Multiple battery chemistry offerings will continue to co-exist in the marketplace, according to Ernie Ortiz, president and managing director at Lithium Royalty Corporation."The future will be balanced and diversified across battery chemistry. [Original equipment manufacturers] acknowledge that battery chemistry is not a one-size-fits-all approach," Ortiz said during the Focus Day on electric vehic...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Thursday October 22, making a steady approach toward resistance at the $2,600-per-tonne threshold.Copper futures were the laggard over the day, in spite of Wednesday's upsurge.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,578.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, climbing from an intrad...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan has proposed expanding its existing copper smelter at Gresik in Indonesia by 30% and adding a precious metals refinery in place of constructing an entirely new smelter nearby. The chief executive officer of the US copper producer said this option was attractive to the government of Indonesia as an alternative to undertaking a major construction project during the Covid-19 pandemic...Read More
The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) will revise its performance standard to align with the London Metal Exchange's responsible sourcing requirements, Marieke van der Mijn, director of impacts and partnerships at ASI said on Thursday October 22. Speaking at the exchange's focus day during LME Week van der Mijn explained: "ASI is working closely with the LME to align the ASI guidance and stan...Read More
US copper producer Freeport-McMoRan said its Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru is operating at around 90% of its 2019 annual average while it works to restore operations following restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The mine, in which Freeport owns a 53.56% stake, saw operating rates average 351,000 tonnes per day of ore during the third quarter, the company said. Consolidated sales i...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan expected consolidated copper sales for the full year of 2020 to be around 3.18 billion lb, or 1.44 million tonnes, slightly more than the 3.15 billion lb, or 1.42 million tonnes, that was forecast in July.In its earnings statement for the July-September quarter, published on Thursday October 22, the miner said that it expected consolidated copper sales in 2021 to rise to 3.85 bill...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan is to restart its Chino copper mine in the US state of New Mexico at 50% of capacity starting in 2021, the company has said.The US copper producer had been evaluating options for the mine, which was shuttered in April after...Read More
Reinforcing bar prices in the United States were stable week on week on mostly flat domestic ferrous scrap prices and a partially successful mill price hike, market participants said.Those factors appear to have offset - at least for now - concerns about construction demand and outright pessimism about infrastructure spending heading into 2021, some sources said.Fastmarkets ass...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Turkey's largest steelmaking group, Erdemir, for January-September 2020.In brief Erdemir Group's local flat steel sales totaled 5.4 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by about 1.3% from 5.47 million tonnes in the January-September 2019. The company's local long steel sales decreased by 0.8% to 774,000 tonnes from 780,000 tonnes...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were unchanged day on day on Thursday October 22, but steelmakers were expected to announce a price increase, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?497.50 ($589.78) per tonne on Thursday, flat from the day before.The index was up by ?,?1.87 per tonne w...Read More
Demand for rebar and billet in Egypt failed to improve in the week to Thursday, October 22, despite the authorities reducing safeguard duties on the products, sources told Fastmarkets.Steel billet and rebar prices in Egypt were unchanged as a result, they added. The duty for imported billet was cut to 13% for the cif market last week, with a $60-per-tonne minimum, compared with ...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
Turkish steel mills have returned to the deep-sea scrap markets, booking several cargoes at higher prices than previously, market sources said on Thursday October 22.On Wednesday, sources speculated on the direction prices could move after three days with no bookings. But that was before the latest transactions came to light late in the day, after Fastmarkets' index calculation had closed.A steel...Read More
Prices for containers of steel scrap imported into Bangladesh have risen over the past seven days, supported by higher freight costs, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 22.Rising demand for grain transportation has driven up container freight costs into Bangladesh, sources said, together with solid gains seen this week in the markets for both Japan export scrap and Taiwan imp...Read More
Iron ore prices in the futures and seaborne market decreased while the port market remained relatively stable on Thursday October 22, sources said, adding that deals done for building materials had supported the seaborne and port prices.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.91 per tonne,down $0.58 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.99 per tonne,down $0.65 p...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in both the cfr China and fob Australia markets were flat on Thursday October 22 amid limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.74 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $126.78 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.02 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingta...Read More
Japanese suppliers have stopped giving discounts for heavy scrap to buyers in South Korea and Taiwan over the last week, and have raised their export prices, market sources told Fastmarkets.Demand among buyers in Vietnam remained solid while prices were also boosted by the return of Taiwanese consumers to the market for Japanese scrap following a fall in the supply of United States-origin containe...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will launch a lithium contract based on the monthly average of Fastmarkets' price assessment for lithium hydroxide monohydrate, it said during an online briefing on Thursday October 22 as part of the annual LME Week event.The contract will use the assessment for lithium hydroxide monohydrate, min 56.5% LiOH.H2O, battery grade, spot price, cif China, Japan & Korea. It is p...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower during morning trading on Thursday October 22, with the LME nickel price notching the biggest decline, while a continued impasse over a US coronavirus fiscal stimulus package cooled rallies seen earlier in the week. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $15,730 per tonne on Thursday morning, fa...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices recovered some losses on Thursday October 22 on good demand and a drop in inventory levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,740 yuan ($557-562) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneEnd users purchased cargoes at a steady pace in the past four days of this week, which drew down inventory levels. China's spot rebar market had 7.3 million tonnes of the product on T...Read More