Global Steel & Metals Market News, Prices & Analysis

Brussels launches second legal action over Sardinian subsidies
February 9, 2012 - 17:11 GMT
The European Commission has launched a second European Court of Justice (ECJ) case in six months demanding the repayment of what it regards as illegal subsidies paid to metal companies in Sardinia, Italy.
Turkish rebar mills cut export prices by $10 on lower scrap prices
February 9, 2012 - 16:34 GMT
Turkish rebar exporters have reduced prices by $10 per tonne on softening ferrous scrap costs as they try to entice deals from consumers in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
DAILY SCRAP REPORT: Prices fall again as first batch of ex-Europe cargoes are fixed
February 9, 2012 - 15:03 GMT
Metal Bulletin’s Daily Ferrous Scrap Index continued its decline on Thursday February 9, reaching $421.19 per tonne cfr Iskenderun on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis, from $423.25 a day earlier.
SPOTLIGHT: Glencore-Xstrata says coal, copper marketing will highlight merger's benefits
February 9, 2012 - 14:53 GMT
Glencore-Xstrata’s operations in the coal and copper concentrates markets will show how it will achieve an overall saving of $500 million per year in marketing synergies, Glencore ceo Ivan Glasenberg said this week.
Turkish exporters cut wire rod prices by $10 on scant demand
February 9, 2012 - 12:19 GMT
Turkish wire rod export prices have fallen by $10 per tonne on scant demand and softening ferrous scrap prices, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Thursday February 9.

Base metals

LORD COPPER: Glencore-Xstrata will be a merger of more-than-equals

Glenstrata, X-Core, Davenberg, Mivan? Whatever the result of the Glencore-Xstrata merger is to be called, finding a name is an inevitable step after the IPO.
COMMENT: Glenstrata still has to break the mould

The news that Glencore and Xstrata are in merger talks would only come as a surprise to someone living under a rock, and only then if said rock did not contain any valuable minerals. But now that talks of a tie-up of the world’s largest metals trader and its fourth largest miner have finally moved into the boardroom, hypothetical questions have become real, and the answers are far from certain.
APEX FULL YEAR 2011: Base metal forecasts: astounding accuracy

Astounding upon astounding: that is how the 2011 leaderboard for Apex, the Metal Bulletin service that tracks the performance of over twenty top base metal price forecasters, appears when you consider it coldly.