Metals and mining news and market analysis

This time yesterday base metals prices were down across the board, but with the exception of Shanghai Futures Exchange tin, they were all up during morning trading on Friday September 18 – showing sentiment remains bullish overall with dips being bought.

Prices for cargoes of steel scrap imported into South Korea have dropped over the past week amid lower demand from mills that will take rounds of maintenance during the next few months, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 18.

Talks between United Steelworkers union Local 1016-3 and NLMK USA management in Farrell, Pennsylvania, have advanced somewhat, with some tentative progress regarding health insurance benefits; but several issues remain outstanding and won’t be addressed until next week, when talks are expected to resume, one union leader said.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the united States have clawed their way back to $28.50 per hundredweight ($570 per short ton) for the first time since automakers temporarily idled operations in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower during morning trading on Thursday September 17, with selling pressure emerging after the US Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low on Wednesday, but offered little in the way of further fiscal stimulus.

The weakness in metals and equities this morning, Thursday September 17, indicates markets were taking the US Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) projections and comments that they will likely keep interest rates on hold through at least 2023 as suggesting there will continue to be tough times ahead in the real economy.