An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process...Read More
The tantalum concentrate price was trading under pressure this week after Chinese buying started to slow down. Fastmarkets assessed the price for tantalite, basis 25% min Ta2O5, cif China at $64-65 per lb on Friday July 24 - Fastmarkets first assessment of this price following an extended consultation - down from last week's $65-67 per lb. Tantalum prices had started to move up in A...Read More
The spot cobalt metal price in China continued to rally in the second half of the week following upturns in the local futures market since Thursday and a slight improvement in consumers' restocking appetite. Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, exw China rose to 255,000-265,000 yuan ($36,363-37,789) per tonne (equivalent to approx. $14.59-15.16 per lb, less China VAT) on Friday Ju...Read More
The Chinese domestic ferro-silicon market dipped in the most recent trading session due to the continuing sluggish downstream magnesium market and easing supply concerns, with smelters ramping up their operations. Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-silicon 75% Si min, in-whs China was 5,800-5,900 yuan ($828-842) per tonne on Wednesday July 22, down by 100 yuan (1.7%) from 5,900-6,000 yua...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
Taiwanese buyers bid lower for imported containerized ferrous scrap over the past week, but were largely unsuccessful in halting price gains.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $243-245 per tonne on Friday July 24, unchanged from a day earlier but up by $5 per tonne from $238-240 per tonne cfr T...Read More
Offers for Japanese steel scrap in key Vietnam import markets surged this week together with price increases in other parts of the world."The sustained price increases in scrap are catching some people by surprise. I am actually getting a little worried about the prices," a Vietnamese buyer told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 22.There was a transaction at $255 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam on Thur...Read More
(Updates prices) By Peter Hobson LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - A deepening U.S.-Chinaconfrontation put copper on track for its first weekly losssince mid-May, but analysts expect recovering demand and lowstocks to keep prices high. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)was 2% down at $6,413 a tonne at 1620 GMT on Friday for a weeklydecline of about 0.5%. However, prices remain close to...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 23 that are worth another look.Adjusted steel safeguard measures in Europe, combined with new trade cases, will limit availability of imported hot-rolled coil and support domestic prices.Companies with strong balance sheets and access to capital could drive a...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange rallied at the close of trading on Thursday July 23, with the price settling more than 4% higher after US carmaker Tesla called for a ramp-up in global nickel mining.Meanwhile, a continued tightening of LME copper's forward curve failed to hamper the metal's positive close.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,689 per tonne, a ri...Read More
The Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru operated at around 80% of its 2019 average levels in June but is expected to see operations increase in the second half, according to majority owner Freeport-McMoRan. The US copper producer, which has a 53.56% stake in the mine, said that Cerro Verde's operating rates averaged 251,800 tonnes of ore per day in the second quarter, including an average of 316,800 t...Read More
Southern Peru Copper Corp (SPCC) was the Peruvian miner least affected by the Covid-19 pandemic among public companies on the Santiago Stock Exchange, several notifications filed to the country's securities authority, SMV, showed. The SMV polled all listed companies during July and only SPCC said that it did not partially or completely halt operations due to the national emergency declared by the...Read More
The Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru operated at around 80% of its 2019 average levels in June but is expected to see operations increase in the second half, according to majority owner Freeport-McMoRan. The US copper producer, which has a 53.56% stake in the mine, said that Cerro Verde's operating rates averaged 251,800 tonnes of ore per day in the second quarter, including an average of 316,800 t...Read More
Glencore's head of zinc and lead assets Chris Eskdale has stepped down from his role while the company overhauls the department's senior leadership, Fastmarkets understands.Eskdale's role will now be split between incoming head of trading Nick Popovic, Denis Hamel and Aline Cote who will become the first woman to lead an industrial division at Glencore.Glencore produced 975,000 tonnes of zinc...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 23 that are worth another look.Adjusted steel safeguard measures in Europe, combined with new trade cases, will limit availability of imported hot-rolled coil and support domestic prices.Companies with strong balance sheets and access to capital could drive a...Read More
The Ramu NiCo mine, which produced at record levels in the first quarter of the year, appears to be operating normally despite a 7.0 earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on Friday July 17.Neither the mine's operator, Metallurgical Corp of China ("MCC"), in Beijing, nor Ramu NiCo's minor stakeholder, Conic Metals Corp, in Toronto, responded to Fastmarkets' multiple requests for updates on the nicke...Read More
Turkish steel mills have continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for August shipment with improving prices, sources said on Thursday July 23.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $275 per tonne cfr on Thursday.Another steel mill in Turkey booked a US cargo, comprising 7,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $270 per...Read More
China has become the savior of the global steel market, with its big appetite and high domestic prices supporting the international ferrous supply chain amid the Covid-19 pandemic.While demand for steel in most economies has plummeted in the face of the health crisis, that in China has been strengthening since at least the second quarter of 2020 amid the country's steady recovery after battling th...Read More