Production of aluminium at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) reached a new record high in 2017 despite operational challenges last year. The company produced 981,016 tonnes in 2017, an increase of 1% from the previous year, the company said on Monday January 8. This is the sixth consecutive annual increase and represents...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has approved Amsterdam as a delivery point for primary aluminium, aluminium alloy, lead, nickel, tin and zinc, the exchange said on Monday January 8. Amsterdam will become an active delivery point...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday January 8.Lead and zinc began the week slightly higher while the rest of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange came under pressure this morning. Zinc was Monday morning's best performer, up $13 to $3,365 per tonne. Aluminium, meanwhile, continued to slip marginally lower, down $12 to $2,193.50 per tonne....Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday January 8*Copper -$100.90 (-655.98 yuan) Aluminium -$458.49 (-2,980.71 yuan) Zinc -$162.12 (-1,054.00 yuan) Nickel -$530.55 (-3,449.21 yuan) *The physical arbitrage numbers are calculated daily...Read More

The strike action at Empresa Nacional de Mineria's (Enami's) copper smelter in Chile has ended, Metal Bulletin understands.The resolution comes after 90% of workers from the Union Sindicato No 2 at Enami's Paipote smelter (Fundici??n Hern??n Videla Lira) voted in...Read More

Brazilian long steel import volumes dropped by 23.40% year-on-year in 2017, due to reduced shipments from China.The country imported 197,827 tonnes of non-alloy long steel products last year, down from 258,270 tonnes in 2016,...Read More

The Turkish Steel Producers' Association (T???oeD) is worried that the country's imports of rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) will increase because of cuts to import duties, it said on Monday January 8.The 10% import duty on rebar was removed completely on January 1 and the duty on HRC was reduced to 3.5%...Read More

Tata Steel expects its steel sales volumes to have moved up in both India and Europe in the quarter ending December 31 2017, the company said in a preliminary results announcement on Friday January 5.The company's sales in India are expected to have increased by 10.37% year-on-year to 3.30 million tonnes in the last three months of 2017. The company said the improvement is due to stronge...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore have increased following end-users' return to the spot market after the year-end holiday season.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Southeast Asian rebar imports - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - was $570-580 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday January 8, up $10-15 per tonne from the previous week. Bids had i...Read More

Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia nudged up slightly as trading activity picked up after the end-of-year lull in trading activity.Metal Bulletin's weekly assessment for billet imports in Southeast Asia was $535-545 per tonne cfr on Monday January 8, up $5 per tonne from $530-540.China-origin billet was being offered at $520-530 fob China to Asian import markets, with buyer...Read More

Import prices for re-rolling grade hot-rolled coil into Vietnam were higher in the week ended Monday January 8 as spot discussions resumed at higher levels.Metal Bulletin's assessment of HRC import prices in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $570-580 per tonne cfr, up $5 per tonne from a week earlier.End-users were lookin...Read More

China's ferrous futures prices turned around to surge late in the afternoon on Monday, January 8 after the country's officials declared stricter steel capacity replacement criteria to be implemented from this year.The production facilities that will be allowed to have capacity replaced will only include those recorded in capacity replacement plans approved by local or central governments...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. ...Read More

Xiamen Tungsten, China's major tungsten exporter, has not been granted an export license for 2018-2019, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. The ministry refused to grant the company an export license due to two administrative penalties imposed in 2017: one for exceeding emissions and another for having incorrect customs clearance for a batch of cobalt related products, it said on December 2...Read More

China's ferro-chrome market weakened over the past week amid a lull in activity after domestic mills wrapped up their latest round of purchasing negotiations, while ore prices were supported by tight supply and firm demand from smelters. Domestic Chinese ferro-chrome prices slide as purchasing wave ends South African and Turkish ore markets gain on tight supply European high carbon ferro-chrome pr...Read More

Seaborne manganese ore prices held steady over the past week, while alloy prices weakened in China in anticipation of smelter restarts. Manganese ore prices gain a few cents week on week Chinese alloy prices weaken as market awaits Ningxia restarts Silico-manganese prices rise in India on rupee and steel sector strength European alloy prices rise on tighter prompt availability US silico-manganese...Read More

Iron ore output in Peru increased by 29.28% year-on-year in November 2017, according to figures released by the country's mining ministry, MEM, on Friday January 5.Production came to 901,253 tonnes, against 697,108 tonnes a year before.In January-November 2017, Peruvian iron ore output totaled 7.95 million tonnes, up by 12.35% from the 7.08 million tonnes produced in the corresponding period of 20...Read More

Iron ore prices jumped to almost $78 per tonne cfr China on Monday January 8 as the futures market gained strength.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $77.74 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $0.94 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $76.15 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $62.58 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market remains deadlocked on Monday January 8 as buyers opt to sit on the sidelines while sellers are not lowering their offers.Metal Bulletin's indices are all unchanged for the day, at $211.20 per tonne cfr China and $257.39 per tonne fob Australia for premium hard coking coal, and $190.20 per tonne cfr China and $187.73 per tonne fob Australia for hard coking coal. "Our...Read More

The seaborne iron ore concentrates market has remained strong over the past two weeks, with some mills and traders stocking up for the Chinese New Year break.China's seven-day Lunar New Year celebrations start on Friday February 16 and market participants do not anticipate a resumption in production until mid March. But there are concerns that the upward momentum might slow due to r...Read More