Chinese nickel sulfate producers face difficult annual contract negotiations for 2022, with upstream miners taking an aggressive stance while downstream battery precursor material producers are hinting at lower demand amid plans to implement integrated operations.The Chinese nickel sulfate price has undergone considerable volatility in 2021, climbing in August to its highest since Fastmarkets bega...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
The removal of a safeguard duty on imports of steel billet into Egypt earlier this week has resulted in a revival of trading activity in the local market, with various sellers rushing to grasp the opportunity because of unfavorable situations in other areas.The Egyptian Ministry of Industry & Trade suspended the country's 10% safeguard duty on imported billet with effect from Monday November 15.Fo...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Southern Europe moved down in the week to Wednesday November 17 due to limited trading activity and competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets.In the meantime, domestic prices in the north of Europe have been fairly stable despite a similar lack of demand.Both Southern and Northern European spot buyers have been avoiding booking significant volumes...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices increased in the month to Tuesday November 16, supported by a combination of reduced supply and strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Month-on-month comparison prices have recovered by about ?,?10 ($11) per tonne. But market sources said that, taking into account that scrap prices dropped in the second half of October, the recovery since the start of Nove...Read More
The logistics of a cluster of copper mines in western Canada have been disrupted by extreme weather conditions in the province of British Columbia (BC) this week, Fastmarkets has learnt."All transportation routes, rails and highways, to the interior of the province are closed due to washouts and [land]slides," one Canadian miner source said on Thursday November 18.The province declared a state of...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Production of key battery raw materials cobalt and nickel will remain tight and will pose challenges to the electrification of transport, panelists said on Monday November 15 during Fastmarkets' International Ferro-alloys Conference in Prague."This year was really the first year that we saw a step change in nickel demand caused by demand from the electric vehicles (EV) sector and we saw nickel con...Read More
Base metal futures prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely up at the 5pm close on Thursday November 18, with tin reaching a new all-time high.The three-month tin price closed at $38,453 per tonne, a rise of 1.2% from $37,975 per tonne at the 5pm close on Wednesday. This marks a new all-time high for the soldering metals three-month price, with the previous record being $38,330 on October...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Southern Europe moved down in the week to Wednesday November 17 due to limited trading activity and competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets.In the meantime, domestic prices in the north of Europe have been fairly stable despite a similar lack of demand.Both Southern and Northern European spot buyers have been avoiding booking significant volumes...Read More
The export price for CIS-origin steel billet softened toward the end of the current week amid increased competition in the nearby markets in Turkey and Egypt, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday November 18.Weakness in finished steel prices added to the negative sentiment.The removal of a 10% safeguard duty on billet imports into Egypt early this week [LINK] at first added some optimism to the market, b...Read More
Fastmarkets has summarized mining-related policy proposals for the key candidates ahead of Chile's presidential election as presented on their political programs, with the population of the world's biggest copper producing country set to cast their vote on Sunday November 21.What is at stake? Chile produced a third of the world's copper in 2020, in the form of concentrates, anodes and cathode...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices increased in the month to Tuesday November 16, supported by a combination of reduced supply and strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Month-on-month comparison prices have recovered by about ?,?10 ($11) per tonne. But market sources said that, taking into account that scrap prices dropped in the second half of October, the recovery since the start of Nove...Read More
The export price for CIS-origin steel billet softened toward the end of the current week amid increased competition in the nearby markets in Turkey and Egypt, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday November 18.Weakness in finished steel prices added to the negative sentiment.The removal of a 10% safeguard duty on billet imports into Egypt early this week [LINK] at first added some optimism to the market, b...Read More
The aluminium industry needs to support the introduction of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to help finance the sector's push to decarbonization, the chief executive officer of United States-based Century Aluminum said.Jesse Gary told the virtual Goldman Sachs global metals and mining conference that a CBAM would need to be extended to cover scope 2 emissions to create the pricing resp...Read More
Domestic steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States increased slightly to a 13-year high, with many market participants expecting it to go up again before long.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was $50.50 per hundredweight ($1,010 per short ton) on Wednesday November 18, up by 0.50% from the week before and at its highest point since the assessment...Read More
Bangladeshi import steel scrap prices have fallen over the past week despite a continued rise in offer prices for rebar and domestic shipbreaking scrap in the country, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 18.?EUR?Bangladeshi import prices ease downward?EUR?Taiwanese buyers secure containerized scrap at $445-452 per tonne cfr?EUR?Lack of demand for scrap in China due to hot metal being mor...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 17 pricing session in China.Key drivers China's spot cobalt metal price fell amid a decline in local futures prices, while downstream demand was curbed by still high spot levels. Cobalt tetroxide prices in China were flat amid limited trading activity. Though most sellers would like...Read More
Chinese nickel sulfate producers face difficult annual contract negotiations for 2022, with upstream miners taking an aggressive stance while downstream battery precursor material producers are hinting at lower demand amid plans to implement integrated operations.The Chinese nickel sulfate price has undergone considerable volatility in 2021, climbing in August to its highest since Fastmarkets bega...Read More