Global tin premiums were flat in the week ended Tuesday July 28, with a rising three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange and tightening forward spreads being the key deterrents to spot business, while a closed arbitrage window and lack of spot liquidity meant that deals remained rare.US premium holds steady on lack of tradesClosed arbitrage window for most of the past two weeks limits buy...Read More
Exports of standard P1020 aluminium from Canada into the United States in July have declined as demand for value-added products (VAP) resumes and smelters rebalance their production, according to the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC). This makes the potential reintroduction of Section 232 tariffs by the US government not just unnecessary but also penalizing for North American manufacturers and...Read More
Key information from the pricing session for Fastmarkets' alumina index, fob Australia on Wednesday July 29. Key drivers: Deals concluded on Wednesday at $275 per tonne fob Western Australia for 30,000 tonnes with mid-August loading. Prior to this, the deal market had been quiet with no spot business since one deal at $280.50 per tonne fob Australia on July 22. Chinese market participants h...Read More
First Quantum Minerals has cut its 2020 production guidance for its Cobre Panama copper project by as much as 105,000 tonnes and further lowered its group copper production guidance for the year due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.The Vancouver, Canada-headquartered company had previously expected Cobre Panama to produce 285,000-310,000 tonnes this year but said it had revised its producti...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 29 that are worth another look.The United States Department of Commerce has launched anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations - some alleging triple-digit margins - into seamless standard, line and pressure pipe imports from four...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Export prices for bulk cargoes of Japanese steel scrap have risen for the third consecutive week amid solid buying interest, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 29.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?25,000-25,500 ($237-242) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?500 per tonne from ?24,500-25,000 per tonne last week.Japan-origin H1:H2 (50:50...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases with prices edging up, sources said on Wednesday July 29.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $273 per tonne and 9,000 tonnes of bonus scrap at $283 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per...Read More
Markets were for the most part consolidating this morning, Wednesday July 29, with base and precious metals prices mixed, albeit with the path of least resistance remaining to the upside.Traders are having to weigh up the continuing spread of the Covid-19 virus across the United States and pockets of second waves in other major economies and some disappointing economic news, against the prospects...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in London on Wednesday July 29. Key driversMarket participants eye higher cobalt metal, salt and intermediate prices in China, which have translated into some sellers raising offer prices in the international market - including some...Read More
Cobalt hydroxide payables continued to rally in the first half of the week started Monday July 27, with logistical tightness in South Africa still limiting suppliers' capacity to offer units on spot inquiries.The cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low end), rose to 74-75% on July 29, up from 70-73% on July 24. This was...Read More
Indian importers have rejected import offers of hot-rolled coil from South Korea at a price of $500-505 per tonne cfr Mumbai, citing low domestic prices, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday July 29.According to an importer, bids for similar material at $478-480 per tonne cfr Mumbai were not accepted by the seller."The cost of South Korea-origin HRC imports for us, even at a price of $500 per tonne cfr...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in have increased over the week to Wednesday July 29 in Northern Europe and stood unchanged in the south of Europe, sources told Fastmarkets. Market activity has been gradually declining over the week because the European market is entering the traditionally slow month of August, but the sentiment remains positive. Steelmakers will resume production at higher pr...Read More
The Technical Secretariat of Anti-Dumping (TSAIP) of the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC) has announced its preliminary determination in its steel safeguarding case, the World Trade Organization said on July 23.According to the preliminary results, GCC countries decided that the import of steel products under investigation had increased significantly to the region, which was causing serious harm...Read More
The United States' International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to retain existing countervailing duties on imports of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from Brazil and anti-dumping duties on imports of this product from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova and Trinidad and Tobago, it said on Wednesday July 29. The commission determined that revoking the duty orders "would be likely to lead...Read More
The Technical Secretariat of Anti-Dumping (TSAIP) of the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC) has announced its preliminary determination in its steel safeguarding case, the World Trade Organization said on July 23.According to the preliminary results, GCC countries decided that the import of steel products under investigation had increased significantly to the region, which was causing serious harm...Read More
Hollow steel sections prices in Europe were flat on Wednesday July 29 with the market experiencing its usual summer slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?540-560 ($620-642) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.Fastmarkets' weekly steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Southern Europe...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) expects to increase its iron ore production from the third quarter, after transportation issues reduced output in the first six months of the year, the company's chief financial officer, Marcelo Ribeiro, said on Wednesday July 29.Own output and third-party purchases are estimated to be near the 10-million-tonne quarterly level during the s...Read More
Export prices for bulk cargoes of Japanese steel scrap have risen for the third consecutive week amid solid buying interest, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 29.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?25,000-25,500 ($237-242) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?500 per tonne from ?24,500-25,000 per tonne last week.Japan-origin H1:H2 (50:50...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases with prices edging up, sources said on Wednesday July 29.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $273 per tonne and 9,000 tonnes of bonus scrap at $283 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per...Read More