The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade 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
China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) is likely to use a floating price to settle its latest round of cobalt metal stockpiling, according to a market source close to the matter. The SRB sent invitations to a handful of cobalt metal producers in China for a tender on Wednesday September 9; the tender was completed during the morning of Thursday September 17, according to a market source.No concre...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Wednesday September 16.Key drivers Domestic suppliers slashed their offer prices to facilitate deals after buying interest waned following declines in futures prices on the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange. The October indium contract on the exchange, for instance, closed at 1,130 yuan ($167) per kg on Wednesday, down by 19.1% from a close of 1,3...Read More
Ferroglobe will extend cuts to its production of standard-grade ferro-silicon from its European operations through the rest of this year, with no output from France and reduced output from Spain, industry sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 17.Spain-based Ferroglobe will make no standard-grade ferro-silicon at all in France this year, having idled two furnaces at Chateau-Feuillet on Sep...Read More
The European high- and low-carbon ferro-chrome markets strengthened on Tuesday September 15 due to a slow recovery in demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for ferro-chrome high carbon 6-8.5% C, basis 60-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe, was $0.85-0.97 per lb Cr on Tuesday, tightening from $0.83-0.98 per lb a week earlier."The capacity of users' production lines has been slowly coming b...Read More
This time yesterday base metals prices were down across the board, but with the exception of Shanghai Futures Exchange tin, they were all up during morning trading on Friday September 18 – showing sentiment remains bullish overall with dips being bought.This suggests prospects for increased demand for metals from infrastructure projects is driving sentiment and the market is not so concerned...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 2 points in pre-opening trade. Today is Quadruple Witching Day for U.S. markets when September equity and index options and futures record their last trade. Volumes on U.S. exchanges are expected to be well above average. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US75.80 cents following release of Canada's July Re...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets that you might have missed on Wednesday September 16 that are worth another look.JSW Steel Italia, part of Indian steelmaker JSW Steel, plans to resume liquid steel production at the former Aferpi mill in Italy by 2025 via construction an electric-arc furnace (EAF) with financial support from the Italian government,...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale plans to invest in nickel and copper capacity expansions and mineral resource replenishment in the coming years, the company disclosed in a presentation to analysts and investors on Wednesday September 16.At its nickel operations in Canada, the mining company expects to start a project in 2021 to bring 45,000-55,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of new capacity online in an...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday September 16.Please click...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets that you might have missed on Wednesday September 16 that are worth another look.JSW Steel Italia, part of Indian steelmaker JSW Steel, plans to resume liquid steel production at the former Aferpi mill in Italy by 2025 via construction an electric-arc furnace (EAF) with financial support from the Italian government,...Read More
China will be able to absorb the large volumes of ore and ferro-alloys supply it imported in the first half of this year, but supply concerns loom, Fastmarkets head of research Alistair Ramsay said during a recent Fastmarkets webinar on Covid-19 and what it means for trade flow and demand for key ferro-alloys and ores."It is been an extraordinary period with record levels of ores and ferro-alloys...Read More
The world's top producing copper mine is still in the midst of a grade problem and Covid-19 is making that harder to counteract.Output at Chile's Escondida, which contributes almost 6% of global copper supply annually, will fall for the coming two years, primarily due to lower grades of ore being processed there, majority owner and operator BHP said in its annual results this week.The mine will pr...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday September 16.Key drivers Tighter titanium scrap supply in the past few weeks has finally pushed up prices after being unchanged for 10 consecutive weeks, with buyers reporting deals down around the new range. Scrap prices may increase in the near term while tight availability - due to a drop in scrap generation following a slump in...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases amid weak finished long steel demand, especially in the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 16.Steel producers in the country booked seven deep-sea scrap cargoes, totalling around 230,000 tonnes, in the first half of last week before stepping away from the market on September 10.The price of HMS 1...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday September 16.Key drivers Tighter titanium scrap supply in the past few weeks has finally pushed up prices after being unchanged for 10 consecutive weeks, with buyers reporting deals down around the new range. Scrap prices may increase in the near term while tight availability - due to a drop in scrap generation following a slump in...Read More
Prices for cargoes of steel scrap exported from Japan fell for most grades on Wednesday September 16 following a drop in appetite among South Korean steelmakers and a worsening of the market environment, sources have told Fastmarkets.Several producers in South Korea were undertaking maintenance work in September-October, reducing the requirements for scrap in the country and thus also reducing the...Read More
The stronger tones in the base metals that have been seen this week were struggling to push ahead this morning, Wednesday September 16, because the market is waiting for direction, which is expected to come out of this evening's US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Will the better-than-expected US recovery mean the FOMC does not need to be as dovish, especially if Congress' relief pack...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday September 16 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Spot cobalt metal prices in China were steady, with liquidity improving in the first half of this week compared with late last week; but speculators and downstream consumers are generally cautious about taking positions or restocking, despite news on September 9 that China's State...Read More