This Morning in Metals: Tokyo Steel to Hold Prices Steady in January

Steady Steel Prices for Tokyo Steel

After prices increases in recent months, Tokyo Steel announced it will hold prices steady in January, Reuters reported.
MetalMiner’s Take: MetalMiner notes with interest what appears as a global pause on the long-term underlying bull metal market.
Commodities have recently switched from bullish to sideways. Industrial metals prices have largely declined in December and steel prices, both globally and in the U.S., continue to soften.
Will the bull market continue or will December mark a shift in the long-term outlook? December will likely provide a number of clues.

Metals Prices Fall

Copper and other base metals prices fell Monday on concerns about trade and demand, Reuters reported elsewhere.
LME copper fell 0.4% Monday, according to the report.

Mid-Grade Iron Ore Production

Australian miner Fortescue, hailing its maiden shipment of West Pilbara Fines, announced it will produce 5-10 million tons of the mid-grade iron ore next year.
The ore will be produced by “blending higher iron, low alumina ore from the western pits at Cloudbreak with ore from the Firetail mine.”
MetalMiner’s Annual Outlook provides 2019 buying strategies for carbon steel
The first shipment of the ore left the Herb Elliott Port in Port Hedland en route to Hunan Valin Steel Co., Ltd (Hunan Valin) in China, according to a Fortescue release.