The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More
With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More
The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More
Spot demand for cobalt metal has remained at minimal levels in recent weeks, leading market participants to question the level of discount that would be achievable in the forthcoming "mating season."Sellers confirmed on Monday October 19 that consumers continued to take any additional requirements of metal from long-term contracts, enjoying discounted prices arranged last year.This has left only t...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More
Recycled copper and aluminium that meet China's standards for renewable metals instead of solid waste can be freely imported into the country starting from November 1, according to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The customs commodity codes of recycled copper raw materials and recycled cast aluminium alloy raw materials are 7404000030 and 7602000020 respectively, the ministry said...Read More
With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More
Canada-based Lundin Mining Corp is to suspend operations at its Candelaria copper mine in Chile after mediation talks with a second union at the site failed to result in an agreement .Around 550 workers represented by the Candelaria AOS Union can now legally strike from October 20. They will join around 350 members of the Mine Workers Union who began industrial action at Candelaria on Oc...Read More
The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More
In the next 30 years, global demand for both aluminium and steel is likely to double. Against industry calls for a cleaner, more forward-looking supply-chain, however, the chairman and chief executive of GFG Alliance, Sanjeev Gupta, sees climate change as the key accelerator for a sustainability-led reinvention of the sector.Delivering his welcoming address at this year's virtual LME Week seminar,...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady in a week that ended with SSAB Americas issuing its sixth price increase in five months.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was unchanged at $29.50 per hundredweight ($590 per short ton) on Friday October 16. The assessment is down 7.8% in 2020 notwithstanding all the p...Read More
CIS export prices for steel billet inched upward on Monday October 19 amid higher costs for steelmaking raw materials, particularly scrap, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was calculated at $410 per tonne on Monday, up by $2 per tonne from Friday.Market participants reported offers within the range of $415-420 per tonne fob Black Sea, against...Read More
The mood in the Northern European hot-rolled coil market remained positive on Monday October 19, supported by good order books at domestic mills, a lack of competitive imports and solid end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?496.67 ($581.72) per tonne on Monday October 19, up by just ?,?0.84 p...Read More
Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann, chief executive officer of German steelmaker Salzgitter, will retire in mid-2021, the company said on Saturday October 17. Fuhrmann will remain in the position of CEO until his employment contract ends on June 30, 2021, the company confirmed. "Chief executive officer Prof Dr-Ing Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann will have reached the...Read More
Offer prices for domestic steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow increased as expected this week, although buyers said it was hard to pass them on to downstream customers, sources said on Monday October 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia was 40,000-41,000 roubles ($514-527) per tonne on October 1...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have been fairly stable over the month to the middle of October, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Italy, was unchanged over the month at ?,?220-240 ($258-281) per tonne on Friday October 16. The assessment was based on transactions heard in the market....Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported by Turkish steel mills inched back upward late last week after earlier dips, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 19.Higher prices were heard in one booking that came to light late on Friday after the Fastmarkets index calculation had closed for the day, and in another that become known on Monday morning.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic...Read More
Domestic ship scrap prices in Turkey have remained stable over the past week despite rising imported scrap values, market sources said on Monday October 19.The mills' buy prices for ship scrap have remained unchanged at $280 per tonne delivered.So Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, melting scrap from shipbreaking, domestic, delivered Turkey, was $280 per tonne on Monday, unchang...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged down on Monday October 19 following the sharp falls on Friday and due to a lack of trading activity. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $117.88 per tonne, down $0.37 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $130.29 per tonne, down $0.21 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.02 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, c...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were largely rangebound on Monday October 19, with sentiment still weak, market participants told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.53 per tonne, up $0.45 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.90 per tonne, up $0.26 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $110.44 per tonne, up $0.17 per ton...Read More