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 Molybdenum will invest $2.51 billion into expanding copper and cobalt production at the Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the company said on August 7 in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.The new investment, which includes three ore production lines with an annual processing capacity of 12.4 million tonnes, will expand its annual copper output by 200...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
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
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 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
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
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
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
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market has been low in the week to Friday August 6 due to the start of the summer slowdown.Sufficient buyer stocks and slow August activity have weakened trading but activity should recover between the end of August and the first half of September, sources said.Most domestic producers only had HRC available from fourth-quarter rolling material, whil...Read More
Chinese magnesium market participants which have strong capital resources have become the "middlemen" between domestic producers and exporters over the past few months, Fastmarkets has learned.Sources reported that such "middlemen" procured magnesium from producers, thus reducing plants' stocks and pushing up prices, and then sold the material to exporters which needed to fulfil overseas contracts...Read More
The European hot-rolled coil market remained slow on Monday August 9 due to seasonal factors, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers and sellers are expected to return to the market in late August or early September, following the traditional market cycle."The market is almost dead - Europe is on holiday and buyers have a wait-and-see attitude," a German distributor said.Traded volumes are unlikely to be...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
China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) has announced an increase to the minimum margin for speculative trading of its most-active September coking coal contract to 20%, from 15%.The increase takes effect on Monday August 9, it said on Thursday August 5.This is the exchange's second such adjustment, having raised the minimum margin to 15% from 11% on August 2.The DCE is also adjusting the minimum...Read More
Spot prices for rebar imports in Singapore increased in the week to Friday August 6 on decreasing spot supply and higher offers.A major Indian steel mill offered rebar at $750 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis, while a second Indian steel mill offered rebar at $775 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis."The first steel mill is not able to guarantee some aspects...Read More
The European hot-rolled coil market remained slow on Monday August 9 due to seasonal factors, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers and sellers are expected to return to the market in late August or early September, following the traditional market cycle."The market is almost dead - Europe is on holiday and buyers have a wait-and-see attitude," a German distributor said.Traded volumes are unlikely to be...Read More
Trading activities across China's domestic hot-rolled coil spot market improved on Monday August 9 after prices declined.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,720-5,780 yuan ($883-892) per tonne, down by 20-70 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped to a three-day low of 5,651 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, before clawing back some losses to finish the...Read More
Spot prices for rebar imports in Singapore increased in the week to Friday August 6 on decreasing spot supply and higher offers.A major Indian steel mill offered rebar at $750 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis, while a second Indian steel mill offered rebar at $775 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis."The first steel mill is not able to guarantee some aspects...Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market has been low in the week to Friday August 6 due to the start of the summer slowdown.Sufficient buyer stocks and slow August activity have weakened trading but activity should recover between the end of August and the first half of September, sources said.Most domestic producers only had HRC available from fourth-quarter rolling material, whil...Read More