Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Monday April 15, with prices broadly rangebound amid low volumes while a price difference of nearly $1,000 per tonne continues to separate zinc and lead futures. Three-month copper continues to trade just below $6,500 per tonne after climbing by just under 2% last week. The red metal's on-warrant stock levels re...Read More
Sales and exports of cobalt hydroxide produced at Glencore's Katanga Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo have restarted at a limited rate. About 930 tonnes of contained cobalt that has been processed to comply with regulations on uranium levels have been produced since January 2019 - about 22.5% of the mines production since the beginning of the year, Katanga Mining said on Monday April 15....Read More
One concern at this year's Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference overshadowed all other bearish factors affecting minor metals prices this year: the potential release of metal stocks held by the failed Fanya Metal Exchange. While global uncertainty and oversupply continue to weigh on minor metals price sentiment in 2019, as expected, most delegates on the sidelines of the conference in...Read More
Secondary aluminium ingot prices in Europe fell to their lowest level since November 23, 2018 on April 12 and European scrap prices, having previously held relatively firm, finally fell in line.Fastmarkets assessed the premium for European aluminium pressure, die-casting ingot DIN226/A380, at ?,?1,430-1,470 per tonne on a delivered consumer-works basis on Friday April 12, down ?,?10 per tonne at t...Read More
Holding pattern for now Base metals seem to be in something of a holding pattern, waiting for more details from US-China trade talks before making their next directional move. Given the likelihood of a positive conclusion, stronger demand-related signals from China, and tight underlying supply-demand balances, we maintain that the mostly likely next move will be to the upside. Aluminium: Becoming...Read More
Aluminium prices slipped back below $1,850 per tonne last week Aluminium prices continued their downtrend and slipped below the $1,850 per tonne mark last week. This comes as weaker investor sentiment across Europe continues to trickle through to commodity purchasing, with US President Donald Trump threatening to apply $11 billion worth of tariffs on goods from the EU. Grounded in an ongoing aircr...Read More
Aluminium LME aluminium produced what appears to be a bullish daily hammer candlestick on Friday April 12. This technical development could mark a potential short-term reversal. Given how oversold the daily RSI and stochastic lines are, there is decent upside potential on both indicators to support a move higher. Still, we will need to see more buying emerge first and LME aluminium needs to t...Read More
The copper industry gathered in Santiago last week for the annual CESCO week. Overall, sentiment was fairly bullish and that seems to be flowing into prices this week, with copper having another go at resistance in the $6,500s. Below we highlight some of the key takeaways from CESCO and give our opinion on some of the main talking points. Mine disruptions are back After a relative dearth of mine s...Read More
Rising stocks highlight adequate availability A pick-up in both LME and SHFE lead stocks in recent months is a headwind for lead prices at this seasonally weak time when the threat of severe cold weather in the northern hemisphere has passed. That said, exchange lead stocks are still relatively low, at around 109,500 tonnes on Friday, compared with 123,276 tonnes at the start of the year. While th...Read More
At Fastmarkets’ Battery Material Conference held in Shanghai last week, there was much focus among participants on how China’s EV policies will support nickel-rich lithium-ion battery demand in medium to long term. Below are some important highlights from this discussion: The halving of China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidies in late March (to 18,000 yuan ($2,680) for EVs with a...Read More
Dip-buying continues to keep LME tin prices fairly stable in the mid-to-high $20,000s. As this delays the still-likely sell-off associated with the beginning of the end of the Indonesian supply bottleneck, we turn our attention this week to the tinplate market, noting highlights from our Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Markets Tracker. Chinese market in transition In China, the tinplate market seems...Read More
Zinc rebounds on positive Chinese data... Zinc prices came under pressure for much of last week as trade jitters and macroeconomic uncertainties dominated risk sentiment. But price weakness was limited by technical support around $2,870 per tonne, before staging an end-of-week rebound to close with a modest $5.50-per-tonne gain on the week in response to positive data from China. ...as new loans a...Read More
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Trading across most of the metals is relatively quiet in early morning on Tuesday April 16 and the market seems to be waiting for fresh direction, which we think means the market is waiting for a US-China trade deal. Before that, today’s ZEW and US industrial production data may provide direction, as too will tomorrow’s Chinese GDP data. Base metals Trading across the London Me...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Strength was prompted by a 2.39% gain by the Shanghai Composite Index to 3.253.60. Several North American equity indices are testing their all-time highs this morning. All-time highs are 2,940.91 for the S&P 500 Index, 8,133.30 for the NASDAQ Composite Index, 7,700.56 for the NASDAQ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 12 that are worth another look.Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year's Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewe...Read More
Billet prices in the major global markets continued to soften over the week ended Friday April 12 due to the lack of demand and the continuing falls in the price of scrap, notably in Turkey.The exception to this was the Chinese market, where active demand from re-rolling mills resulted in reduced billet inventories, pushing prices upward.The spot inventory was 577,000 tonnes on Thursday in Tangsha...Read More
Billet prices in the major global markets continued to soften over the week ended Friday April 12 due to the lack of demand and the continuing falls in the price of scrap, notably in Turkey.The exception to this was the Chinese market, where active demand from re-rolling mills resulted in reduced billet inventories, pushing prices upward.The spot inventory was 577,000 tonnes on Thursday in Tangsha...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 12 that are worth another look.Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year's Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewe...Read More