Turkish steel mills have continued their deep-sea scrap bookings with two Venezuelan cargoes, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 21.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Venezuelan cargo consisting of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $505 per tonne cfr late on Wednesday October 20. The cargo was scheduled to...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's new Indonesian copper smelter will not be subject to export duties, the US copper producer said.The new greenfield smelter, currently delayed by Covid-19, is to be located in Gresik, Indonesia, and will have the capacity to process around 1.7 million tonnes of copper concentrate per year.The same applies to the company's precious metals refinery (PMR), which will process gold an...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit plans to start long-term mine development activities at its Kucing Liar deposit, the company said.PT-Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), in which Freeport holds a 48.76% stake and manages its mining operations, will develop the project over the next 10 years, the US copper producer said.At full operating rates, annual production from Kucing Liar is expected to exceed 500...Read More
Seaborne coking coal cfr prices increased following a trade on Thursday, while despite a fall in the futures market, coking coal prices in the physical market stayed reasonably strong, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $615.52 per tonne, up $3.40 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, up $1.69 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $...Read More
Reduced operations at steel rerolling mills in several key cities across China have hurt prices for steel billet in China's local and import markets, sources said on Thursday October 21.The northern Chinese steelmaking hub Tangshan ordered rerolling mills in its Fengrun district to suspend production from October 21 to 31 to improve air quality, market participants told Fastmarkets.The production...Read More
Rio Tinto will invest $7.5 billion to reduce emissions and meet its carbon targets earlier than planned, the company announced on Wednesday September 20.Following more ambitious climate targets by governments, Rio Tinto is revising its emissions reduction targets. Its new target is to reduce its Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions of the greenhouse gas (GHG) Protocol by 50% by 2030, more than triple...Read More
Domestic alumina prices in China continued to climb in the week to Thursday October 21, with new transactions being made on an as-needed basis, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina, metallurgical grade, exw China, was 3,900-4,150 yuan ($610-649) per tonne on Thursday, up by 100-150 yuan per tonne from 3,800-4,000 yuan last week.Alumina prices have now reached a 13...Read More
Iron ore prices were largely down on Thursday October 21, following the bearish mood in terms of steel prices and demand, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $116.93 per tonne,down $7.14 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.68 per tonne,down $6.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $88.98 per tonne,down $5.99 per tonn...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...Read More
BMW Group is to source steel from Sweden's H2 Green Steel for its European plants from 2025, the German car manufacturer said this week.Announcing the move on Wednesday October 20, BMW said that the company was "systematically pursuing [a] goal of significantly reducing CO2 emissions at their source in the supply chain."BMW said that, from 2025, it will source steel produced with up to 95% fewer C...Read More
Steelmakers in China will likely keep their production rates low in the fourth quarter of 2021 amid pollution controls and tight electricity supply even though they still seem to have a lot of "quota" left for the year, market participants say.In the first nine months of this year, China produced 805.89 million tonnes of crude steel, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)....Read More
Egypt's prices for imported billet and domestic reinforcing bar increased in the week to Thursday October 21, with demand also picking up from previous weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers increased their prices effective October 20.Buying increased after the price hikes were announced because buyers believed prices could rise further, traders said.On the other hand, the Advanced...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 21 that are worth another look.Rio Tinto will invest $7.5 billion to reduce emissions and meet its carbon targets earlier than planned, the company announced on Wednesday September 20.The government of the United...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan retained its forecast for 2021 copper sales at around 3.85 billion lbs, or 1.75 million tonnes, and third-quarter sales were higher year on year due to the ramp up of underground mining and the timing of shipments at its Indonesian operations.Third-quarter copper sales were 1.033 billion lbs, or 468,560 tonnes, more or less unchanged from the prior quarter but up from 848 million...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices across Europe edged down on Thursday October 21 on reduced end-user demand, and trading activity remained limited, sources told Fastmarkets. The ongoing global shortage of semiconductors has caused automakers in Europe to reduce output and, consequently, to cut flat-steel purchases, market sources said.Moreover, market participants have suggested that some major aut...Read More
Spot trading for hot-rolled coil in China stagnated in the afternoon of Thursday October 21 after the continued tumble in futures prices kept market participants cautious.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,710-5,750 yuan ($892-898) per tonne, narrowing by 10-30 yuan per tonneSpot HRC was traded at 5,710-5,750 yuan per tonne in Shanghai on Thursday morning, when the most-traded HRC contract on the...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit plans to start long-term mine development activities at its Kucing Liar deposit, the company said.PT-Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), in which Freeport holds a 48.76% stake and manages its mining operations, will develop the project over the next 10 years, the US copper producer said.At full operating rates, annual production from Kucing Liar is expected to exceed 500...Read More
The government of the United Kingdom plans to set up an expert committee on critical minerals to provide independent advice on the scope and content of a critical minerals strategy to meet the country's net-zero carbon emissions targets, it said.In a move designed to guide investment decisions, the government also plans to update the country's critical minerals list, which details materials that a...Read More
The government of the United Kingdom plans to set up an expert committee on critical minerals to provide independent advice on the scope and content of a critical minerals strategy to meet the country's net-zero carbon emissions targets, it said.In a move designed to guide investment decisions, the government also plans to update the country's critical minerals list, which details materials that a...Read More
Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shot up to an all-time high during morning trading on Thursday October 21 amid a possible export ban on raw materials by Indonesia, among other bullish market dynamics.SHFE nickel was trading at 160,300 yuan ($25,071) per tonne at 11.30am Shanghai time, up by 10,720 yuan per tonne (7.17%) from a closing price of 149,580 yuan per tonne on Wednesday.Ind...Read More