The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board on Tuesday November 9, but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly firmer while they followed the strength seen on the LME on Monday, when the complex closed up by an average of 1.2%.While some of China's data shows a struggling economy, recovery and infrastructure spending elsewhere bode well for metals demand.W...Read More
Seaborne coking coal cfr prices declined sharply on Tuesday, with a lower offer price emerging and previously stranded Australian coal becoming available to Chinese end users.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $562.62 per tonne, down by $26.32 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $505.02 per tonne, down by $12.63 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $4...Read More
Seaborne coking coal cfr prices declined sharply on Tuesday, with a lower offer price emerging and previously stranded Australian coal becoming available to Chinese end users.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $562.62 per tonne, down by $26.32 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $505.02 per tonne, down by $12.63 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $4...Read More
Flat steel import prices to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased during the week ended Tuesday November 9, and the market direction was still uncertain because of different price moves from different regions, sources told Fastmarkets.Hot-rolled coil prices have been decreasing recently in China, but increasing in Europe.On the other hand, Indian flat steel exporters are offering lim...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
(Updates prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Copper prices retreated on Tuesdayon concerns that a deepening debt crisis in China's propertysector will curb demand. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange(LME) slipped 0.9% to $9,556 a tonne by 1700 GMT, reversingdirection after a 1.3% gain on Monday. "China is the big unknown right now. The trade data was onthe positive si...Read More
Turkish steel mills were quiet at the beginning of the week but are expected to book more deep-sea cargoes for December shipment, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday November 8.The most recent deep-sea trade was recorded at the end of the last week, when a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 11,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2...Read More
French metal and mining group Eramet is combining with Chinese stainless steel producer Tsingshan to restart a lithium plant in Argentina, Eramet said on Monday November 8.The lithium project is in the Centenario Ratones salar (salt desert) in the province of Salta, in the north of Argentina, according to Eramet's presentation.The Centenario Ratones project has estimated capacity for 24,000 tonnes...Read More
Chinese battery materials producer Huayou Cobalt has signed a cooperation framework agreement with Shanghai-listed Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co Ltd to produce the raw materials for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.On Sunday November 7, Huayou Cobalt announced that the two companies will work together to build an integrated system that incorporates the selection and mining of phosphate ore...Read More
Modest gains were seen in base metals futures prices at the 5pm close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Monday November 8 because of a weaker US Dollar Index, which supported price increases.Aluminium led the gains, its price increasing by almost 2% to $2,605.00 per tonne, up from $2,556.50 per tonne at Friday's 5pm close. This rise followed a 5% decline in the three-month price for the l...Read More
The gap between offers and bids for long steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States widened in the week to Monday November 8, with higher offers from Ukrainian mills but reduced availability of material.Russian mills were mostly absent from the export business due to the current favorable conditions in their local market.Meanwhile, bids from customers and estimates of workable pric...Read More
Aluminum producer Alcoa plans to restart some curtailed capacity at its Portland Aluminium joint venture in Victoria, Australia, with more production at the smelter set to come online in the third quarter of 2022, the company said on Sunday November 7.The process to restart the additional capacity, idled since 2009 and totaling 35,000 tonnes per year, will begin immediately, the United States-head...Read More
The publication of Fastmarkets' monthly blister copper refining charge for October was delayed due to a reporter error. Fastmarkets' pricing database has since been updated with the following price, originally scheduled to be published on last working day of October. Fasstmarkets' price assessment for opper blister 98-99% RC spot, cif China was $150-170 per tonne on Friday October 29 and as u...Read More
Details of new investment by Egypt's Ezz Steel, including the possible acquisition of a stake in another steel company, will be disclosed in a timely manner after financial evaluation and legal audit are completed, the company said in a statement to the country's stock exchange on Sunday November 7.There were rumors in the Egyptian steel market that Ezz Steel, the country's biggest steel producer,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday November 8 that are worth another look.The United States is looking carefully at steel projects in Southeast Asia in which China has invested, after US trade representative Katherine Tai said that she supported updating US trade laws to combat the circumvention of...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China dipped on Monday November 8 after the futures market fell to a new nine-month low in response to Tangshan lifting some of its production curbs for fighting heavy air pollution. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,950-4,960 yuan ($774-775) per tonne, down by 10-40 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped to a trough...Read More
Hong Kong-based scrap processor Chiho Environmental Group plans to expand its footprint among Chinese recycling operations with the opening of a new yard in the east of the country, the company said on Friday November 5.A recycling park in Taizhou in Zhejiang Province is the result of a joint investment totaling 243 million yuan ($38 million) by Chiho-owned firms Scholz and Chiho Tiande, Chiho sai...Read More
The publication of Fastmarkets' monthly blister copper refining charge for October was delayed due to a reporter error. Fastmarkets' pricing database has since been updated with the following price, originally scheduled to be published on last working day of October. Fasstmarkets' price assessment for opper blister 98-99% RC spot, cif China was $150-170 per tonne on Friday October 29 and as u...Read More
Key data from the Friday November 5 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers?EUR?Domestic prices for tellurium in China fell amid a slow spot market last week. Participants received very limited inquiries from the downstream thermoelectric cooler industry, according...Read More