consortium led by ArcelorMittal, now in its final stage, be a game changer for the market?Following multiple reports of environmental and health problems caused by the Taranto plant, in 2013 Ilva was placed und...Read More

China announced that it had terminated steel production in all the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year. The majority of the operators in China are primarily small size private mills that use low quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. These rebars are mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors. For a long period, the gov...Read More

So President Trump confirmed, last week, that from later this week, he will formally introduce a blanket tariff on steel imports, at 25%, and aluminium, at 10%.Both tariffs are in fact higher than those recommended by the DOC (Dept. of Commerce). In return, he stated to a number of metal manufacturers Thursday (March 1) "You'll have to regrow your industries; that's all I'm asking". To be fair to...Read More

In the assumption that one of the three recommendations by the DOC (Dept. of Commerce) is adopted and unlike section 201 made permanent, US producer prices (FOB Midwest mill) are unlikely to fall in the short term but the degree of gains could be quite different.In this article we examine "option 3" - a quota regime, which restricts foreign steel to 63% of the 2017 total. In this scenario the pric...Read More

The closure of some induction furnaces in China in 2016 followed by the government's crackdown on all unlicensed IFs in mid-2017 freed up some scrap volumes, albeit arguably of low-quality material. Chinese domestic scrap prices came under pressure from the increased supply, which prevented them from keeping pace with the rise in steel and other raw material markets in the fourth quarter of 2016;...Read More

The greenback is strong on Friday with industrial data, JOLTS and Michigan sentiment index. Gold bulls might be running out steam as they get tired to defend 1310. Gold is trading at around 1311.50 down 0.22% on Friday despite mounting hostilities over the attempted murder of a former Russian spy on the UK soil, which triggered geopolitical uncertainties. The precious metal fell to 2-week lows v...Read More

   •  Renewed USD selling bias helps defend $1313 important support.   •  Risk-off mood provides an additional to safe-haven appeal. Gold extended its steady climb move from weekly lows and has now moved to fresh session tops, around the $1318-19 region. The precious metal once again managed to find some buying interest near the $1313 support area and has no...Read More

Gold prices ended Friday at their lowest level in just over two weeks, generally tethered to the dollar this week yet supported by persistent global political and trade tensions given the metal's haven-asset status. However, Friday's "trading action indicates that the impact of political turmoil is fleeting and that investors' primary focus remains on the economy and monetary policy," said Colin C...Read More

Zinc was the only base metal on the London Metal Exchange to close in positive territory on Friday March 16, while the majority of the market lacked significant drivers to push higher.The three-month zinc price closed $25 per tonne higher on support from a 15,425 tonne cancellation in New Orleans today. Aluminium's three-month price was unchanged at $2,085 per tonne while the market continues to s...Read More

Gold prices fell Thursday to post a two-week low, as a stable dollar sapped some demand for the precious metal, but persistent trade tensions supplied a floor for the haven asset. April gold GCJ8, -0.30% fell $7.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,317.80 an ounce, marking its lowest finish since March 1. Gold futures ended lower Wednesday after up-and-forth trading that has set prices up for a loss of ro...Read More

The light iron scrap market in the UK has been steady this week, consolidating the gains made in a four-week bull run built on strengthening demand to key export markets such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?105-135 ($147-188) per tonne on Friday March 16. This compared with a price of ?90-115 pe...Read More

A roundup of changes to aluminium billet premiums, as assessed by Metal Bulletin, in the past month. Read More

Henry Bath opened a new bonded warehouse in the free trade zone (FTZ) of Shanghai's Yangshan district on Friday March 16 at a time of growing domestic copper production and a jump in Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks.The new bonded warehouse has 20,000 square meters of capacity, can store 120,000 tonnes of metals indoors and has the same standards as an LME-listed warehouse, Henry Bath said.Chinese...Read More

Comex copper prices fell again in morning trading on Friday March 16, with a stronger dollar and lack of marker activity combining to weigh on the metal.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.65 cents or 0.5% to $3.1110 per lb recently. The contract has been varied this week, swinging between positive and negative closes.Trade is expected to be.....Read More

China's refined copper output rose 7.4% year on year for the first two months of 2018, despite the Lunar New Year lull and the shutdown of a major refinery.The combined output stood at 1,481,000 tonnes in 2018, compared to 1,371,000 tonnes produced during the same period last year, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday March 16. China typically combines January and...Read More

Copper concentrate treatment charges and refining charges (TCs/RCs) have shown little variation over the past two weeks despite an explosion in the numbers of direct trades while the market settled on second-quarter pricing.Smelters in China and elsewhere returned to the spot market for large tonnages, lowering their bids from more than $80 per tonne/$0.08 per lb to settle deals in the mid-$70/$0....Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday March 16.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading - with tin being the only metal in negative territory.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:11pm London time:Read our live futures report here."Overall, we see base metals prices consolidating as they wait to...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Friday March 16 - with tin being the only metal in negative territory. Copper prices recovered $33 per tonne this morning but remain below the $7,000 per tonne support level while volumes are thin. The three-month nickel price regained some of Thursday's losses but remains unsteady, while zinc prices were...Read More