Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday December 14.Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during Asian morning trading on Friday, weighed down by weak economic data from China and a firmer dollar of late.Check Fastmarkets MB's live futures report here.Dutch bank Rabobank, international trading firm...Read More
Tianqi's recent purchase of a stake in SQM is the latest in a series of deals showing how participants at different stages of the supply chain are opting to strengthen their position through vertical partnerships. Meanwhile, consumers are keen to lock in feedstock supply through offtake agreements. The global lithium industry is growing rapidly, but at the same time competition is consolidating, w...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed lower on Friday December 12, with a higher dollar and stock increases putting pressure on prices.Aluminium closed at a slightly lower $1,926 per tonne - a 57,000-tonne delivery into LME-listed warehouses this morning ruled out a move back towards $2,000 per tonne.The three-month copper price also closed slightly lower than Thursday's closing level at...Read More
Comex copper prices weakened in morning trading on Friday December 14 after a release of softer Chinese industrial data, placing stress on the base metals complex.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 1.85 cents to $2.7485 per lb.Analysts said weaker Chinese economic data was pressuring the base metals complex as a whole this...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a net inflow of 57,525 tonnes on Friday December 14, mostly into warehouses in Port Klang.Aluminium traded at $1,923.50 on Friday morning down 0.4% from Thursday night's close. Friday's deliveries into Port Klang LME sheds follows a 24,875 tonne delivery on Thursday and 23,925 tonnes oin Monday, both to the same area.Th...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices fell by $5 per tonne or less during the week ending Friday December 14 following a period of quieter trading.The Turkish market witnessed another week with no new cargoes booked, leaving prices virtually unchanged, while US prices were flat, which was also due to a lack of fresh trades.India made no bookings but prices fell by $5, as did prices for Taiwan and Vietnam.Tu...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Comex copper prices weakened in morning trading on Friday December 14 after a release of softer Chinese industrial data, placing stress on the base metals complex.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 1.85 cents to $2.7485 per lb.Analysts said weaker Chinese economic data was pressuring the base metals complex as a whole this...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday December 14.The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a net inflow of 57,525 tonnes today, mostly into warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia.Aluminium traded at $1,923.50 on Friday morning down 0.4% from Thursday night's close. Friday's deliveries into Port Klang LME sheds foll...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a net inflow of 57,525 tonnes on Friday December 14, mostly into warehouses in Port Klang.Aluminium traded at $1,923.50 on Friday morning down 0.4% from Thursday night's close. Friday's deliveries into Port Klang LME sheds follows a 24,875 tonne delivery on Thursday and 23,925 tonnes oin Monday, both to the same area.Th...Read More
Base metals stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower week on week on Friday December 14, with aluminium stocks declining for the ninth consecutive week to hit a year-to-date low. Deliverable aluminium stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses dropped by 24,442 tonnes, or 3.4%, week on week to 688,825 tonnes as on Friday December 14. SHFE aluminium stocks have fallen by 30.6% from their...Read More
The Indian domestic steel billet price fell by 600 rupees ($8) per tonne in the week to Friday December 14, but demand remained weak despite major price cuts in long and semi-finished products.The price for Indian domestic billet stood at 31,000-31,200 rupees ($434-436) per tonne ex-mill on December 14, a drop of 600 rupees week on week from 31,600-31,800 rupees per tonne on December 7, accor...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil narrowed downward this week amid lower prices of finished steel in the United States.Fastmarkets MB's weekly assessment of Brazil's slab export prices was $430-475 per tonne fob on Friday December 14, down from $430-485 per tonne fob a week before.In the US market, companies were heard...Read More
Billet prices have fallen in most regions due to low demand in Southeast Asia, Turkey and North Africa, but a slight recovery was seen in Chinese prices.CIS, Turkey, EgyptIn the Commonwealth of Independent States, prices continued to fall this past week despite efforts from local mills to hold back the decline.Cargoes of Russian billet were sold in Thailand and Indonesia at $465 per tonne cfr earl...Read More
Cold-rolled coil and coated steel prices in the United States fell further after holding steady for one week, driven by weakness in hot-rolled coil and soft demand. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the domestic cold-rolled coil price as $43 per hundredweight ($860 per short ton) on Thursday December 13, down from $43.50 per cwt a week earlier; the domestic coated steel base price fell...Read More
Domestic prices for steel coil products in Turkey fell this week on continuing slow demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 14. "Prices are not important," a source told Fastmarkets. "Buyers are refraining from buying because of uncertainty in the market."December will be a slow month for the sector, and many people [also] expect January to be slow," he added. Fastmarkets' we...Read More
Domestic prices for coated-steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week to Friday December 14, with demand remaining limited. The local Turkish market has been slow for a long time and no significant improvement is expected in December, sources told Fastmarkets, because buyers usually postpone bookings towards the end of the year to avoid building up inventories. Domestic prices One...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued trending downwards on Friday December 14 in spite of producers' attempts to hold back the decline.Some mills were still insisting on offers around $427-430 per tonne fob Black Sea, but these prices were called barely workable by the market participants."I do not see the markets that are ready...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday December 14. China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price was unchanged from last week after sellers were heard to have become unwilling to cut their prices further because the current price level has left them limited room for profits. The imported charge chrome market was lackluster. Sel...Read More