The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price reached a near seven-year high during morning trading on Thursday November 26, hitting $7,410 per tonne at one point and taking the complex on an incline with it.The LME three-month price for the red metal was at $7,372 per tonne as of 9:05am, but its high of $7,410 per tonne in early trading meant it had surpassed prices last reached in January 2...Read More
The legitimacy of China's tariffs on United States-origin non-ferrous scrap is questionable after the country reclassified high purity scrap under the new category of recyclable materials, industry executives said at Fastmarkets webinar on Monday November 23."There's no official announcement on top of the tariffs [on US recyclable copper materials]," US-based David Chiao, president of Bureau of In...Read More
Markets were generally buoyant this morning, Thursday November 26, with more certainty on the horizon than of late, helped by US president-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House and with a rollout of the vaccines now insight, if things go according to plan.Optimism pushes current economic and health problems to the backgroundUK Chancellor warns of biggest contraction in 300 yearsBase meta...Read More
Turkey was the only market accepting higher export steel billet offers from the Commonwealth of Independent States, while trading activity at other destinations remained quiet in the week to Thursday November 26 due to a difference between mills' offers and customers' bids. The majority of mills continued to insist on offers within the range of $480-500 per tonne fob Black Sea this week, according...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have increased sharply over the past week and pushed even higher on Thursday November 26, due to strong demand and rising imported scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Steel mills in Turkey have been booking deep-sea scrap cargoes over the past week at increasing prices and growing demand for long steel products in the export market has also supported&nb...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices have continued to increase over the week to Thursday November 26 on the back of rising imported scrap costs. Turkish steel mills have been booking deep-sea scrap cargoes in the past week at increasing prices to fulfil growing demand for long steel products in the export markets. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Tu...Read More
Steel billet import prices have increased in Egypt over the week ending Thursday November 26, but demand was weak, sources have told Fastmarkets.Demand for steel rebar and billet has been slow in the country since a ban on construction activity was introduced on May 25.The rules of the ban were eased on September 29, but buying has remained...Read More
Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB will undergo a transformation with a new company strategy to meet its goals for net-zero carbon emissions, and will invest heavily in its operations to achieve this, the company said on Monday November 23.LKAB's new strategy sets out the path the company will take to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from its own processes and products by 2045, and to sec...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
The Asian ferrous scrap market has been turning increasingly in sellers' favor and this has caused a price surge in Japan, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 25.Japanese scrapyards have sold cargoes of H2-grade scrap at ?32,500-33,000 ($311-316) per tonne fob in the past week, with offers heard at ?32,500-33,000 per tonne fob.Vietnamese buyers had received offers at $345-...Read More
Bangladeshi ferrous scrap buyers are opting to purchase smaller quantities of containerized materials instead of bulk shipments to hedge against the sudden price increases in scrap markets in the week to Thursday November 26, sources told Fastmarkets. Finished steel product prices have not been able to absorb the sudden hikes in raw materials prices, and Bangladeshi steel mills have not been inter...Read More
Iron ore prices gained on Thursday November 26 on support from decreasing steel inventories, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.39 per tonne, up $0.98 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.10 per tonne, up $0.41 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $120.67 per tonne, up $1.43 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cf...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in both the cfr and fob markets moved up on Thursday November 26, with trading in the fob market active while Chinese market participants expect the premium cfr price to go up further. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $101.54 per tonne, up $0.04 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164 per tonne, up $0.77 per tonneHard cok...Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb 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...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb 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...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday November 25. Key drivers Traders reported difficulty finding available material in both Asia and Europe amid higher offers from producers and increasing freight costs. Although demand continues to be limited in Europe, traders said it would be unprofitable...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for October 2020.In brief China's cobalt tetroxide exports continued to rise on a monthly basis due to a recovery of industrial activities in the countries outside China and major smartphone producers' ambition to develop models with fifth generation (5G) functionality. China's lithium carbonate exports registered a slight increase in O...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for October 2020.In brief China's imports of cobalt metal set a new historical high in October, surpassing the August record of 1,130 tonnes. The higher imports in October compared with September is mainly due to new buying in August-September by speculative investors and traders who intended to lock in decent import profits from the Chinese dome...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to change the publication day of its four China minor metals price assessments from Wednesday to Friday, 2-3pm London time. This proposed change will apply to the following price assessments:Antimony MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, yuan/tonne Gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs China, yuan/kg Germanium 99.999% Ge min, in-whs China, yuan/kg Indium 99.99%, exw China, yuan/kg T...Read More
A summary of China's minor metals exports for October 2020. In brief Chinese gallium suppliers preferred to sell cargoes in the domestic market where prices were more favorable compared with those abroad, resulting in an evident reduction in exports in October.Foreign buyers purchased greater amounts of...Read More