Zambian blister copper producer Chambishi (CCS) has brought forward its 43-day maintanence plan after being hit by a furnace outage since early June, Fastmarkets understands.With a 250,000 tonne-per-year copper capacity, the CCS plant is one of the biggest copper smelters in Zambia to supply blister copper to the export market. The subsidiary of China Nonferrous Mining Corp (CNMC) h...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its two Shanghai bonded copper premiums, which were published incorrectly on Wednesday June 10 due to an error. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for copper grade A cathode ER premium, bonded in-whs Shanghai (MB-CU-0383) was originally published at $80-90 per tonne on June 10. This has now been corrected as $75-80 per tonne. The copper grade A cathode SX-EW pr...Read More
A deal for third-quarter aluminium ingot supply to Japan has been concluded at a premium of $68 per tonne cif main Japanese ports (MJP), sources told Fastmarkets on June 11 - a drop of 20% from a deal done last week.The tonnage, sold by a trader to a Japanese trading house, is 1,500 tonnes, with 500 tonnes to be supplied in each month of the quarter.This follows the first deal for the third quarte...Read More
Plate prices in the United States - currently at their lowest since November 2016 - have almost converged with hot-rolled coil due to weaker end markets for plate while sheet mills have been able to collect price increases during the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic-related slowdown.As of Wednesday June 10, there is only a $1-per-hundredweight ($20-per-short-ton) differential between cut-to-len...Read More
Prices for most imported flat-rolled and plate products in the United States have moved up as a result of steel prices rising both internationally and domestically, yet interest in importing remained low due to still weak - although improved - demand.Sources recognized that strong demand from China while the East Asian country gradually recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in limited s...Read More
Turkish billet import prices increased over the past week, in line with rising imported scrap costs, and domestic and export billet prices are expected to follow soon, sources said on Thursday June 11.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased their billet offers to Turkey to $390-395 per tonne cfr, up from last week's $385-390 per tonne. Customers in Turkey, however,...Read More
Demand for imported steel billet and domestic steel reinforcing bar (rebar) in Egypt remained weak in the seven days to Thursday June 11, but billet import prices increased because of high offers, sources told Fastmarkets.No improvement in demand is anticipated any time soon because all construction activity was halted for six months by order of the Egyptian president in late&n...Read More
Liberty Steel plans to replace the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) at its Galati plant in Romania with two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs), with the aim of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, the company announced this week.Within the next three to five years Liberty also plans to install a 2.50 million tonnes-per-year direct reduced iron (DRI) module at the Galati plant, a Liberty Galati...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have increased over the past week due to rising imported scrap costs and strong demand, sources said on Thursday June 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey was 3,400-3,440 lira ($501-507) per tonne on Thursday, up from 3,250-3,300 lira per tonne, including 18% VAT, the week before.Steel producers in...Read More
GFG Alliance is to create its first "Greensteel" facility in Europe at its Liberty Steel facility in Galati, Romania, as part of its plan to become carbon neutral by 2030, the company said this week.The investment plans include a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant with a capacity to produce 2.5 million tonnes - initially using natural gas, but with the aim of transitioning to using hydrogen...Read More
Turkish steel mills took a break from deep-sea scrap purchasing on Thursday June 11, after booking significant volumes in recent weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkish steelmakers have booked at least 14 deep-sea cargoes since the beginning of the month, totaling around 450,000 tonnes.They have been booking deep-sea scrap since the easing of Covid-19-related restrictions led to an...Read More
Market participants in the Bangladesh scrap market must close the gap between bids and offers to achieve any fresh bulk sales, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 11. Some traders expected Bangladeshi mills to re-enter the market for bulk and containerized scrap in the weeks following the country's Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, but this has simply not materialized.Instead, while bulk scrap offers fr...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were largely unchanged on Thursday June 11, while market participants waited for fresh data on port inventories in China Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $103.74 per tonne, down $0.19 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $106.65 per tonne, down $0.13 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $93.25 per tonne...Read More
Seaborne premium coking coal prices edged up on Thursday June 11, possibly supported by concerns over tightening import quotas in China, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 11. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.59 per tonne, up $0.63 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $116.81 per tonne, up $1.79 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $88....Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Thursday June 11 amid inactivity, but high production rates have raised concerns over a possible downside for the market over the next week.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,590-3,620 yuan ($508-512) per tonne, unchangedBad weather kept demand for rebar weak but sellers maintained their prices amid rising futures.Market participants think rebar prices...Read More
The nickel price on the London Metal Exchange came under pressure during morning trading on Thursday June 11, with a complex-wide downturn emerging after the US Federal Reserve estimated that the US economy would shrink by 6.5% in 2020. Speaking on Wednesday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell also said that higher US unemployment levels would persist throughout the year and would still be at 9.3...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 cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam at $14.60-15.00/lb on...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 it applies.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.(Due to an error, the percentage change for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese...Read More