Global aluminium premiums were supported across the globe by insufficient supply, strong demand and rising freight rates, although market illiquidity kept Asian and Brazilian markets static during the week to Tuesday August 10.US Midwest market sets another record high on tight supplyRotterdam premiums hold at all-time high amid strong fundamentalsJapanese, South Korean premiums unchanged due to s...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME were mainly weaker this morning, Wednesday August 11, after average rebound gains of 1.4% on Tuesday, while SHFE base metals prices were mainly stronger in reaction to yesterday's LME gains.* US Senate passes $1 trillion infrastructure bill, focused on the transport system* Wall Street set fresh record highs on Tuesday* US dollar strong and climbing and US treasury yi...Read More
Tianshan Aluminum has signed a cooperation deal with an unnamed Indonesia bauxite company, it said on August 10 - a move to secure more supply and boost its competitiveness.Tianshan will buy no less than 49% of shares of the bauxite company through direct or indirect acquisitions, the company told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange website, where it is listed.Tianshan hopes to expand its cooperation with...Read More
Chinese lithium battery producer EVE Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with battery materials producer GEM to recycle more than 10,000 tonnes per year of nickel from spent nickel-containing batteries as of 2024, EVE Energy said on Monday August 9.Under the terms of the MoU, starting in 2024 GEM has agreed to recycle nickel products and provide EVE Energy with more than 10,000 t...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 Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 24.25-25.00 on...Read More
Triland Metals Ltd has resigned as a Category 1 member of the London Metal Exchange, ending almost 50 years as a ring dealing member of the exchange, the company said in a letter to its customers seen by Fastmarkets. Company chief executive officer Martin Pratt said in the letter that Triland - a 100%-owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi set up in 1971 to hedge against price moveme...Read More
A summary of Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu's results for the second quarter of 2021.In brief The company managed to increase steel deliveries by 20% year-on-year thanks to the improved market fundamentals in all business areas, considering that the reference period in 2020 was much weaker due to the demand slump created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Increased stainless steel prices...Read More
The waiting time to deliver aluminium out of Istim's London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Johor, Malaysia, has risen to 78 days, according to the LME's latest queue report.The 78-day queue at the end of July is up from just eight days at the end of June. Over July, no fresh units were delivered into Istim's Johor warehouses and only 34,275 tonnes were delivered out. Total stock now sits...Read More
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.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More
Rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased on Tuesday August 10 and spot prices quickly followed suit, with production cuts widely expected for the rest of 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,230 yuan ($802-807) per tonne, up by 10-20 yuan per tonneAccording to a report by a local information provider on Monday, Hebei province plans to cut 21.71 m...Read More
Shipbreaking steel scrap prices in Turkey dropped during the week to Monday August 9, in line with prices for imported scrap, market participants told Fastmarkets.Turkish steel mills booked at least five deep-sea cargoes, with prices dropping through the week.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel scrap, heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20 mix) United States origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $463.90...Read More
Import prices for steel scrap in Turkey dipped on Monday August 9 after recent bookings made by steel mills in the country came to light at the start of this week, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region bought a United States-origin cargo for September shipment comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $461 per tonne, and 5,000 tonnes of shredded and 5,000 tonnes of bo...Read More
Europe's biggest copper producer, Aurubis, is planning to offload part of its downstream business to focus on primary copper smelting and recycling, it said on Monday August 9.The Germany-based company will sell a portion of its flat-rolled copper product operations to Intek Group, which fully controls KME, a leading player in the European copper and copper alloy semifinished-product industry. Ope...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 9 that are worth another look.On August 9, there was a blast at Novolipetsk Steel's (NLMK) oxygen plant in Lipetsk, Russia, but it will only have a minor impact on production, the company told Fastmarkets.The trade...Read More
China's January-to-July copper import volumes dropped by more than a tenth compared with the first seven months of 2020, the latest Chinese customs data shows. The biggest copper buyer in the world bought 3.219 million tonnes of unwrought copper and copper products in the first seven months this year, down 10.6% compared with the same period in 2020 which was a record year for imports.The average...Read More
The prices for low and high grades of seaborne manganese ore diverged further in the week ended Friday August 6, with extensive power restrictions across China continuing to disrupt operations at alloy smelters.Fastmarkets calculated its weekly index for manganese ore, 44% Mn, cif Tianjin, at $5.37 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, up from $5.14 per dmtu previously."High-grade ore miners...Read More
The trade union representing workers at the Caserones copper mine in Chile will go on strike on Tuesday August 10 after failing to reach a deal through government-mediated negotiations with owner Minera Lumina Copper Chile.The company did not change its most recent offer during the extended talks, leading union members to officially vote to go on strike, the union said on Monday August 9.Workers a...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
The trade union representing workers at the Caserones copper mine in Chile will go on strike on Tuesday August 10 after failing to reach a deal through government-mediated negotiations with owner Minera Lumina Copper Chile.The company did not change its most recent offer during the extended talks, leading union members to officially vote to go on strike, the union said on Monday August 9.Workers a...Read More