Australian mining company South32 reported higher aluminium production in the first half of its 2018 financial year to December 31, 2017, coinciding with a period of higher aluminium prices.Both sales and production rose at its Mozal operation in Mozambique in the six months to December 31, offsetting a small fall in aluminium sales at South Africa Aluminium. South32 reported a 10% year-on-year ri...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Thursday February 15, building on gains registered on Wednesday when the complex moved up by an average of 2.1%.The three-month nickel price was once again the strongest performer, hitting a fresh 2018 high of $14,420 per tonne. But volumes for all metals remain thin. "With Chinese markets closing down for...Read More

Metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are generally firmer this morning, Thursday February 15, with the complex up by an average of 0.5%. Nickel leads with a 1.9% gain to $14,240 per tonne and tin prices lag with a 0.1% decline, while the rest are showing gains of between $0.50 and $20 per tonne, with copper prices up by 0.3% at $7,183 per tonne.With the Lunar New Year break underway, volume...Read More

Activity in the Egyptian billet import market was almost non-existent in the week to Thursday February 15, with higher offer prices failing to impress buyers.Activity in the Egyptian billet import market was almost non-existent in the week to Thursday February 15, with higher offer prices failing to impress buyers.One reason, sources said, is that Egyptian customers have suffic...Read More

Turkish billet prices have rebounded this week, in line with stronger scrap values and recovering demand, sources said on Thursday February 15. Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for billet imports into Turkey was $510-520 per tonne cfr, up from $500-505 per tonne last week. Turkish customers booked a number of billet cargoes from the...Read More

Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices kept rising in line with the increase in the scrap import values and strong demand, sources said on Thursday February 15.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar was $580-595 per tonne ex-works, up from the $570-575-per-tonne range last week.The domestic rebar price in the Izmir region was $590-595 per tonne ex-works, while the material...Read More

Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have continued to go up this week, in line with the rising costs for steel scrap and billet, sources said on Thursday February 15.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey on Thursday was $565-575 per tonne fob, up from the $550-560 per tonne of last week.Turkish steel mills were offering rebar...Read More

Gerdau has entered into a deal with Kinross Brasil Minera????o to sell its two hydroelectric plants in Brazil's mid-western Goi??s state for 835 million Reais ($255 million), as a further step in its strategy to focus on profitable steel assets, it said late on Wednesday February 14. The Ca??u and Barra dos Coqueiros hydroelectric power units, which started operations in 2010, have total capacity...Read More

The number of new passenger car sales in the EU increased by 7.15% year on year in January 2018, following a slight decline in December last year.New car sales in Europe totalled 1,253,877 units in January 2018, compared with 1,170,256 vehicles sold in the...Read More

Domestic prices for rebar in Southern Europe have fallen ?,?5 per tonne from last week on lower scrap costs and continued low demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday February 14.Metal Bulletin's weekly domestic price assessment for rebar in Southern Europe on Wednesday was ?,?520-535 ($641-660) per tonne delivered, compared with ?,?525-540 per tonne delivered on February 7."Scrap pri...Read More

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe saw improved sales and earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 on higher steel prices, the company said on February 14.The company's adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) jumped to ?,?160 million ($198 million) in the last three months of 2017, from ?,?28 million in the same period of 2016. This rise was driven by...Read More

Peruvian iron ore producer Shougang Hierro Per?? nearly doubled its net profit in 2017 on an annual basis, driven by higher sales prices.Its profit for the year totaled 417.44 million nuevos soles ($127.27 million), against 208.04 million nuevos soles in 2016, the company said in a note to the Peruvian securities regulator, SMV, on Thursday February 15.Sales...Read More

The market for CIS-origin pig iron has weakened over the past week on lower booking prices in Italy, Metal Bulletin has heard.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for imported high-manganese pig iron in Italy dropped $5 from last week to $365-370 per tonne cfr on February 15. A Ukrainian producer has sold two cargoes, to a trader and a steel producer, at $365-370 per tonne cfr Italy, Meta...Read More

Metal Bulletin's Iron Ore Index was largely unchanged at just above $78 per tonne on Thursday February 15 as the week-long Chinese New Year holiday officially begins.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $78.43 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up 2 centsMonth-to-date...Read More

Outokumpu Americas, the Northern American subsidiary of the Finnish stainless steelmaker, is limiting sales of excess prime and secondary stainless steel material to preferred customers, according to an email seen by Metal Bulletin.The move is likely to affect availability of stainless scrap for several buyers, market participants said. "We have selected a limited number of preferred customers for...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market is stable on Thursday February 15 amid a lull in trading, with China off for the Lunar New Year holiday. "Prices will remain pretty much stable as historically appetite is relatively low after the Lunar New Year holidays," a Japanese trader said. On the ongoing uncertainties surrounding Aurizon's reduction in rail capacity, an Indian end user said that there is "pot...Read More

Vietnam's ferrous scrap imports more than doubled year on year to 593,119 tonnes in January from 268,203 tonnes in the same month last year, according to the country's Ministry of Finance.This is up 20% from the 493,131 tonnes imported in December 2017.The country imported 268,427 tonnes in the first half of January, while...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were broadly higher during Asian morning trading on Thursday February 15, though trading remained subdued with Chinese participants out for the week-long Lunar New Year break.Copper and nickel prices led on the upside with aluminium and lead registering slight gains, helped by continued weakness in the dollar, while tin was unchanged and zinc was the...Read More

Manganese flake prices climbed to a fresh multi-month high this week on a continued supply squeeze with the Lunar New Year holiday expected to disrupt supply further. Metal Bulletin assessed the manganese flake in-warehouse Rotterdam price at $2,075-2,220 per tonne on Wednesday February 14, up 1.8% from the previous assessment. The last time manganese flake prices climbed to that level was in...Read More

Global crude stainless steel production is forecast to grow by around 4% year-on-year to 52.10 million tonnes in 2018, according to metals market research company SMR.This would be up from 50.10 million tonnes of crude stainless steel produced in 2017, SMR said. China was the largest producer of stainless steel in 2017 with 27.0 million tonnes, while it consumed more than 20 million tonnes of stai...Read More