Kyle Morris has been appointed marketing manager at Kalahari Trading, the exclusive marketing agent of South African manganese ore producer United Manganese of the Kalahari (UMK).Morris started at Kalahari Trading on Monday November 16,...Read More
Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already started to happen.Independent metals trading companies operating out of Shanghai and Singapore - many of which launched during the early 2000s, surfing the commodities "supercycle" to bountiful profits - have seen risks to bus...Read More
The world's largest trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), could result in India losing its share of the Asian steel market, sources told Fastmarkets this week."It is likely that steel mills in Southeast Asia will benefit from the RCEP trade deal, and India will lose market share in Asia," a Chinese trader told Fastmarkets.The RCEP was signed by China, the 10 member co...Read More
Chinese prices for nickel pig iron (NPI) fell for the first time since early July despite continued strength in the upstream nickel ore market, raising questions over whether the latter is still sufficient to prop up NPI prices in China.Activity in China's NPI market has been muted since early October, with the lack of spot trading resulting in liquidity issues for some participants, in turn causi...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
Lithium needs a transparent market where demand and supply meet to foster the growth of the sector, attendees heard during the annual Lithium in the South America conference organised by Panorama Minero on Wednesday November 18.The event that normally takes place in Buenos Aires was hosted virtually this year due to Covid-19 related restrictions. Interest around bringing price transparency to the...Read More
Iron ore futures price reached the yearly high on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on Thursday November 19 and physical prices also increased, sources told Fastmarkets, with the decrease in steel inventory supporting, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.89 per tonne, up $1.55 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.36 per tonne, up $1.78 per tonne58...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
Turkish domestic, export and import prices for steel billet have all gone up over the past week on increasing scrap costs and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 19.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) raised their billet offers to Turkish customers by around $30-45 per tonne to $465-480 per tonne cfr, with one deal being made around $460 per tonne cfr...Read More
Copper miner KAZ Minerals announced on Wednesday November 18 that the Baimskaya copper project in Russia will have a construction budget of $8 billion and a delayed production starting date of 2027.The news came ahead of a planned vote on the takeover of the company by its largest shareholders: the company's chairman, Oleg Novachuk, and Vladimir Kim, Kazakhstan's richest man.The takeover offer was...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were relatively flat on Thursday November 19, while fears of economic damage from a second-wave of Covid-19 lockdowns spread across the market. Tin's three-month price made the largest decline on Thursday morning, falling by 1.3% to $15,595 per tonne as of 9am. This follows a 0.9% decline from Tuesday as of 5pm on Wednesday, when the price w...Read More
Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already started to happen.Independent metals trading companies operating out of Shanghai and Singapore - many of which launched during the early 2000s, surfing the commodities "supercycle" to bountiful profits - have seen risks to bus...Read More
The base metals were consolidating recent gains but generally holding up near high ground this morning, Thursday November 19 - this despite some nervousness emerging in wider markets about the rapid spread of Covid-19.Asian Pacific equities were mixed this morning, but major European equity indices were down while they tracked Wednesday's weakness in US marketsGold prices also weakerBase metals Th...Read More
The US 99.97% lead ingot premium widened upward in the week to Tuesday November 17, supported by strong demand from automotive battery makers, while the Northern European zinc premium rose due to tightening availability of the galvanizing metal. US benchmark zinc premium may be rolled over or slightly lower next yearLong-term negotiations for zinc kick off in Italy, Southeast AsiaZinc premiums sta...Read More
Chinese prices for nickel pig iron (NPI) fell for the first time since early July despite continued strength in the upstream nickel ore market, raising questions over whether the latter is still sufficient to prop up NPI prices in China.Activity in China's NPI market has been muted since early October, with the lack of spot trading resulting in liquidity issues for some participants, in turn causi...Read More
Reinforcing bar steel prices in the United States continue to hold firm on Wednesday November 18, but some market participants anticipate a scrap-driven price increase could be announced Fastmarkets' assessed steel rebar, fob mill US at $29.75 per hundredweight ($595 per short ton) on November 18, unchanged since September 16. US overviewThe domestic market is stable to trending up, sources said,...Read More
Brazilian flat and long steel import volumes dropped in October 2020, compared with the corresponding month a year earlier, according to figures released by the country's economy ministry earlier this month.Imports of flat steel products fell by 45.71% year-on-year to 69,930 tonnes, from 128,816 tonnes.Brazil did not import any volumes of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from Russia or China in October. Impo...Read More
Steel rebar and billet prices increased in Egypt on the week to Thursday November 19, while demand remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for rebar and billet has been limited in Egypt since the imposition of a construction ban on May 25 and despite the ban being eased on September 29, mainly because of the lack of new...Read More
Turkish steel mills returned to the deep-sea scrap market after three days of silence to book three new cargoes at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 19.Two European cargoes and one from the Baltic Sea were traded after three days of market inactivity from the mills.One European origin cargo was booked by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region and comprised 15,000 tonnes o...Read More
Ukrainian pellet producer Ferrexpo has sold its first ever blast furnace pellet cargo on Globalore at a premium of $25 per tonne over Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, January average. The 90,000-tonne cargo of 65% Fe blast furnace pellets has a loading laycan of December 18-27. The sale marks increasing transparency in the high-quality blast furnace pellet s...Read More