China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) is likely to conduct another round of cobalt metal stockpiling, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets.A producer source told Fastmarkets that SRB sent them a notice late last week informing them of the prospective purchase, though the date for holding the tender has not been mentioned. The source expected that the purchase would take place after the New...Read More
China imported 3.72 million tonnes of coking coal in November, down 39.7% from 6.17 million tonnes a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed.Coking coal imports in November were valued at nearly 2.2 billion yuan ($333 million), down 60.8% year on year and 42.5% month on month, according to the...Read More
An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Sybil Pan, and...Read More
Zinc stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses registered the biggest falls in the week to Friday December 25, while aluminium inventory levels rose by the most in percentage terms.Stock levels for other metals were mixed, with those for nickel and lead sliding from a week earlier while weekly delivery stocks for copper and tin registered increases.Zinc inventories totaled 32,854 t...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices declined on Monday December 28 due to a downtrend in steel prices over the weekend and cold-weather concerns in China, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.85 per tonne,down $2.20 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.50 per tonne,down $2.80 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $153.02 per tonne,down $1...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rose on Monday December 28 after three days of decreases in the second half of last week but market participants do not expect the upward momentum to be sustained amid a pessimistic outlook for demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,430-4,450 yuan ($678-681) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneChina's Central Meteorological Administration has issued an orange warnin...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices slumped on Monday December 28 amid slumping futures, which discouraged overseas buyers from placing orders for Chinese cargoes.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,600-4,650 yuan ($703-711) per tonne, down 70-90 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said he was able to conclude small transactions at 4,650 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, but by the afternoon, he had...Read More
Demand for imported rebar in Singapore thinned in the past week amid the emergence of higher offers, industry sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 28.Offers for back-to-back cargoes from steel mills in eastern and northern China were made at $660-670 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis during the week, while position cargoes from the same sources were at $630 per tonne cfr...Read More
Stronger demand for hot-rolled coil from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan among buyers in Vietnam have driven up the premium that such cargoes have over Chinese products.This demand has been attributed to Vietnamese galvanizers seeking out cargoes from the three East Asian territories amid trade restrictions imposed on galvanized coil produced using Chinese substrate, sources told Fastmarkets last we...Read More
Premium hard coking coal prices in fob and cfr markets rose on Monday December 28 after transactions were sealed at higher prices.In the meantime, the 11th round of Chinese domestic coke price increase has started. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.08 per tonne, up $0.37 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $199.80 per tonne, up $1.26 per tonneHard coking coal...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets picked up more upward momentum in the week ended Friday December 25 on strong demand from Chinese steelmakers.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $183.98 per tonne, up $15.27 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $213.86 per tonne, up $14.58 per tonne.Key driversSources said tight supply pushed up pellet pr...Read More
A summary of China's minor metals exports for November 2020.In brief Improved overseas demand contributed to the increase in China's exports of antimony ingot. The increase in Chinese silicon exports was attributable to improving downstream demand from the secondary aluminum industry. Antimony ingot...Read More
Following a consultation period, Fastmarkets will change the publication day of its four China minor metals price assessments from Wednesday to Friday, 2-3pm London time. The changes will come into effect on Wednesday December 30, when assessment activities will continue until the new publication day, Friday January 1.The prices subject to the change are:?EUR?Antimony MMTA standard grade II, ddp C...Read More
Key data from the December 25 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers China's ex-works prices for magnesium moved up amid output cuts in the Fugu and Shenmu regions of Shaanxi province, the production hub of the metal in the country. Producers kept raising offer prices above the assessed range. Semi-coke producers in Fugu and Shenmu are jointly cutting...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Thursday December 24. Key drivers ?EUR? Chinese domestic vanadium alloy producers raised their offer prices significantly last week in response to increased buying from mills and higher vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) prices. ?EUR? Some alloy producers were heard to have achieved deals for vanadium nitrogen at around 155,000 yuan ($23,664) per...Read More
Apple (AAPL), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved above $137.74 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Canadian Pacific (CP), a TSX 60 stock moved above $444.49 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.Franco-Nevada (FNV), a TSX 60 stock moved below $162.21 extending an intermediate downtrend. Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday December 29thU.S. equity index...Read More
Materials SPDRs (XLB) moved above $72.05 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.South Korea iShares (EWY) moved above $82.82 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.Hong Kong iShares (EWH) moved above $24.32 extending an intermediate uptrend. Natural Gas ETN (UNG) moved below $8.58 to an all-time low extending an intermediate downtrendZoom (ZM), a NASDAQ 100 stock move...Read More
The Tariff Department at China's Ministry of Finance is to reduce or cancel tariffs on certain imported goods from January 1, 2021, including coke and semi-coke from Mongolia.The aim of the move, announced on Monday December 21, is to make better use of resources abroad and promote economic growth. From...Read More
Samarco has resumed the production of iron ore pellets following a restart of operations at its Ubu complex in Brazil's Esp?-rito Santo state, BHP said on Thursday December 24.This follows a resumption of operations at its Germano complex in Mariana city, in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state earlier this month, which involved the restart of one of three iron...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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....Read More