The US aluminum industry would benefit more from multilateral trade agreements instead of broad unilateral programs such as the Section 232 aluminum tariff, panelists said. The 10% aluminum tariff under Section 232 has been successful in keeping direct aluminum imports from China out of the US, but it has not prevented China from subsidizing its aluminum industry and building additional capacity, Aluminum Association CEO Tom Dobbins said during the group’s annual meeting. “The Chinese are unfairly subsidizing a key segment of their aluminum industry, and it distorts markets throughout the ...

Wheat for December delivery rose 1.6% to $6.32 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday in reaction to a new Egyptian tender as well as lingering weather issues in Russia. — Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.9% to $10.83 3/4 a bushel. — Corn for December delivery rose 0.7% to $4.19 1/4 a bushel. HIGHLIGHTS Export Appetite: Wheat futures trading on the CBOT rose Friday, bouncing back from a weaker finish Thursday as Egypt seeks an international tender for wheat. Russian wheat priced at $262.97 a metric ...

Upcoming rains in Argentina are expected to benefit both wheat and corn crops, a report by Rosario Stock Exchange said Oct. 23. According to the exchange, known as BCR, upcoming rains will improve wheat crop conditions, which have deteriorated 10 percentage points on the week to 45% in the fair to poor category, due to extensive drought-like conditions in the country. There is a very good chance that in the last 10 days of October, Argentina will receive heavy rains, particularly in the central regions, the report said. With the ...

A recovery in steel and pig iron production in the Atlantic Basin markets has led to stronger demand for iron ore pellets and met coal, stabilizing prices and premiums, according to industry participants. Iron ore quarterly contract pellet premiums are at an all-time low in the fourth quarter, with S&P Global Platts Atlantic blast furnace contract pellet premium falling to $27.50/dry mt in October, down $1 from September, with a broader price range of Q4 settlements. While miners may feel it is too early to settle first quarter 2021 pellet ...

China’s securities regulator said on Friday it had approved an international copper futures contract for launch on Nov. 19, in a move that will give foreign investors access to trading in the world’s top consumer of the metal. Gao Li, a spokeswoman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission, announced the launch date for the contract, which will be traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), at a weekly news briefing. The contract has been much awaited by foreign investors looking to hedge exposure in China. The Shanghai Futures Exchange ...

JSW Steel, India’s second largest private steel manufacturer, swung back to profit in the July-September quarter as domestic demand recovered and the pandemic-induced lockdown curbs were eased across the country. The company reported a net profit of ₹1,595 crore for Q2, down 37% year-on-year but far better than the June quarter performance when it had reported a net loss of ₹582 crore. It said capacity utilisation returned to pre-covid levels at 86% in the second quarter, from 66% in April-June and that as domestic demand recovered, the company’s exports eased ...

CBOT agricultural futures rallied strongly in the past week as U.S. dollar index declined in the runup to the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, Chicago-based research company AgResource noted. U.S. trade representative announced that China has booked 71 percent of its agricultural purchase obligation for 2020 with the total likely to near 30 billion dollars before yearend. China’s purchase of U.S. soybeans accounts for at least 31 million metric tons of U.S. export demand. CBOT corn futures continued to add premium amid improving U.S. demand. Media reported that China could ...

During the past Iranian calendar week (ended on October 23), 398,846 tons of commodities valued at over $190 million were traded at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME). As reported by the IME’s Public Relations and International Affairs Department, last week, on the domestic and export metal and mineral trading floor of IME, 162,476 tons of various products worth close to $102 million were traded. On this trading floor, 145,484 tons of steel, 8,700 tons of aluminum, 7,400 tons of copper, 120 tons of molybdenum concentrates, 12 tons of precious metal concentrates ...

Deterra Royalties Ltd debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday with a market value of A$2.57 billion ($1.83 billion) after being spun off from mineral sands producer Iluka Resources Ltd. Deterra, the country’s biggest listed mining royalty business, joins Australia’s top 200 listed companies after issuing about 528 million shares, which started trading at A$4.87 per share. The stock rose as much as 1.6% to A$4.95, before falling below its opening price to A$4.80 in midday trade. Deterra’s key asset is an iron ore royalties stream from global giant ...

Asian ferrous scrap prices look set to extend their strong performance of the past three months into the fourth quarter as steelmaking recovers at a time when slower scrap collection in winter typically crimps supply. However, scrap demand by countries in the region driven by the production of billet for sale to China could soften in Q4, even though semi-finished products remain one of the few steel types to see an arbitrage window into China still ajar. END-USE SECTOR REVIVAL Regional scrap demand is expected to improve due to a ...

State-owned Coal India Ltd’s fuel allocation under the exclusive e-auction scheme for the non-power sector rose almost six-folds to 13.44 million tonnes (MT) in April-September this fiscal. Coal India Ltd (CIL) had allocated 2.31 MT of dry fuel to the sector under the scheme in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the latest government data. This growth comes amid CIL looking to tap the non-power sector to consume its coal. However, there was no allocation of coal by the PSU under the scheme last month, the data ...

South Korean steelmaker POSCO 005490.KS posted a 36% fall in year-on-year operating profit in the third quarter, but profits fell by less than expected as a rebound in the automobile industry underpinned demand for steel. The world’s fifth-biggest steelmaker said steel production and sales recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels during the quarter as coronavirus restrictions eased globally, after demand for steel was hard hit by the pandemic earlier this year. POSCO said in a statement it expected continued improvement in sales and profitability, as well as solid cash flows, in the ...

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 156.4 million tonnes (Mt) in September 2020, a 2.9% increase compared to September 2019. Due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of this month’s figures are estimates that may be revised with next month’s production update. World crude steel production was 1,347.4 Mt in the first nine months of 2020, down by 3.2% compared to the same period in 2019. Asia produced 1,001.7 Mt of crude steel in the first ...

Steel industry associations in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa today renewed their call for governments of steel-producing economies to intensify their work in the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC). Steel industries throughout the world expressed tremendous concern about the recent increase in steel overcapacity at a time when steel demand is severely depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing a trend of gradual decreases in overcapacity in the three years after the GFSEC was established (2016 – 2019). The associations noted the uneven state of recovery in macro-economic ...

Stronger demand is needed from outside China to hold up copper prices or push them higher, participants at the London Metal Exchange China Focus webinar said Oct. 22. While a strong Chinese demand recovery has boosted the red metal’s price from its late March COVID-19 doldrums, the sustainability of this recovery is now being questioned, they said. The LME copper cash price stood at $6,886/mt Oct. 22, down $67/mt from the previous day, but still nearly 50% higher its late-March levels. Some analysts forecast earlier this week it could reach ...