The steel billet and rebar market in Egypt remained slow this week amid the uncertainty surrounding the country's construction ban and a slow market because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources said on Thursday April 22.All markets in most Muslim countries tend to slow down over Ramadan, which started on April 12 and will end around mid-May, due to reduced working hours.Market participant...Read More
Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has confirmed plans to resume hot-rolled coil production at its MMK Metalurji subsidiary in Turkey in the third quarter of 2021.The Iskenderun-based plant will restart HRC production in September 2021 after almost nine years of operating solely as a reroller."We have made a decision to go ahead with launching the hot end [and] we have started preparatory works...Read More
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) prices in Turkey kept increasing over the week to Thursday April 22, while producers have said they will start offering September-production material next week, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand was strong in the local and export markets for Turkish flat steel because of low stock levels, sources said.Global prices have also been increasing sharply as...Read More
A summary of Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB's financial results for the first quarter of 2021 ending March 31.In briefLKAB's production volumes were about the same as in the first quarter of 2020, while deliveries where slightly lower.Company has benefited from historically high spot price levels for iron ore during the period.Fastmarkets' iron ore index for 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao a...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
Prices for higher grades of steel scrap exported from Japan continued to increase over the past week, underpinned by a strong appetite in the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Large blast furnace (BF) mills in the country have boosted their intake of scrap recently - heavy scrap (HS) in particular - putting pressure on buyers overseas to match local steelmaker buy prices.Key dome...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Thursday April 22 after fresh tensions between Australia and China emerged and further emissions restrictions were introduced in the Chinese steel hub of Handan city, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $183.62 per tonne, down $4.61 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $185.38 per tonne, down $3.29 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade...Read More
Prices for imported ferrous scrap continued to increase on Thursday April 22 amid market chatter of import transactions at $505 per tonne cfr north China, sources said.Fastmarkets heard that a bulk cargo of heavy scrap (HS) from South Korea was sold at $505 per tonne cfr North China to a mill in the Tangshan area on Wednesday April 21. The highest offers for HS from Japan were heard at $515-5...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged higher in the fob market on Thursday April 22, boosted by an increase in restocking activity, but cfr prices continued to be relatively flat, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.28 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $220.54 per tonne, up $0.19 per tonneHard coking coal,...Read More
With the exception of lead, base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down during morning trading on Thursday April 22. This comes after a day of strength on Wednesday, when aluminium rose to a fresh 2021 high and copper and nickel both ended the day 1% higher.Lead's three-month price was the only one to continue the upside momentum on Thursday morning, following a brief pause on Tuesda...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
Mining company CMOC and trading subsidiary IXM will join the RCS Global Group's Better Mining upstream assurance and impact initiative to improve the conditions for artisanal and small-scale mining, it said on Thursday April 22.The Better Mining program is active across 27 cobalt, copper and conflict minerals extraction sites. Its aim is to monitor and support the improvement of conditions in and...Read More
The latest tender from the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant (CZP) for 500kg of indium, which took place in the week ended April 16, attracted only two bidders and was cancelled, Fastmarkets learned on Thursday April 22.The previous indium tender, a month earlier, had also been suspended.CZP is Russia's largest producer of special high-grade zinc and zinc alloys, and supplies indium as a by-product."Usually,...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies....Read More
A summary of Anglo American's output figures for the first quarter of 2021, according to its production report published on Thursday April 22.In brief Copper output increased by 9% year on year in the first quarter due to strong performances at the Los Bronces and Collahuasi mines in Chile, but nickel production was down by 7% from the first quarter of 2020 and by 14% from the fourth quarter 2020,...Read More
A summary of China's minor metals exports for March 2021.In brief China's exports of indium increased due to the gradual recovery in overseas demand, with South Korea the main destination. China's exports of bismuth surged in March due to stock replenishment by overseas buyers. Most materials were...Read More
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
Chinese stainless steel prices fell in the week ended Wednesday April 21 on sellers' need to destock and weakness in the nickel market.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $16,122 per tonne, down by $135 per tonne from $16,257 per tonne a week earlier.The most-traded June nickel contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange clo...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has issued merger control clearance for the planned joint venture (JV) between Aurubis and TSR Recycling on April 22, clearing the way for the partnership to go forward, Aurubis said.The two German companies announced their intention to form a JV that would unite the cable dismantling activities of Aurubis' subsidiary Cablo Metall-Recycling und Handel (Cablo) and those...Read More