The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rallied over 3% in the second half of the day on Thursday January 14 on building expectations for President-elect Joe Biden to announce a $1.5 trillion deal stimulus package for the United States. The nickel price rose to $18,281 per tonne at 5pm, the metal's highest closing price of the year so far and a rise of 3.4% from Wednesday's 5pm price of...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's latest off-warrant stock data showed an increase of 3.9% in material held outside the LME warehouse network in November 2020. The amount of metal held off-warrant increased by 72,640 tonnes in November, a similar rise to that seen in October, when it rose by 78,092 tonnes. Data collected by the LME showed there was a total of 1.96 million tonnes of metal held off-warran...Read More
Iron ore prices went up on Thursday January 14, sources told Fastmarkets, supported by a rebound in futures, with lump performing well at Chinese ports due to tight supplies. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $172.36 per tonne, up $2.25 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $172.78 per tonne, up $1.88 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&...Read More
Italian re-rollers have been targeting higher prices for heavy steel plate because of rising costs for steel slab feedstock, while German mills have kept their offers largely unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Official offers of heavy plate from Italian producers have been heard at ?,?620-650 ($755-792) per tonne ex-works. But no deals have been concluded in this range beca...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rallied over 3% in the second half of the day on Thursday January 14 on building expectations for President-elect Joe Biden to announce a $1.5 trillion deal stimulus package for the United States. The nickel price rose to $18,281 per tonne at 5pm, the metal's highest closing price of the year so far and a rise of 3.4% from Wednesday's 5pm price of...Read More
Copper scrap discounts in the United States rose this week in response to the strong Comex copper price, along with slowing demand as some mills finished purchasing scrap metal for the month."There has been a little widening of spreads due to the high Comex," a scrap seller said.A copper scrap trader said that "some spreads had tightened from mid-December, but now that a couple of mills have fille...Read More
Rio Tinto is to become the first producer of high-quality scandium oxide in North America and will produce around one-fifth of the current level of world supply from a planned plant in Qu?(C)bec, Canada.The plant, currently under construction at the company's Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) metallurgical operation in Sorel-Tracy, will begin commercial production in June this year. The RTFT Research...Read More
Russian mining company Nornickel is to join the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network (RSBN), an industry collaboration across the minerals supply chain that uses blockchain to support responsible sourcing and production practises from mine to market.The move will see Nornickel's supply chains - including each stage of the company's vertically-integrated operations, from Russian mines to refiner...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's latest off-warrant stock data showed an increase of 3.9% in material held outside the LME warehouse network in November 2020. The amount of metal held off-warrant increased by 72,640 tonnes in November, a similar rise to that seen in October, when it rose by 78,092 tonnes. Data collected by the LME showed there was a total of 1.96 million tonnes of metal held off-warran...Read More
Rio Tinto's New Zealand Aluminium Smelter (NZAS) in Tiwai Point will continue to operate until December 31, 2024 after reaching an electricity agreement with Meridian Energy, the producer said on Wednesday January 13. Rio Tinto had said in July last year that it would shut the smelter by August 2021 after a strategic review showed the business was no longer viable due to high energy costs and...Read More
Zinc registered the biggest fall and nickel was the only metal to post gains in the morning session at the London Metal Exchange on Thursday January 14.The base metals complex remains unsettled ahead of United States president-elect Joe Biden's impending stimulus announcement. Zinc's three-month price was down 1.7% to $2,727.50 per tonne on Thursday at 9am, down from Wednesday's 5pm...Read More
Last week's price increases by domestic producers have propelled US rebar prices to their highest point in over nine years.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US at $39.50 per hundredweight ($790 per short ton) on Wednesday January 13, up 4.6% from $37.75 per cwt the week before and increase of 25.4% from $31.50 per cwt one year ago. US marketDomestic reb...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil rose day on day in Northern Europe on Thursday January 14 due to limited prompt supply, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?705.12 ($858.99) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?13.87 per tonne day on day from ?,?691.25 per tonne on Wednesday. The index was also up by ?,?3...Read More
Flat and long steel imports into Brazil increased in December, amid strong price increases in both markets, according to the latest figures from the country's economy ministry.Brazilian total flat steel imports came to 91,522 tonnes in December, up by 54.99% from 59,051 tonnes in the same month in 2019.Imports of hot-rolled coil from Russia reached 4,037 tonnes in December 2020. In comparison, Bra...Read More
Sentiment in the CIS export steel billet market has been negatively affected by recent developments in import scrap prices in Turkey, with buyers being inactive and expecting prices to fall, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Buyers had mostly prepared to adopt a wait-and-see approach, considering the recent reverse of sentiment in the Turkish import scrap market [LINK], and were expe...Read More
Turkish billet prices made a downward correction on Thursday January 14 in line with negative sentiment in the scrap market and limited demand for the material. Market participants said they expected a slight downward correction in scrap prices, which resulted a slight decrease in billet prices in Turkish domestic, export and import markets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel bill...Read More
Ferrous scrap exports from the United States were marginally lower month on month in November, with shipments to Bangladesh, Turkey and Mexico all declining, according to the latest figures from the US Census Bureau.US exports of ferrous scrap totaled nearly 1.49 million tonnes in November, down by 0.4% from 1.49 million tonnes in October but still up from almost 1.18 million tonnes in September.S...Read More
Polish coking coal miner Jastrzebska Sp??lka Weglowa (JSW) has reported a steep increase in output and sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 due to recovery in the European steel industry from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and a gradual restart of steelmaking capacities.Improved demand for blast furnace coke across the EU due to the restarts had a positive effect on JSW's results for the...Read More
British steel scrap suppliers have achieved hefty price increases for steel scrap grades delivered monthly to domestic consumers for January amid a surge in demand for exports, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week. The UK steel scrap consumer market has extended monthly prices increases for the third month in a row, citing reduced scrap generation for the past several months that is showing...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases with sentiment turning negative, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Since a number of steel scrap cargoes were booked at the end of last week, mills have been quiet.The number of offers from suppliers in the United States and Russia, however, has increased, according to sources."Suppl...Read More