Copper hit itshighest level in two months on Friday on optimism about further stimulus from top metals consumer China following a jumbo U.S. interest rate cut, while aluminium pulled back on producer selling. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.2% at $9,530 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading, having touched $9,599.50, the highest since July 18. Copper pared gains after some profit taking ahead of the weekend and a firmer dollar index =USD, which makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for buyers ...

Nippon Steel 5401.T plans to sell at least 30 billion yen ($211 million) in assets in this fiscal year to manage its debt, the Nikkei quoted its vice chairman as saying on Friday, as it waits to know the fate of its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel. Earlier this year, Nippon Steel agreed with three Japanese megabanks for $16 billion in loans to fund the acquisition of U.S. Steel. However, the deal is facing political opposition in the United States amid the Nov. 5 presidential elections. Nippon Steel plans ...

Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a third straight session on Friday and logged a weekly gain, buoyed by strength in rival Dalian contracts, though weaker crude oil prices, a firmer ringgit and demand concerns capped the rise. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 72 ringgit, or 1.86% higher at 3,948 ringgit ($940.00) a metric ton. The contract gained 3.5% this week after falling for two consecutive weeks. The recent strength in Malaysian palm oil futures means they have traded ...

Malaysian palm oil is likely to trade between 3,700 to 4,500 ringgit ($885 to $1,053) a metric ton from now until June, as demand is expected to be buoyant during the Chinese Lunar New Year and the holy month of Ramadan, industry analyst Dorab Mistry said. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 42 ringgit, or 1.08%, to 3,918 ringgit ($937.74) a metric ton as of 0604 GMT on Friday. “Prices will begin a new bull market in Jan-March 25. The ...

Iron ore futures prices edged higher on Friday but logged a weekly loss, as traders weighed prospects of fresh monetary stimulus from China against the top consumer’s muted economic recovery, while firmer global supply also weighed on prices. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.15% higher at 680 yuan ($96.43) a metric ton. The contract declined 3.41% for the week. The benchmark October iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.99% lower at $91.75 a ton, as of 0325 GMT. China ...

The International Grains Council (IGC) has trimmed its forecast for 2024/25 global wheat production with a downward revision for the European Union largely offset by an improved outlook for Australia. The intergovernmental body, in its monthly update on Thursday, anticipated global wheat production in 2024/25 at 798 million metric tons, down 1 million from its previous forecast although marginally above the prior season’s 795 million. The European Union’s wheat crop was downwardly revised to 122.4 million from 124.8 million previously and well below the prior season’s 133.1 million. Earlier this ...

Copper prices hovered around two-month highs on Friday and were poised for a weekly gain as theoutsized U.S. interest rate cut and expectations ofstimulus from top consumer China boosted demand prospects. Earlier in the session, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 hit $9,595 per metric ton, the highest since July 18. It was up 0.7% at$9,578.50 per metric ton at 0513GMT, having risen 3.5% so far this week. The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 was 1.4% higher at 75,960 yuan a ton. The ...

Prices of iron ore futures gained ground on Thursday, as prospects of fresh Chinese monetary stimulus and lower inventories overshadowed concerns of the top consumer’s weakening domestic demand. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.69% higher at 693.0 yuan ($98.10) a metric ton. The benchmark October iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 2.46% higher at $92.95 a ton, as of 0700 GMT. China is widely expected to trim its main policy and benchmark lending rates on Friday, a Reuters poll ...

The European carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in its current form will not benefit the European stainless steel industry, a panel of executives from European stainless steel producers told delegates at the SMR Stainless Steel conference in Rome on Sept. 17. “CBAM is a bad instrument, it is wrongly conceived, it is almost impossible to apply, it is limited to the first phase of the [production] cycle [Scope 1], and it’s not going to work,” Antonio Marcegaglia, CEO of Italian steelmaker Marcegaglia, said. “I do believe it has been used ...

Malaysian palm oil futures extended gains to a second consecutive session onThursday, underpinned by firmer soyoil prices and production concerns in the world’s second-biggest producer. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 34 ringgit, or 0.88%, higher at 3,879 ringgit ($921.82) a metric ton. The contract rose as much as 3.17% to trade at a high of 3,967 ringgit a metric ton earlier in the session before paring back the gains. The rebound in soyoil prices is supportingMalaysian palm oil futures, ...

India’s rice production this year will be higher than last year despite heavy rains and flooding in some states, Agricultural Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday. The country is also considering easing curbs on non-basmati rice exports as inventories in the world’s biggest exporter of the grain surge and farmers are set to harvest a new crop in the coming weeks. India imposed a series of curbs on overseas shipments of different grades in 2023 to ensure sufficient supplies for the country’s 1.4 billion people and to keep local ...

Copper prices hit their highest in two months and aluminium the highest in three on Thursday after the long-awaited interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve weakened the dollar and gave support to growth-dependent metals. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 rose 1.4% to $9,533 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading after hitting $9,586.5, its highest since July 18, and stumbling upon resistance from the 100-day moving average. The U.S. currency fell, making dollar-priced metals more attractive for buyers using other currencies, as the Fed kicked ...

The world’s biggest palm oil exporter Indonesia will introduce a new set of monthly levies in a bid to improve competitiveness against rival edible oils, a regulation published on Thursday by its finance ministry showed. Under the new rules, which take effect on Saturday, levies for crude palm oil exports will be set at a 7.5% rate of the reference price set periodically by the government. The more refined palm oil products will be charged lower levy rates, at between 3% and 6% of the reference rates, the document showed. ...

Russia’s vast Krasnoyarsk region declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to heavy rains killing winter crops during sprouting time, bringing the total number of Siberian grain-producing regions under emergency conditions to four. Earlier in September, a state of emergency was announced in the Tomsk, Novosibirsk, and Kemerovo regions. Together, the four regions accounted for about 5% of last year’s grain harvest in Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter. Declaring a state of emergency can allow farmers to claim compensation. “Due to the abundance of rain and excessive soil ...

The European duty-paid aluminum market’s recent softening, despite stability in the duty-unpaid market, points to murky outlooks for the remainder of the year, market sources say, as poor demand dynamics continue to battle tightening supply. Widespread uncertainty set a cautious tone among traders on the sidelines of an industry gathering in Athens, where few bookings materialized in a sluggish market. “People don’t seem to be motivated to take extra units, but equally no one feels pressure to let go of units they hold,” a trader said. Several sources maintained that ...