Brazil has joined other major commodity producers in South America, such as Chile and Peru, in a debate about whether to increase mining royalties because of soaring prices - and it can be no surprise that the industry is fiercely against such a move.Amid discussions of personal and corporate tax reform in Brazil's lower house of Congress, there was a possibility of higher taxes being imposed on t...Read More
Egyptian rebar producers maintained their offers in the week to August 5 despite limited demand and lower scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Rebar offers have held steady at E ?14,300-14,600 ($909-928) per tonne ex-works, including 14% value-added tax (VAT), since May 17.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Egypt was E ?14,300-14,600 per tonne on...Read More
Prices for export billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) softened in the week to August 5 due to multiple low bids from Turkish and Chinese customers.Earlier in the week, information about a 20,000 tonne shipment of 3sp Ukraine-origin billet sold to Libya at $690 per tonne cfr was heard. The price nets back to $645 per tonne fob Black Sea, the source said.According to...Read More
Turkish steel producers took a break from purchasing deep-sea scrap on Thursday August 5 after booking at least five cargoes earlier this week, market sources told Fastmarkets.The most recent deal was recorded on Wednesday August 4, when a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $464 per tonne, and 14,000 tonnes of shredded and 2,000 tonnes o...Read More
Seaborne coking coal stayed strong in both the fob and cfr markets on Thursday August 5, with limited tradable resources and high offers in both markets, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $216.79 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $328.54 per tonne, up $1.05 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $186.41 per tonne, up $1.50 per tonn...Read More
The prices of billet in the Turkish market have fallen in the past week because of the downturn in scrap values and soft demand, sources said on Thursday August 5.Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings on Tuesday August 3 after a short break, taking advantage of lower prices.Fastmarkets' index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculat...Read More
Chinese exporters raised their offers for ammonium paratungstate (APT) this week amid concerns about higher replacement costs and currency fluctuations owing to shipment delays.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for tungsten APT 88.5%WO3 min, fob main ports China was $302-308 per metric tonne unit (mtu) on Wednesday August 4, up by $5-7 per mtu (2%) from $295-303 per mtu on July 28. Deals were r...Read More
Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS) and its subsidiary, Saarstahl, have acquired the steel plants at Ascoval and Hayange in France from Liberty Steel, Saarstahl said on Thursday August 5.The acquisition has been formally validated by the French authorities, but the value of the deal was not disclosed."We are proud that our industrial concept for the takeover of Ascoval and Hayange has been validated and can...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Metalloinvest for the first six months of 2021.In brief Metalloinvest cut its sales of hot briquetted iron (HBI) to 2.12 million tonnes, down year on year by 10.9% from 2.36 million tonnes. During the first six months of 2021, Metalloinvest produced 3.89 million tonnes of HBI/direct reduction iron (DRI), down by 5.4% year on...Read More
The emergence of cheaper South Korea-origin steel scrap in the market has reduced prices for imported scrap in China, with the Chinese market is still reeling from strict production cuts, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 5.Chinese scrap demand has been dampened by lower converter and EAF operation rates Strong shredded prices in Pakistan prevented sales to Bangladesh A major South Korea...Read More
Brazil has joined other major commodity producers in South America, such as Chile and Peru, in a debate about whether to increase mining royalties because of soaring prices - and it can be no surprise that the industry is fiercely against such a move.Amid discussions of personal and corporate tax reform in Brazil's lower house of Congress, there was a possibility of higher taxes being imposed on t...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 5 that are worth another look.Brazil has joined other major commodity producers in South America, such as Chile and Peru, in a debate about whether to increase mining royalties because of soaring prices - and it can be...Read More
Brazilian imports of primary unalloyed aluminium rose by 142% year on year in July, putting a newly approved duty-free quota extension under pressure, according to data published by the ministry economy on Wednesday August 4.The country imported 37,181 tonnes of primary aluminium in July, up significantly from 15,376 tonnes a year before.During the January-July period, imports totaled 26...Read More
Brazilian aluminium association Abal has appointed a woman as executive president for the first time, with Janaina Donas taking over the role previously held by Milton Rego after a seven-month recruitment process, the group said on Thursday August 5.Donas most recently acted as an external relations and new business director for Latin America in Peru and the United States for US-based gold-copper-...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 5 that are worth another look.Brazil has joined other major commodity producers in South America, such as Chile and Peru, in a debate about whether to increase mining royalties because of soaring prices - and it can be...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Thursday August 5, and those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly weaker.Generally, LME base metals seem to be boxed in between scale-up selling when prices are near the highs and dip-buying into pullbacks. This is perhaps not surprising given that we are in the middle of the summer lull.Shanghai base metals are gener...Read More
Bangladeshi steelmakers have showed only limited interest in buying imports of steel scrap over the last week amid a continuing strict lockdown in the country, sources said on Thursday August 5.The country's strict Covid-19 lockdown was extended until Tuesday August 10, government officials announced on August 3. A feature of this latest lockdown is that most heavy industry such as steel productio...Read More
Cobalt hydroxide prices rose recently despite weakness in downstream salt prices in the domestic Chinese market, as ongoing disruptions and delays at port operations in South Africa have prompted sellers to keep their offers firm and take advantage of spot sales where buyers need prompt availability.Fastmarkets' assessment for the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China was 88-92...Read More
A summary of European copper producer Aurubis' third quarter financial and production results released on Thursday August 5In brief:?EUR?Europe's largest copper producer, Aurubis, reported a 62% increase in total revenue during the third quarter (April-June) of its 2020/21 fiscal year compared with the same period last year.?EUR?The company's earnings before tax (EBT) were also up by 98% duri...Read More
Work at miner Teck Resources' Trail Operations, in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, has been disrupted by smoke from wildfires in the region, Teck announced on Wednesday August 4.The Canada-based company said that its zinc refining operations at Trail were running at about 70% of normal rates, and that although lead refining continued to operate normally, lead smelting operations have been t...Read More