The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019.The SEC staff made a preliminary determination to recommend the beginning of proceedings against Vale, alleging that the company's disclosures about dam safety management and the Brumadinho dam could have...Read More
Buy-side sentiment in key Asian steel scrap markets has been hurt by news that Chinese trading firms were offering Southeast Asian buyers steel billet which was already imported into China, together with recent falls in the scrap price in Turkey, sources said on Thursday October 28.?EUR?Easing bulk freight costs reduce Bangladesh deep-sea bulk scrap prices?EUR?China import demand muted after steel...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 28 that are worth another look.The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019. Brazilian miner Vale will resume activities...Read More
Prices for steel billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States region continued to soften in the week to Thursday October 28 amid an unfavorable environment in the global market.Lack of demand was one of the main reasons for the downtrend. China has been one of the main global consumers of billet imports, from the CIS in particular, but it suddenly lost interest in imported material d...Read More
Demand and prices for alumina in China were in limbo this week because market participants have become cautious after a steep decline in downstream aluminium prices, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday October 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina, metallurgical grade, exw China, was 3,900-4,150 yuan ($610-650) per tonne on Thursday, flat from a week earlier.Domestic demand for alumina in...Read More
Norway-based silicon and ferro-silicon producer Elkem, a world leader in advanced silicon-based materials, has announced an expansion plan to support demand growth for speciality materials in the Europe-Middle East-Asia region (EMEA) and the Americas.On Wednesday October 27, the company's board of directors approved a capacity expansion by 20,000 tonnes per year at the plant in Roussillon, near Ly...Read More
Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro is looking at ways to use less-clean scrap in low-carbon ingot production, according to chief executive officer Hilde Merete Aasheim.Aasheim was speaking to Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday October 26, after the company announced record third-quarter results for its aluminium business."For us, profitability and sustainabi...Read More
The Ramu Nickel-Cobalt integrated operation in Papua New Guinea has been suspended due to increasing numbers of Covid-19 infections among staff, Canadian stakeholder Nickel 28 Capital has said."Nickel 28 Capital has been notified by Metallurgical Corporation of China [MCC], our operating partner at the Ramu mine, that the mine site has paused production and operations for the next two weeks to pro...Read More
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019.The SEC staff made a preliminary determination to recommend the beginning of proceedings against Vale, alleging that the company's disclosures about dam safety management and the Brumadinho dam could have...Read More
A summary of Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB's financial results for the third quarter of 2021, ending September 30In brief LKAB continued to deliver historically high operating profits in July-September 2021 amid strong demand from steelmakers and high iron ore prices. Fastmarkets' iron ore index for 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao averaged at $163.39 per tonne in the third quarter of...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.Fastmarkets assessed...Read More
ArcelorMittal has moved forward scheduled maintenance of its galvanizing lines at its Florange site in northeastern France due to reduced demand from the automotive industry, a company representative told Fastmarkets.The company revealed the decision earlier this week, citing in part, the decreased demand from the automotive industry due to an ongoing global semiconductor shortage.The maintenance...Read More
ArcelorMittal has raised its offer prices for long-term contracts to the automotive industry and other large steel-consuming sectors, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 28.Several market sources told Fastmarkets that its offers for the first quarter, first half and full year of 2022 for hot-rolled coil are ?,?1,080 ($1,253) per tonne ex-works while those for hot-dipped galvanized coil ar...Read More
Liberty Steel UK (LSUK) has restarted crude steel production at its Rotherham electric-arc furnace in north-east England, the company announced on Thursday October 28.The company will operate at night to maximize efficiency and mitigate the high energy costs that have become a key issue for the industry, it said. Some other producers have cut their output in response to the rising costs.LSUK claim...Read More
The cfr-basis price for premium hard coking coal softened on news that China allowed stranded Australia-origin coal to clear customs on Thursday October 28, but prices in the seaborne fob market were strong on new trade.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $608.12 per tonne, down by $6.34 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $568.59 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday October 28, continuing to rebound following a recent period of widespread selling."Given the [recent] price action, this Friday's week- and month-end closes should be important to determine whether we see some longer-term length liquidate," Alastair Munro, LME desk analyst at Marex, sai...Read More
China's cobalt metal prices declined this week in response to weak demand and cautious downstream buyers - diverging from the international trend for higher benchmark prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, ex-works China was 395,000-410,000 yuan ($61,806-64,153) per tonne on Wednesday October 27, down by 2,000 yuan per tonne from 397,000-410,000 yuan per tonne on October 22...Read More
India-based Essar Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia's industry minister for the construction of a hot-rolled coil manufacturing unit, the Middle Eastern country's National Development Center (NDC) said on Wednesday October 27.Bandar Bin lbrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia's minister for industry and mineral resources, and Rewant Ruia, representing Essar Steel, signed t...Read More
A healthy price arbitrage for Japanese hot-rolled coil producers to export into steel markets in the Americas has enabled these mills to keep raising their steel scrap buying prices in recent months, sources told Fastmarkets.Japanese HRC exports to the Americas totaled 1.36 million tonnes in January-August 2021 under HS codes 7208 and 722530, up by 37.6% year on year, according to statistics from...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to fall on Thursday October 28, but demand picked up following gains in the futures market during the afternoon trading session.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,100-5,150 yuan ($798-806) per tonne, down by 80-100 yuan per tonneThe most-traded January rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped to 4,464 yuan per tonne on Thursday morni...Read More