Qianhai Mercantile Exchange, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing's new onshore China commodities trading platform, started trading on Friday October 19, with a first deal for alumina concluded. Chinalco International Trade sold 3,000 tonnes of alumina to Xiamen Xiangyu Group at 3,030 yuan ($436.67) per tonne."We hope to establish fair market prices with industry customers and establish good market...Read More

(Adds detail on market reaction, background, comment)By Suvashree Choudhury and Promit MukherjeeMUMBAI Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India on Friday eased lending norms related to certain non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as liquidity concerns in the sector persist and markets continue to question the viability of some of the firms following the IL&FS debacle.The central bank on F...Read More

* NSE index down 1.4 pct, BSE index 1.3 pct* Both indexes end the week lower* Reliance Industries down over 4 pctOct 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell over 1 percent for the second consecutive session on Friday, dragged by Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS after its second-quarter performance failed to please investors, while non-banking finance companies continued to face selling pressure.The ben...Read More

* Crude falls for second straight week* U.S. rig count highest since March 2015 -Baker Hughes* China refinery throughput hits record high in Sept* WTI in contango as Cushing stockpiles expected to rise (Updates with CFTC data)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday on signs of surging demand in China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, although prices were headed for...Read More

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- U.S. software company Microsoft Corp MSFT.O to buy privately held coding website GitHub Inc (approved Oct. 19)-- Irish investor aircraft and asset manager ORIX Aviation Systems Limited to acquire 30 percent of Irish aircraft leasing...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices were flat on Friday as the U.S. dollar was volatile despite expectations of another interest rate increase this year and falling equities.Comex gold futures for December delivery inched down 0.07% to $1,229.30 a troy ounce as of 4:45 AM ET (8:45 GMT), not far from an earlier session high of $1,232.70.Rising interest rates are likely remain a concern for gold prices. Int...Read More

Indian domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) have been showing signs of weakness on account of muted demand in the week ended Friday October 19.Local mills so far have not reduced domestic prices for HRC but they are facing pressure from buyers to consider a correction in prices."There is a lot of pressure from our distributors to reduce HRC prices, but we will not be reducing prices in Octobe...Read More

Prices for grade 18/8 alloy steel scrap in the UK and Europe decreased in the week ended Friday October 19, largely because of weak demand.Market participants described an extremely slow alloy scrap market in general, with trading levels diminished both through low demand from stainless steel mills and also by limited supplies.Mills have been buying lower-than-normal quantities of alloy scrap in O...Read More

Base metal prices ended the trading week weakly on the London Metal Exchange, with aluminium, zinc and lead all down on the previous day.The three-month zinc price dropped by 2.1% to $2,626 per tonne at the LME 5pm close - this was the contract's first daily drop in five days.Lead closed at $1,992 per tonne and aluminium $2,003 per tonne, both down $10 from their Thursday closing levels.The LME's...Read More

Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsAlcoa intends to shut its Spanish aluminium smelting operations at La Coru??a and Avil?(C)s, saying they are the least productive in the Alcoa system due to structural issues. BHP's zinc concentrates production rose 5% year on year in the three months ended September 30, according to...Read More

A meeting in Brussels next week will discuss whether four chemical compounds irreplaceable in the production of lead batteries should be banned, effectively spelling the end for the technology in the region. The proposal for an in-effect ban is part of Reach, a European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals that came into force in 2007...Read More

The Comex copper price rebounded in the US morning on Friday October 19 despite weak growth in China, with potential further stimulus from the Chinese central bank expected. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.70 cents to $2.7735 per lb. China's economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter of this year to the w...Read More

The global metals industry gathered in force last week in London for what remains, despite recent spin-off conferences elsewhere in the world, the largest and longest-established such event for the raw materials sector.London Metal Exchange (LME) week is a time of taking stock - of prices in the underlying markets, the state of the industry, the global political and economic backdrop and, closer t...Read More

A year of unprecedented copper smelter disruptions has put copper concentrate benchmark negotiations on the front foot, with miners and smelters closer than usual in bid and offered terms at the outset of discussions. Major outages at key smelters, including Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin, Glencore's Pasar and Codelco's Chuquicamata have pushed up spot treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs...Read More

Sacha Lifschitz, senior nickel trader at London-based Concord Resources, has left the company for personal reasons, Fastmarkets understands.Lifschitz declined to comment at the time of publication, while...Read More

Coated steel base prices have risen by $1 per hundredweight ($20 per short ton) in the United States over the past week, on the heels of the week-earlier $2-per-cwt increases by mills, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM assessed base prices for hot-dipped galvanized steel at $48 per cwt fob Midwest mill on Thursday October 18, up from $47 per cwt a week earlier. Prices for hot-dipp...Read More

Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative in the week to Friday October 19, but the possibility of a reduction to import duties in the United States has brought hope to the market, sources told Fastmarkets.US president Donald Trump doubled the import tariffs on steel and aluminium from Turkey on August 10, with the duty on aluminium rising to 20% and that for steel import...Read More

Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday October 19, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Some market participants had been expecting prices to fall because of declining prices for hot-rolled coil, and the weak demand.Domestic pricesOne producer in northern Turkey was offering 0.5mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $700 per tonne ex...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. Latest transactions: HRC, CRC, HDG, PPGIHot-rolled coilTurkey, domestic, hot-rolled coil, offered at $560-570 per tonne ex-works, late November-early December production.Turkey, domestic, hot-...Read More

Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were unchanged on Friday October 19, with trading activity at a standstill despite numerous offers in the market. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for billet imported into Southeast Asia was $510-515 per tonne cfr Manila on Friday, unchanged since October 11. Deals were sparse throughout the week, with re-rollers mostly holding back from making b...Read More