Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close on Thursday November 4, with strength in the United States Dollar supporting price weakness across the complex.The US Dollar Index was most recently at $94.39 after hitting an intraday high of $94.47, the highest level since October 13, with base metals trading downward as a result. The three-month alu...Read More
Trafigura has confirmed its commitment to drive decarbonisation in the shipping and aluminium sectors by being a founding member of First Movers Coalition, the company said.The World Economic Forum, in partnership with US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, announced the First Movers Coalition during COP26, the United Nations climate conference taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.The...Read More
The agreement reached between the United States and the European Union regarding the replacement of Section 232 tariffs will support domestic prices for flat steel in Europe but the impact is likely to be limited, sources told Fastmarkets.On October 30, the US and the EU agreed to replace Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs against the bloc's 27 countries with tariff-rate quotas.The decision i...Read More
The price of manganese flake has reached all-time highs in China and Europe, with most producers remaining bullish on the medium-and long-term outlook due to supply tightness. However, risk aversion continues in Europe; some cheaper offers are casting doubts about the immediate price direction of the metal, Fastmarkets heard.The manganese flake price has been on the rise in China since May, peakin...Read More
Backwardations in the forward curves of most metals on the London Metal Exchange have constrained warrant trading for the past few weeks.Copper warrants, for example, have been "impossible" to trade since steep backwardations emerged in copper's forward curve in mid-October, traders widely agreed.Its cash/three-month spread was recently at a $190 per tonne backwardation on Thursday November 4, hav...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close on Thursday November 4, with strength in the United States Dollar supporting price weakness across the complex.The US Dollar Index was most recently at $94.39 after hitting an intraday high of $94.47, the highest level since October 13, with base metals trading downward as a result. The three-month alu...Read More
Backwardations in the forward curves of most metals on the London Metal Exchange have constrained warrant trading for the past few weeks.Copper warrants, for example, have been "impossible" to trade since steep backwardations emerged in copper's forward curve in mid-October, traders widely agreed.Its cash/three-month spread was recently at a $190 per tonne backwardation on Thursday November 4, hav...Read More
Hot-rolled coil spot prices in China retreated to eight-month lows on Thursday November 4 as part of a broad-based decline led by coal.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,980-5,000 yuan ($779-782) per tonne, down by 70-100 yuan per tonneSpot HRC prices in China's eastern market fell to their lowest since March 18, wiping out all of Wednesday's gains.Traders reported that the price decline has redu...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in Europe were stable to slightly higher on Thursday November 4 despite muted buying, while market sentiment remained optimistic, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,022.50 ($1,184.83) per tonne on November 4, up by ?,?8.21 per tonne from ?,?1,014.29 per tonne on November 3.The index was...Read More
Elysis, a joint-venture project between Alcoa and Rio Tinto to eliminate the emission of greenhouse gases from the industrial aluminium smelting process, has moved to the next stage of production, the companies jointly announced on Thursday November 4.Elysis is led by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, with additional investment from the governments of Canada and Quebec.It is working to commercialize a new tech...Read More
A summary of Toronto, Canada-based Noranda Income Fund's production and financial report for the third quarter 2021.In brief: Earnings before income taxes totaled $5.9 million, compared to a loss of $4.1 million in third quarter of 2020. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciated and amortization was $5.7 million, compared to $14.3 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue was $204...Read More
Backwardations in the forward curves of most metals on the London Metal Exchange have constrained warrant trading for the past few weeks.Copper warrants, for example, have been "impossible" to trade since steep backwardations emerged in copper's forward curve in mid-October, traders widely agreed.Its cash/three-month spread was recently at a $190 per tonne backwardation on Thursday November 4, hav...Read More
Sentiment was buoyed among most market participants at the annual Nickel & Cobalt conference held by Chinese information provider Antaike on November 1-3 in Ningbo, China, but the strong resurgence of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries has created uncertainty about consumption of the two metals.Fastmarkets summarizes below four key takeaways from the sidelines of the conference.LFP outperforms...Read More
Mexican steel producer Deacero has opened an office in Washington to be closer to trade decisions affecting its business. It is a first for a Mexican company, according to a Thursday November 4 statement."This is where decisions are made that affect our company, its workers, and its customers - not only in the US, but also in Mexico, and in other international markets where we do...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose again on Thursday November 4 after consecutive declines, though most sources expect them to taper off again in coming weeks.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $94.33 per hundredweight ($1,886.60 per ton), up by 1.07% from $93.33 per cwt on Wednesday and down by...Read More
A summary of operational results for Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest for the third quarter of 2021.In brief The group's output of coke totaled 1.09 million tonnes, down by 9% quarter on quarter due to a decrease in the number of coke ovens in use at Ukraine's Avdiivka Coke and a shortage of raw materials. Merchant slab production increased by 15% quarter on quarter...Read More
The agreement reached between the United States and the European Union regarding the replacement of Section 232 tariffs will support domestic prices for flat steel in Europe but the impact is likely to be limited, sources told Fastmarkets.On October 30, the US and the EU agreed to replace Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs against the bloc's 27 countries with tariff-rate quotas.The decision i...Read More
The steel rebar and billet market in Egypt was slow during the week ending Thursday November 4, although some market participants expected rebar prices to increase because of increasing natural gas costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers increased their prices E ?15,000 ($952) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT on October 20.However, the natural gas price increased to $5....Read More
Turkish billet prices feel in the week ended November 4 in line with lower imported scrap costs and poor demand, market participants told Fastmarkets.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have lowered their offers to $700-705 per tonne cfr, compared with $725-730 per tonne last week.However, the buyers bid only $660-670 per tonne for CIS-origin billet. A steel mill in the Isken...Read More
Turkish steel mills have continued their deep-sea scrap imports with recovering prices on Thursday November 4, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 per tonne, 7,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $520 per tonne cfr. Another steel mill in the same region booked a cargo from the...Read More