Chilean copper mine production fell by 0.7% in October 2020, compared with the corresponding month in 2019, due to lower supply from Escondida and Collahuasi, national copper commission Cochilco said on Wednesday December 2.Mines in Chile produced 486,400 tonnes of copper content during October, down year-on-year from 490,000 tonnes. But output increased month-on-month by 1.4% from 479,900 tonnes...Read More
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making a huge push to further develop its mining sector and will hold an auction of several blocks next year, according to a government official. The move is part of the country's Vision 2030 programme, which aims to drive economic diversification away from oil and gas, with the kingdom identifying mining as the third pillar for the Saudi Arabian economy. The go...Read More
The London Metal Exchange nickel price fell by 1.7% at the 5pm close on Wednesday December 2, leading a broad-based dip in the complex, although prices remain around recent highs supported by a lower dollar index. The three-month nickel price closed at $16,000 per tonne on Wednesday, compared with Tuesday's 5pm closing price of $16,278 per tonne. The lowest price for the stainless steel additive...Read More
Global miner Vale was expecting long-term growth in production from its nickel and copper operations, despite foreseeing lower volumes than were previously predicted, according to a document filed with Brazilian securities and exchange commission CVM.The Brazil-based company estimated that nickel output would average 200,000 tonnes per year in 2021-23, and 220,000 tpy in 2024-25. This showed lower...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) paid for zinc concentrates fell to a 27-month low in November, continuing their downtrend while the market reacted to news that production would be stopped at Vedanta's Gamsberg mine in South Africa.A collapsed pit at the Gamsberg mine on November 17 buried 10 miners, with at least one confirmed fatality. The mine, which produces around 250,000 tonnes per year of zinc in co...Read More
London Metal Exchange base metals prices have stabilized at recent highs on the morning of Wednesday December 2, supported by a low dollar index and positive developments in Covid-19-related news. After six days of inclines, copper's three-month price opened at $7,666.50 per tonne on Wednesday, broadly flat from the 5pm close on Tuesday of $7,694.50 per tonne. The price did reach $7,723 per tonne...Read More
European producers of heavy steel plate have been looking for a domestic price rise despite the fact that supply has been exceeding demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 2.Official offers for domestic heavy plate from Italian re-rollers were heard at ?,?550 ($660) per tonne ex-works, and producers were expected to push offers further upward in their attempt to compensate for the r...Read More
Domestic cold-rolled coil prices in Europe increased in the week to Wednesday December 2 due to tight supply from local mills and higher feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel CRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?650-670 ($780-804) per tonne on December 2, up by ?,?10-20 per tonne week on week from ?,?640-650 per tonne.The assessment was base...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved up again across Europe in the week to Wednesday December 2 due to a materials shortage in the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?565.77 ($678.69) per tonne on Wednesday December 2, up by ?,?2.02 per tonne from ?,?563.75 per tonne on December 1. The index wa...Read More
Prices for hollow steel sections in Europe moved up again during the past week with feedstock costs continuing to rise on a lack of supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 2.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?680-700 ($816-840) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?660-680 per tonne one week before.The availability of...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale plans to achieve capacity for 400 million tonnes per year of iron ore by the end of 2022, the head of its ferrous division, Marcello Spinelli, said on Wednesday December 2.In the long term, the company also expected to optimize and debottleneck operations at current facilities to deliver a further 50 million tpy, raising capacity to 450 million tpy.That does not mean Vale expe...Read More
Iron ore exports from Brazil fell by a modest 0.4% year on year in November, the country's ministry of economy said on Tuesday December 1. Brazilian iron ore exports totaled 29.15 million tonnes last month, slightly down from 29.27 million tonnes in November 2019. Daily average volumes were also down by 0.4% to 1.46 million tonnes, from 1.46 million tonnes, ending a two-month series of daily expor...Read More
Turkish steel mills have resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings, confirming another uptick in the prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 2.But overall demand remained slow, the sources said.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 24,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $358 per tonne, 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $368 per tonne and 1,500 tonnes of rail at...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has lowered its iron ore production guidance for 2020 to 300-305 million tonnes from 310-330 million tonnes due to the supply disruptions seen throughout the year, the company said on Wednesday December 2 in a filing to the country's securities and exchange commission, CVM.Previously, the company was expecting to deliver the bottom end of the estimated range for 2020, given ad...Read More
Iron ore prices surged on Wednesday December 2, supported by concerns over supply shortages in the first quarter of 2021, and some futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed at seven-year highs, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $136.29 per tonne, up $4.16 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $135.80 per tonne, up $3...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in both the fob and cfr markets edged higher on Wednesday December 2 due to active trading the previous day.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.33 per tonne, up $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.26 per tonne, up $2.26 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.05 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingt...Read More
Improved demand from the construction sector kept China's domestic rebar prices from falling further on Wednesday December 2.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,030-4,060 yuan ($613-617) per tonne, unchangedSeveral contractors raised their procurement rates during the day to replenish their inventories, having limited their buying in the past 10 days.The stronger demand, coupled rising futures, pu...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' Wednesday December 2 pricing session in Europe.Key drivers?EUR?Cadmium found support with demand in India, the most important spot market for the material, increasing over the past two weeks after a long period of slow activity.?EUR?The results of a tender from Russian producer Chelyabinsk showed evidence of refreshed interest among consumers. This tender...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey, Dalila Ouerghi and Michael Greenfield in London, Susan Zou and Amy Lv in Shanghai and Carrie Shi in Beijing contributed to this article.Fastmarkets has reworked the market reports it previously published for the minor metals, noble alloys and battery raw materials sectors to align them with end-use sectors. C...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda and Declan Conway contributed...Read More