A summary of Australian miner OZ Minerals' copper and gold production results for the first quarter of 2021, as released on Thursday April 22.In brief The company reported a solid operational performance during the first three months of the year, with group production guidance said to be on track.With...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange set fresh multi-year highs on Wednesday April 21, while copper and tin shied away from previous highs, and the rest remain rangebound this morning.India reported 315,000 new Covid-19 infections on WednesdayHaven assets on the riseBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were down across the board by an average of 0.4% this morning, but volume has...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for March 2021.In brief Imports of cobalt metal hit a new historical monthly high in March amid robust demand from cobalt refiners and battery materials producers looking to dissolve the metal to produce cobalt chemicals, while the Chinese New Year holiday (February 11-17) had caused a delay in customs clearance in February.Imports of flake graphi...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for March 2021In brief Lithium carbonate exports decreased on yearly basis after higher domestic prices dented exporters' appetite to sell outside China, while overseas demand did not picked up to any notable...Read More
The persistent shortage of hot-rolled coil in Europe continues to drive prices upward, with steelmaker ArcelorMittal increasing its offer prices for the third time so far in April, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 22.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?965.00 ($1,160.35) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?8.75 per tonne from ?,?956.25...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized steel coil in Europe increased again in the week to Wednesday April 21, due to short material availability combined with strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?1,050-1,100 ($1,263-1,323) per tonne on April 21, up by ?,?30-50 per tonne from ?,?1,000-1,070 per tonne.An...Read More
ArcelorMittal has again increased its official offer prices for all steel coil products across Europe, this time by ?,?30 ($36) per tonne, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 22.The steelmaker had already increased its offers twice in April.After this week increase, offers for hot-rolled coil (HRC) reached ?,?1,000 per tonne ex-works while for cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanizing coi...Read More
Less than a month after the start of the April-June 2021 safeguard quota period for imports of steel materials into Europe, the quotas for a number of products have been either completely exhausted or almost filled.And in February this year, the European Commission started an investigation into the possible extension beyond June 30 this year of existing safeguard measures affecting 26 steel produc...Read More
Prices for steel reinforcing bar in the United States have remained stable, with market participants sharing mixed sentiments about the possibility of a looming upswing.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was steady at $41.75 per hundredweight ($835 per short ton) on Wednesday April 21, unchanged since March 10.US marketSome sources continued to hear marke...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will restart operations at its Arauc??ria unit, in the country's southern Paran?? state, after 6.5 years of downtime, the company said on Thursday April 22.Production will resume at a gradual pace, depending on domestic market developments, Gerdau said. Total crude steel capacity at the site is 420,000 tonnes per year, it added in a filing to Brazil's securities and exc...Read More
Vale was authorized by environmental regulators of the southeastern Rio de Janeiro state to maintain activities at its Gua?-ba Island iron ore terminal in Mangaratiba, after the local city hall ordered it to be suspended, the company said on Thursday April 22.Early on Thursday, Vale announced that it had been notified of a temporary stoppage order for the terminal issued by the Mangaratiba municip...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap for June shipment, supported by strong export demand for rebar, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 22.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Venezuelan cargo, consisting of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), at $424.50 per tonne cfr.This compared with the most recent Baltic Sea cargo, which was booked at $427 per tonne...Read More
The price of high-grade 65% Fe iron ore fines looks set to break through the $230-per-tonne-cfr-Qingdao price ceiling amid tight supply of seaborne cargoes and hefty mill margins, industry sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao stood at $221.90 per tonne on Wednesday April 21, up 12.6% from $197.10 per tonne on April 1. The price spre...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices increased over the past week in line with improving demand for billet and rebar in the export market, sources said on Thursday April 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, domestic, exw Turkey was $590-600 per tonne on Thursday, up from last week's $580-585 per tonne.A steel mill in northern Turkey was heard selling a significant volume of billet to t...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices increased again on Thursday April 22, hitting a new 12-year high following futures gains - although market participants remain unconvinced there will be any further price rises.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,070-5,100 yuan ($776-780) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonne Prices broke the recent record of 5,050-5,090 yuan per tonne achieved on April 6. Rebar futures...Read More
Vale was authorized by environmental regulators of the southeastern Rio de Janeiro state to maintain activities at its Gua?-ba Island iron ore terminal in Mangaratiba, after the local city hall ordered it to be suspended, the company said on Thursday April 22.Early on Thursday, Vale announced that it had been notified of a temporary stoppage order for the terminal issued by the Mangaratiba municip...Read More
Tata Steel has filed a lawsuit against Liberty Steel over its speciality steel business deal made in 2017, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 22.A Tata Steel spokesperson confirmed the company has filed a commercial court claim against Liberty Steel concerning the speciality steel division deal, however, the spokesperson declined to go into more details because this is an active case.Liberty Stee...Read More
Anglo American has revised down its overall 2021 production guidance for coking coal to 14-16 million tonnes, from 18-20 million tonnespreviously.In the first quarter of 2021, export coking coal production in Anglo American's Australian mines in Queensland's Bowen Basin fell by 14% year on year and 22% quarter on quarter to about 3.3 million tonnes, according to the company's latest quarterly repo...Read More
Vale was authorized by environmental regulators of the southeastern Rio de Janeiro state to maintain activities at its Gua?-ba Island iron ore terminal in Mangaratiba, after the local city hall ordered it to be suspended, the company said on Thursday April 22.Early on Thursday, Vale announced that it had been notified of a temporary stoppage order for the terminal issued by the Mangaratiba municip...Read More
LME aluminium's three-month price surpassed its 2018 high in intraday trading on Thursday April 22, with lead's price up by 1.3%, while nickel and copper retreated from their Wednesday prices at the close. Aluminium's price reached $2,375 per tonne on Thursday, taking out the May 2018 high of $2,374.50 per tonne to stand at a level last seen in October 2010. But the light metal closed at $2,3...Read More