It is reported that all the base metals witnessed a major crash last week at LME.
It is said that base metal's price growth off late was primarily on speculation and now the speculators started booking profit because of which metals come down sharply last week.
The US dollar also went up in the previous week which affected demand of dollar denominated commodities adversely by making it more expensive for the other currency holders.
Fact of the matter is that investors are worried about the further monetary tightening by China to tame inflation. The country will continue its monetary tightening measures for slowing down of inflation till prices come under control.
Inventories at LME and other warehouses are rising which is also a bearish sign for industrial metals. Investors are destocking their holdings which they have piled up in the recent past.
Economic data from US and UK dragged metal complex down as investors feared about the slowdown in global economic recovery which may reduce demand of industrial metals.
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| Product | 28-Apr | 05-May | Change | % |
| Zinc | 2221 | 2125 | -96 | -4% |
| Nickel | 26605 | 24970 | -1635 | -6% |
| Tin | 32250 | 29100 | -3150 | -10% |
| Aluminium | 2772 | 2680 | -92 | -3% |
| Copper | 9370 | 8790 | -580 | -6% |
Change is on May 7th as compared to 28th April 2011
In USD per tonne
1. Zinc
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| 28-Apr | 02-May | 03-May | 04-May | 05-May |
| 2336 | 2336 | 2257 | 2232 | 2221 |
In USD per tonne
Date Rate Period Change
05-May 2221
| Date | Rate | Period | Change |
| 05-May | 2221 | | |
| 28-Apr | 2336 | WoW | -4.92% |
| 05-Apr | 2391 | MoM | -7.11% |
| 05-Feb | 2455 | QoQ | -9.53% |
| 05-May'10 | 2035 | YoY | 9.14% |
In USD per tonne
2. Nickel
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| 28-Apr | 02-May | 03-May | 04-May | 05-May |
| 26650 | 26650 | 26230 | 26325 | 26605 |
In USD per tonne
Date Rate Period Change
05-May 26605
| Date | Rate | Period | Change |
| 05-May | 26605 | | |
| 28-Apr | 26650 | WoW | -0.17% |
| 05-Apr | 25145 | MoM | 5.81% |
| 05-Feb | 27775 | QoQ | -4.21% |
| 05-May'10 | 22555 | YoY | 17.96% |
In USD per tonne
3. Tin
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| 28-Apr | 02-May | 03-May | 04-May | 05-May |
| 32670 | 32670 | 32425 | 32190 | 32250 |
In USD per tonne
Date Rate Period Change
05-May 32250
| Date | Rate | Period | Change |
| 05-May | 32250 | | |
| 28-Apr | 32670 | WoW | -1.29% |
| 05-Apr | 31495 | MoM | 2.40% |
| 05-Feb | 30650 | QoQ | 5.22% |
| 05-May'10 | 17200 | YoY | 87.50% |
In USD per tonne
4. Aluminium
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| 28-Apr | 02-May | 03-May | 04-May | 05-May |
| 2731 | 2731 | 2720 | 2739 | 2772 |
In USD per tonne
| Date | Rate | Period | Change |
| 05-May | 2772 | | |
| 28-Apr | 2731 | WoW | 1.48% |
| 05-Apr | 2592 | MoM | 6.93% |
| 05-Feb | 2515 | QoQ | 10.20% |
| 05-May'10 | 2094 | YoY | 32.35% |
In USD per tonne
5. Copper
London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer
| 28-Apr | 02-May | 03-May | 04-May | 05-May |
| 9611 | 9611 | 9455 | 9348 | 9370 |
In USD per tonne
| Date | Rate | Period | Change |
| 05-May | 9370 | | |
| 28-Apr | 9611 | WoW | -2.50% |
| 05-Apr | 9251 | MoM | 1.29% |
| 05-Feb | 9950 | QoQ | -5.83% |
| 05-May'10 | 6800 | YoY | 37.79% |
In USD per tonne
www.steelprices-india.com is a comprehensive portal that provides domestic pricing information for benchmark steel products in each category at select location in India on a regular basis 5 days a week and international price levels on a weekly basis.
As steel in each category comes in hundreds of grades shapes and sizes, we have taken benchmark products in each category at select locations to cover the entire basket of garden variety of steel products including input material for steel making and processing.
Products covered
1. Input materials - Iron ore, scrap, sponge iron, pig iron pencil ingot, billets and blooms
2. Long products - Rebar, wire rod, angle, channel and joists
3. Flat products - Narrow plates, wide plates, HR, CR and galvanized
4. Others - Pipes
Methodology and access
1. Benchmark products in each category with fixed commonly used sizes and grades
2. Base prices or effective, as per market trends
3. Average transaction levels which have settled well, based on continuous interactions with domestic mills, overseas suppliers, Importers stockiest & service centers and buyers
4. On fixed market oriented payment terms
5. Daily updates
6. Data available since July 2008
5. Access through web site
Price basis
Without ED and VAT for all products except for rebar and sections
Other features
The prices are displayed on weekly and monthly basis. They also have search facilities to access old data from the archives. Graphical representation of trends and comparison of price movement 2 or more products is also available.
In addition, you can monitor currency exchange rates, metal prices, BDI for the day as well as access their archives for past data.
Other features include converters for weight, length etc, glossary and advanced search functions. The benchmark product price information is supplemented by global pricing news.
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