Rio Tinto will begin construction on a new plant that will recover tellurium from copper refining at its Kennecott copper mine in Utah, United States, it said on Monday March 8.Rio Tinto is investing $2.9 million in developing the plant with a capacity to produce approximately 20 tonnes per year of tellurium and expects production to start in the fourth quarter of 2021.Global tellurium production...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped the first working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings, keeping their focus on finished steel sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday March 8.The steelmakers had booked a number of scrap cargoes late last week, resulting a more than $6-per-tonne increase in the daily scrap indices.A scrap supplier in the Baltic Sea region sold two cargoes at the e...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly unchanged on Monday March 8, compared with their 5pm closes on Friday, with a strong US Dollar Index holding above 92 for the first time since November 2020 and a high US Treasury notes yield hindering base metals price movements.The US Dollar index was at 91.21 on Monday at 9am, up from 91.96 on Friday at the close, concurrently the yiel...Read More
In late December 2020, China's Inner Mongolia began issuing a series of policies to restrict its metallurgical sector in an attempt to control its energy consumption. Affected industries include coal, aluminium, ferro-alloys and semi-coke among others.Fastmarkets rounds up the latest policies issued by the autonomous region and the effects seen in markets up until Monday March 8.December 20The Dev...Read More
Chinese customs data, released on Sunday March 7, shows total exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in January and February 2021 increased by 25.9% year on year alongside China's imports of unwrought copper, copper products and copper concentrates.Exports for unwrought aluminium and aluminium product(January & February 2021)Total exports: 842,124.90...Read More
China's nickel sulfate price narrowed down in the week to Friday March 5 after a significant fall in the LME nickel price, with market participants also reporting little buyer interest, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed the nickel sulfate min 21%, max 22.5%, cobalt 10ppm max, exw China price at 35,000-36,000 yuan ($5,376-5,530) per tonne on Friday March 5, down by 2,000 yuan per tonne,...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker this morning, Monday March 8, but prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly stronger while they caught up with the gains on the LME on Friday. Brent crude oil prices over $70 per barrel following missile attack in Saudi ArabiaUnited States Senate passes $1.9 trillion stimulus billBase metals LME three-month base metals prices we...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Northern Europe increased day on day on Monday March 8, following some domestic steel makers announcing price rises, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?753.75 ($897.81) per tonne on Monday March 8, up by ?,?3.75 per tonne from ?,?750 per tonne on Friday March 5. The...Read More
The supply shortage in the European steel market, which has been driving up domestic prices since late 2020, will persist until the end of this year at the very least, market sources told Fastmarkets.Finished steel distributors have said they have been struggling to get the necessary volumes of finished steel from either domestic or overseas suppliers, adding that they do not expect the situation...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices increased sharply on Monday March 8 following futures gains and amid expectations that rebar demand from the housing sector will benefit from an expansion of the country's high-speed railway.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,740-4,760 yuan ($728-731) per tonne, up by 90-100 yuan per tonne China aims to extend the total length of its high-speed railway to around 50,0...Read More
Prices for rebar imports into Singapore increased further during the week to Monday March 8 on cost pressure from the upstream raw material markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkish steel mills hiked their offers continually over the past week to $680-690 per tonne cfr Singapore, refusing to budge on offers due to increasing ferrous scrap prices.Import scrap prices in Turkey continued to rise last...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices rallied on Monday March 8, supported by gains in the futures market, while trading was moderate amid concerns of a possible export rebate cut.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,950-4,980 yuan ($763-767) per tonne, up 150 yuan per tonne Several Shanghai-based traders said spot sellers raised offers in response to gains in the futures market. Market sentiment has imp...Read More
Vietnamese buyers of imported hot-rolled coil are choosing to purchase Indian cargoes to avoid risk-sharing clauses written into contracts for Chinese HRC, market sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, import, cfr Vietnam, which mainly looks at 2-3mm rerolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products, was $735-740 per tonne on Friday March 5, up by $20 per t...Read More
Turkish domestic steel scrap prices continued their upward movement over the past week, thanks to rising imported scrap costs and the weakening lira, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 8.Turkish steel mills continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for April shipment at the end of last week, with support coming from finished steel sales in the global markets.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged down on Monday March 8, amid limited buying interest, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.53 per tonne, down $1.46 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $213.95 per tonne, down $0.56 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $116.66 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $202.79 per t...Read More
Iron ore prices were largely rangebound on Monday March 8 after fresh restrictions were announced for the steelmaking hub of Tangshan on Sunday evening, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.34 per tonne, up $0.23 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.63 per tonne, down $0.03 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $162....Read More
China's iron ore imports in January and February 2021 increased by 2.8% from 2020, data released on Monday March 8 from the General Administration of Customs of China shows.In the first two months of 2021, China's imports of iron ore totalled 181.51 million tonnes, up by 2.8% year on year from 176.6 million tonnes in 2020, customs data showed.The increase in iron ore imports...Read More
The Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivatives registered another strong month in February, with 2.98 million tonnes worth of contracts being traded during the month, according to data from the exchange.While these are about half of the 6.64 million tonnes traded in January, they are higher than the 2.67 million tonnes recorded for in December and 2.26 million tonnes in November.The sl...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, $/lb...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.Fastmarkets assessed...Read More