Prices for both low-grade and high-grade cobalt tipped below $40 per lb in the week ended Friday June 29, with sellers facing continued weak demand and competition for business.Low-grade and high-grade cobalt prices were assessed on Friday at $39.70-41.00 per lb, in-warehouse, down from $40.35-41.25 per lb at the start of the week."[The market is] dead in terms of people actually booking [material...Read More
The export prices for hot rolled coil (HRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States have stopped growing because trading activity has been slow, Metal Bulletin has heard.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was $560-575 per tonne fob Black Sea on July 2, unchanged week on week.Ukraine's Metinvest was heard to have sold HRC at $580 per tonne cfr to Turkey. That wo...Read More
Long steel prices in EU markets could rise with mills seeking to push offers upward before the announcement of a preliminary decision in Europe's current import safeguard investigation, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Monday July 2.The European Commission (EC) is expected to impose preliminary safeguard measures on steel imports early this month and, under World Trade Organization rules, it...Read More
Key takeaways from Industrial Minerals tenth Lithium Supply & Markets Conference, which took place in Las Vegas on June 26-28.Battery makers and new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers seek lower lithium prices, multi-year commitmentsThe world's largest consumers of lithium compounds, such as battery makers and NEV manufacturers, want lower and stable lithium prices. After the shortening of contrac...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves for the start of the North American day on Monday July 2.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange edged lower during morning trading with ongoing global trade tensions and subsequent dips in equity indexes continuing to deter market investment.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:29pm London time:Read our live futures report here.Tata...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday July 2.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during Asian morning trading on Monday, with market sentiment dampened by disappointing Chinese economic data released over the weekend.China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 51.5 in June from 51.6 in the pr...Read More
BP plc is to buy Chargemaster, the UK's largest charging company for electric vehicles (EVs), in the latest move by oil and gas companies to tap into the electromobility revolution.Along with peers such as Royal Dutch-Shell and Total, oil conglomerate BP has been making relatively small but significant investments into the infrastructure required for charging EVs, and not just as a contributor to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Prices dipped further across several specifications of silicon products on Monday July 2 as few transactions were heard at the start of the week.Traders tended to take a watch-and-wait stance and showed little restocking willingness, SMM learned. The #553 non-oxygen silicon metal mostly traded at 11,500-11,700 yuan/mt on Monday at Huangpu port in Guangzhou,...Read More
Key takeaways from Industrial Minerals tenth Lithium Supply & Markets Conference, which took place in Las Vegas on June 26-28.Battery makers and new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers seek lower lithium prices, multi-year commitmentsThe world's largest consumers of lithium compounds, such as battery makers and NEV manufacturers, want lower and stable lithium prices. After the shortening of contrac...Read More
James say that we're very, very close to the metals moving higher, silver especially, and with it comes a dropping gold to silver ratio. Here's why...James Turk interviewed by Rory Hall of The Daily CoinIn your recent KWN interview you reiterated that central banks would either be forced back onto a gold standard or the system would, in essence, change so much that central banks would willingly mo...Read More
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange fell over 2% by the close of trading on Monday July 2, topping broad losses across the complex while escalating trade tensions and dwindling equity markets weigh on commodities.Reaching a high of $14,940 per tonne over the day, nickel's three-month price fell sharply during afternoon trading, drifting back to the $14,500 per tonne region. "If Chinese...Read More
Prices for iron ore lumps remained strong on Monday July 2 despite a few transactions involving fines being concluded below prevailing levels.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $64.54 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.48 per tonne Metal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $51.92 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.42 per tonne Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $91.60 per tonne cfr Qingdao,...Read More
Seaborne coking coal spot prices were largely stable on Monday July 2 despite some offers being made above prevailing levels, which kept end-users away from the market. "The offers are not representative of the current market. Prices were propped up after last week's trade [of $211 per tonne cfr China]," a Chinese trader told Metal Bulletin. An end-user source said that the current market was arti...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Both nonferrous and ferrous futures fell on Monday July 2, except for SHFE tin, as China’s manufacturing activity slipped in June and as a wave of tariffs are on the horizon.A loss of 1.7% in SHFE lead led the declines in the nonferrous complex. Aluminium dropped 1.2%, nickel edged down close to 1%, zinc and copper closed slightly lower as they recovered some lo...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Refining charges (RCs) for imported blister copper were mostly offered at $200-220/mt cif as of Monday July 2, SMM learned. This compared with $190-220/mt cif at the start of June. For domestic blister copper delivered to refineries, RCs were mostly offered at 1,600-1,800 yuan/mt as of July 2, flat from SMM data a month ago. Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) began the trial operation of its new 400,000-mt/year copper smelting project in Ningde city, Fujian province on Saturday June 30, SMM learned.With total investment of over 5 billion yuan, the project also has a sulphuric acid capacity of 1.46 million mt. It is expected to generate over 1,000 jobs with annual revenue up to...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – The price gap between copper cathode and copper scrap narrowed 358 yuan/mt to 1,055 yuan/mt over the week ended Friday June 29, suggesting less substitution function of scrap. Prices of copper scrap dipping slower than that of copper cathode also led to the narrower spread, SMM data showed. The average price of #1 bare bright copper stood at 45,510...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued to fall gradually at the beginning of this week with trading activity in the major outlets remaining sluggish over the weekend.Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index was $516 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday July 2, compared with $519 per tonne fob Black Sea on June 29.Offers of the material varied within the range of $515-520 per tonne fob Black Sea. But such...Read More
SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Operating rates at wire and cable producers across China stood at 83.4% in June, down 8.39 percentage points from the same month last year, an SMM survey showed.This is also down 7.55 percentage points from last month.The month-on-month decline was because these producers accepted orders selectively on financial pressures towards the middle of the year. The Shang...Read More