Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Singapore as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday March 7.Aluminium prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, after market participants were left with little to cheer about due to the uncertainty surrounding China's plans for further aluminium capacity cuts this year.Check Metal...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightMarkets were rattled following the resignation of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn. The US dollar declined and hovered at 89.4.Base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE tin edged down while nickel rose over 1%. LME nickel jumped close to 2%, copper rose almost 1% while...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightMarkets were rattled following the resignation of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn. The US dollar declined and hovered at 89.4.Base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE tin edged down while nickel rose over 1%. LME nickel jumped close to 2%, copper rose almost 1% while...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – China’s banking regulator plans to cut the amount of funds that banks are required to set aside to cover loan losses in a bid to provide more liquidity to the market.In a circular released by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last week, commercial banks are required to reduce the provision coverage ratio to 120-150% and loan provision ratio to 1.5-2.5%...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) –Copper: The support at the 40-day moving average, or 52,000 yuan/mt, remained for SHFE copper, while destocking in China helped the bullish sentiment somewhat. We expect copper prices to go up further with SHFE 1805 at 52,500-53,000 yuan/mt today and LME copper at $6,960-7,020/mt. Spot discounts are expected to be smaller as sellers continued to hold on to their cargoe...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) –Copper: The support at the 40-day moving average, or 52,000 yuan/mt, remained for SHFE copper, while destocking in China helped the bullish sentiment somewhat. We expect copper prices to go up further with SHFE 1805 at 52,500-53,000 yuan/mt today and LME copper at $6,960-7,020/mt. Spot discounts are expected to be smaller as sellers continued to hold on to their cargoe...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) –Copper: The support at the 40-day moving average, or 52,000 yuan/mt, remained for SHFE copper, while destocking in China helped the bullish sentiment somewhat. We expect copper prices to go up further with SHFE 1805 at 52,500-53,000 yuan/mt today and LME copper at $6,960-7,020/mt. Spot discounts are expected to be smaller as sellers continued to hold on to their cargoe...Read More
The restriction on imports of some copper scrap products to China has already caused the industry to make some process changes but many questions are still unanswered, a panel of scrap experts said at the Metal Bulletin Copper conference.The number of licenses granted by the Chinese government for copper scrap imports dropped by 94% year on year to account for 136,685 tonnes in the first two...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange slumped by the 5pm close on Wednesday March 7, with uncertainty stemming from the latest developments over the US' Section 232 probe leading to a sell-off.Aluminium was the most traded metal of the complex today, with more than 20,000 lots changing hands by the close. Its price fell 1.6% - it concluded below support at $2,100 per tonne.The cash/three...Read More
Comex copper prices dipped in the US morning on Wednesday March 7 with a confluence of bearish signals, including a potential trade war and higher dollar, weighing on the base metals complex. Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.80 cents or 0.9% to $3.1310 per lb. "Most of the base metals remain on a back footing this morning and that seems to...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading on Wednesday March 7 - with nickel diving 1.6%.The three-month nickel price is continuing to have another rollercoaster month - it gained $260 per tonne at the close on Tuesday but is now trading $275 lower. "The new threat of trade wars and regional tariffs seems to have [unnerved] consumers in the...Read More
China announced that it had terminated steel production in all the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year. The majority of the operators in China are primarily small size private mills that use low quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. These rebars are mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors. For a long period, the gov...Read More
Prices for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe narrowed upward by ?,?15 ($19) per tonne this week amid higher scrap costs and milder weather conditions across the continent, sources told Metal Bulletin."All of the mills in Spain are pushing up their prices. Raw materials [costs] are up and I believe that scrap [prices] will bounce again. I think the market will keep rising," one Southe...Read More
Prices for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe have remained stable over the past seven days despite better demand for the material, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 7.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe was ?,?550-570 ($681-705) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, unchanged week-on-week."Business is picking...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange slumped by the 5pm close on Wednesday March 7, with uncertainty stemming from the latest developments over the US' Section 232 probe leading to a sell-off.Aluminium was the most traded metal of the complex today, with more than 20,000 lots changing hands by the close. Its price fell 1.6% - it concluded below support at $2,100 per tonne.The cash/three...Read More
Nickel premiums in Europe crept higher on Tuesday March 7 on tight availability and declining London Metal Exchange nickel stocks, while Asian nickel premiums were stable due to the sustained negative arbitrage in China and amid slow trading activity. European nickel premiums higher due to tight availability Quiet trading activity reported in both China and other Asian regions US nick...Read More
Fears about a looming aluminium duty from the United States' Section 232 investigations have dashed hopes of the market taking advantage of a widening import aluminium arbitrage between Asia and the US. The differential between canceling aluminium from London Metal Exchange warehouses in Asia and shipping the material into the US Midwest has reached an all-time high, but the market is skepti...Read More
Around 2.5 million tonnes of copper output is exposed to high disruption risks this year in Chile, the country's copper commission said at Metal Bulletin's International Copper conference in Madrid on Wednesday March 7. The figure represents 43.4% of the total forecast output for 2018 from the world's top copper producing country, Jorge Cantallopts, director of public planning and research with Co...Read More