Metals &Mining Alert:Daily prices and news,China's major copper smelters hike TC/RC's by 10%
Industrials (/lb): aluminum $0.98 (-0.3%), copper $2.94 (-0.7%), lead $1.14(+2.2%), molybdenum $7.14 (+0.0%); nickel $4.99 (-3.3%); zinc $1.41 (-1.0%);Precious (/oz): gold $1,291 (-0.8%), silver $16.97 (-1.1%); Steel (/mt): ChinaHRC $629 (-0.5%), SHFE Rebar $565 (-0.8%), MB Scrap Index $331 (-2.3%);Bulks: iron ore (/dmt) $66 (-5.1%), coking coal (/mt) $203 (-1.3%), freight (BCI)2,948 (+3.0%); Energy: Brent (/bbl) $56.43 (+0.2%), WTI (/bbl) $50.55 (+0.3%),natural gas (/mmBtu) $2.95 (-4.8%), thermal coal (/t) $97 (-0.7%).
Major copper smelters in China raise TC/RC’s for 4Q17 by ~10% QoQ. ChinaSmelters Purchase Team (CSPT) set treatment fees at $95/t (vs. $86/t in 3Q17)and refining charges at 9.5c/lb (vs. 8.6). The increase reflects greater copperconcentrate supply in China and pushes TC/RC’s above the 2017 annualbenchmark of $92.5/t and 9.2c/lb. The increase could be an attempt to giveCSPT members more bargaining power during negotiations for 2018 contractsas miners, smelters and traders meet in October and use a combination ofbenchmark prices to agree on TC/RC’s. (Reuters)World crude steel production increased 6.3% YoY to 144m tons in August (-0.1% MoM), with capacity utilization of 72.2% (+330bps YoY, -20bps MoM).
China’s output rose 8.7% YoY to record high of 75m tons (+0.8% MoM) andUS production up 6.3% YoY to 7.1m tons (+1.5% MoM). YTD global outputtotaled 1.1bn tons (+4.9% YoY). (WSA)Iron ore price declines 5% DoD to $66/t, driven by worries over impact on steelproduction from winter output cuts. Falling rebar price and expectations ofrising supply also dented demand (-8.5% WTD). Adding further headwinds,S&P Global Ratings downgraded China’s credit rating. (Bloomberg Finance LP)China’s Hebei provincial government sends officials to visit 38 steel mills and 6coal and coking companies, seeking views on planned output cuts for airpollution control during winter (Nov 15-March 15). Hebei plans to reduce blastfurnace utilization rates to 50% during winter, in-line with Ministry ofEnvironmental Protections’ latest directive. Market participants are still unclearas to how output cuts would be carried out and its impact to production. (SBB)North American Stainless raised base price for all cold-rolled stainless sheet byreducing functional discount by 2 percentage points. Also, plate prices wereincreased by $40-80/st, depending on thickness. Hike attributed to risingmanufacturing and operational cost. (SBB)Acacia Mining (Barrick stake: 64%) to reposition its Buzwagi mine, Tanzania toproduce only gold dore till end of mining life (2020). Buzwagi produces bothdore and gold/copper concentrate but a recent government ban on concentrateexports has prevented the mine from exporting and selling its concentrate,which accounts for ~65% of its output. While Acacia’s overall 2017 productionand cost guidance remain unchanged, it expects to sell an additional 8-10kozof gold per month for remainder of the year from Buzwagi. (Mining Weekly)