First Quantum Minerals has increased its 2020 group copper production guidance to 750,000-785,000 tonnes, citing the resumption of normal operations at its Cobre Panama project and new production records at almost all of its sites. In July, the Vancouver, Canada-headquartered company said it was expecting 2020 group copper production of 725,000-770,000 tonnes. Company chairman and chief executive...Read More
Roberto Ecclefield has joined trading house Industrial Minerals and is setting up a Latin America business for the firm, Fastmarkets understands. Ecclefield was formerly the chief commercial officer at Chilean state miner Codelco, which...Read More
En+ Group, the majority owner of aluminium producer UC Rusal, has urged the European Commission to remove any tariffs on low-carbon aluminium to spur the 'green' economy. In a statement released on Thursday October 29, En+ said applying a "one size fits all" Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as currently suggested, could be counterproductive. The theme of low-carbon aluminium and sustaina...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price was the under performer during morning trading on Thursday October 29, with its price action largely subdued against a continued upsurge in the US dollar index, while a fresh cancelation of some 18,525 tonnes kept the LME lead price elevated.LME nickel's outright price was recently trading at $15,515 per tonne on Thursday morning, falling by some...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices have popped back above $34 per hundredweight ($680 per short ton), while mills - which have few spot tons to spare for the balance of the year - increasingly hold out for $35 per cwt or more on the supply they have left, market participants said.Fastmarkets daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $34.16 per cwt ($683.20 per ton) on Thursday O...Read More
Prices for imported flat steel products moved sideways or slightly higher in the United States due to the spread between domestic and overseas metal making shipments from abroad competitive on a limited basis, market participants said."The buyers are checking the import prices right now, but they cannot find enough gap to convince them to buy imports now," a Gulf Coast trader said. "But if the US...Read More
Italian trade unions Uilm and Fiom-Cgil have called for steelworkers at ArcelorMittal Italia to go on strike on November 5 because they have not been given any clear idea of the future for the Taranto steel mill, the unions said on Thursday October 29."There are still 35 days left before the deadline [for renewal of the lease of the mill expires on November 30, 2020], at which time AM InvestCo wil...Read More
Steel rebar prices in Egypt decreased over the week to Thursday October 29 while demand failed to improve again after the Egyptian government reduced the safeguard duty on billet and rebar imports the week before, sources told Fastmarkets.The duty for imported billet has been reduced to 13% in the cif market with a $60-per-tonne minimum, compared to a 16% duty and $75-per-tonne minimum in effect s...Read More
Trading activity in China's hot-rolled coil market slowed on Thursday October 29 but prices still narrowed upward.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,930 yuan ($583-585) per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said trading activity had slowed on Thursday but sellers refused to accept lower offers.News of a decline in spot Chinese HRC inventories failed to boos...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices stopped rising on Thursday October 29 due to lower buying interest in the higher offer prices. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,730-3,760 yuan ($556-561) per tonne, unchangedJanuary rebar contracts increased to a high of 3,680 yuan per tonne in the morning October 29, up from the opening price of 3,656 yuan per tonne. Sellers raised their offers by 10-20...Read More
Brazil-based miner Vale showed an increase in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of 32.41% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020, because of strong prices backed by Chinese demand. The miner's adjusted Ebitda reached $6.10 billion in the third quarter, up from $4.60 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings also soared from the second quarter's level of...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Thursday October 29 amid market participants adopting a wait-and-see stance, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $116.00 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $116.84 per tonne, down $0.26 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $108.57 per tonne, down $0.18 per to...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the cfr and fob markets moved in reverse directions on Thursday October 29 amid a distorted spot market, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.74 per tonne, down $7.61 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $135.26 per tonne, up $15.43 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $95.52 per tonne, down $0.25 per tonn...Read More
Prices for cargoes of ferrous scrap exported from Japan are poised to continue rising amid strong appetite from Vietnam and continued concerns over global scrap supply, sources told Fastmarkets.Vietnam was heard paying $300-305 per tonne cfr for Japanese H2 scrap in bulk at the end of last week, which Japanese sources said was equivalent to around ?28,500 per tonne fob.One South Korean mill was h...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies....Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies....Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 28 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Spot domestic Chinese cobalt metal prices edged lower amid lingering weak sentiment, while buyers succeeded in negotiating lower prices, taking advantage of competition among traders who usually require steady cash flow. The price range for...Read More
Cobalt hydroxide payables made further gains during the first half of the week while metal prices fell for the first time since mid-July. Fastmarkets' price assessments for cobalt standard grade, in-warehouse Rotterdam and cobalt alloy grade, in-warehouse Rotterdam stand at parity at $15.50-16 per lb as of the Wednesday October 28 assessment, both narrowing downward from $15.70-16 per lb the day b...Read More
An overview of the consumers electronics markets and their latest price moves.Read More
A summary of sales figures from Russian steelmaker Evraz in the third quarter of 2020, it said in a trading update report published on Thursday October 29.Evraz CIS in briefSales of semi-finished steel products from Evraz's assets in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) dropped by 21.6% year on year to 1.3 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2020 from 1.67 million tonnes in th...Read More