A strategy to cool down commodity price spikes was top of the agenda China's weekly State Cabinet meeting on Wednesday May 19. Chaired by China's second most powerful politician, Premier Li Keqiang, the cabinet meeting discussed control measures to rein in the "unreasonable price rally", including ensuring sufficient supplies of main commodities. The aim is to prevent the rising costs pa...Read More
First Quantum Minerals has entered into a binding agreement to sell a 30% equity interest in the Ravensthorpe nickel-cobalt operation in Western Australia to South Korean steelmaker Posco for $240 million in cash, the company said on May 19.The Vancouver, Canada-headquartered company will retain a 70% interest in Ravensthorpe and continue to be the operator.Posco and First Quantum have also agreed...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 19 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal has told some customers that it will be adding another ?,?50 ($73) per tonne to its coil product offer prices in Europe this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19.Tax...Read More
Domestic prices for European heavy steel plate increased further in the week to Wednesday May 19, supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, market sources said that lead times from domestic suppliers have been getting longer. German mills have already started trading October-December rolling plate, while Italian re-rollers have been offering July production."Demand is very go...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices again increased day on day in Europe on Wednesday May 19 due to a combination of a shortage of material and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.On Wednesday, ArcelorMittal increased its official coil offers to ?,?1,150 ($1,403) per tonne ex-works, up by ?,?50 per tonne.The majority of European steelmakers have been holding back on making coil offers in the spot...Read More
US domestic wire rod prices rose by an average $50 per short ton ($2.50 per hundredweight) in May due to tightening supply; at the same time, more buyers have turned to imports to acquire needed material, pushing import prices above domestic prices in some cases.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was $49-51 per cwt ($980-1,020 per ton) T...Read More
Steel wire rod producers in the north of Europe have largely sold outof June-rolling material and have yet to announce offers for July, while buyers expect prices to rise sharply due to persistent material shortage, limited and expensive imports, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday May 19Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe increased on Wednesday May 19, with some mills reportedly stepping out of the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,220-1,250 ($1,489-1,525) per tonne on May 19, up from ?,?1,190-1,220 per tonne on May 12.Market participants told Fastmarkets that severa...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed booking deep-sea scrap late on Tuesday, resulting in higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19 - the start of a public holiday in the country.The Turkish import market had been quiet since the Eid al-Fitr holiday that began on Wednesday May 12. Monday and Tuesday May 17 and 18 were normal working days, but no bookings were done until late on Tuesday. A...Read More
The Alumar aluminium smelter in Brazil's Maranh??o state could be a future target for a restart, Alcoa Corp chief financial officer Bill Oplinger said. Alcoa operates around one-quarter of currently curtailed aluminium smelting operations in the Western world and is eying various dynamics when considering restarts, including local currency, local workforce and energy availability, he said. "When I...Read More
Tax stability agreements made between mining companies and the government of Chile are designed to be non-negotiable and are expected to be respected if proposed changes to the country's royalty system are made, the chief executive officer of Teck Resources said.Chile's Senate will this week discuss a proposal recently approved in its lower house to introduce a controversial mining royalty bill th...Read More
Manganese ore stocks at major Chinese ports have declined to a seven-month low amid continuously increased ore consumption among manganese alloy smelters in recent months. Fastmarkets assessed manganese ore inventories at the main Chinese ports of Tianjin and Qinzhou at 5.76 million-5.87 million tonnes on Monday May 17, down by 2.84% from 5.93 million-6.04 million tonnes the previous week and the...Read More
Spot ferro-chrome prices in China rose for the first time since March, with improved demand and sentiment after new power cuts were imposed in Inner Mongolia. Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China was 7,300-7,600 yuan ($1,135.62-1,182.29) per tonne on Tuesday May 19, up by 100 yuan (1.4%) from 7,200-7,500 yuan per tonne the preceding week. Prior...Read More
Copper mining workers' unions in Chile support a new royalty proposal waiting to be voted in Senate and will prepare to take potential action in case it is rejected, Felipe Rom??n Briones, president of union federation FMC, told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 18. According to the union leader, the introduction of a dynamic tax tied to copper prices is an "elegant" way to ensure private mining companie...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 19 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal has told some customers that it will be adding another ?,?50 ($73) per tonne to its coil product offer prices in Europe this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19.Tax...Read More
Glencore is to "gradually ramp up" its Mutanda copper-cobalt facility from care and maintenance to 20,000 tonne per year production of cobalt between the second half of 2022 through 2025, according to Ash Lazenby, cobalt trader at Glencore. This adds to comments from head cobalt trader, David Brocas, who had stated on Tuesday May 18 that the mining company would "not hesitate bringing back on...Read More
The cobalt market has started operating with more efficiency and transparency, which in turn, should make it easier to plan for battery-related demand, panelists said during the Cobalt Institute's annual conference on May 18-19. The cobalt market faces the challenge of bringing sufficient material online to meet demand from the growing battery sector, while simultaneously filtering through varying...Read More
Tax stability agreements made between mining companies and the government of Chile are designed to be non-negotiable and are expected to be respected if proposed changes to the country's royalty system are made, the chief executive officer of Teck Resources said.Chile's Senate will this week discuss a proposal recently approved in its lower house to introduce a controversial mining royalty bill th...Read More
Prices for steel scrap cargoes exported from Japan rose again during the week to Wednesday May 19 amid a healthy appetite from both South Korea and domestic buyers, market participants told Fastmarkets.The sharp decline in Chinese ferrous futures and spot market prices this week has done nothing to stop the rise of the Japan scrap market, with a further increase in offer prices recorded across all...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed booking deep-sea scrap late on Tuesday, resulting in higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19 - the start of a public holiday in the country.The Turkish import market had been quiet since the Eid al-Fitr holiday that began on Wednesday May 12. Monday and Tuesday May 17 and 18 were normal working days, but no bookings were done until late on Tuesday. A...Read More