The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to another casualty: the mega mine. The volatility created by crises like Covid-19 is adding a layer of uncertainty to the development of large-scale projects that take a decade or more to progress and are highly capital intensive, according to Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.This means that mining projects are likely to be deve...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 15.China The UG2 chrome ore market rose once again after Chinese alloy producers with low stocks accepted higher offers. Import charge chrome prices moved up on supply tightness affecting availability. Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices climbed up on bullish sentiment following increases in...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) on the spot market were now at their lowest level for the past eight months.Fastmarkets' copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific, dropped to $49.60 per tonne/4.96 cents per lb on Friday May 15. This was the first time the index has dipped below $50 per tonne/5 cents per lb since September last year.The index was calculated at $50.40...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 15.China Domestic prices remained stable in an active spot market, with sentiment strengthening after the majority of steel mills raised their tender prices for May deliveries. Hesteel, China's second-largest...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have jumped over the past month due to low scrap collection in Europe, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E8 (thin new production steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill Italy was ?,?240-250 ($259-270) per tonne on May 15, up from ?,?210-230 per tonne in the middle of April. The assessment is...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Germany have been supported by tight scrap availability in the European market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Supply has been reduced due to lower scrap collection volumes and reduced new scrap availability from the automotive industry because of the measures used to battle the spread of Covid-19.The construction industry in Germany remained fairly...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell on Friday May 15, with a steel mill managing to book a European cargo at a lower price than shipments earlier in the week, sources told Fastmarkets. 15.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $238 per tonne, 6,000 tonnes of shredded at $243 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $248 per to...Read More
Hopes that the global economic engine fires up on the first attempt may be asking a lot given second waves of Covid-19 infections emerging, and the fact global leaders are not pulling together is not helping underlying sentiment this morning, Friday May 15, with US President Donald Trump at loggerheads with China. On the economic front, data out of China supports our view that the supply side of t...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
In China, the domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate price fell by 2.3% with battery-grade hydroxide prices down by 2.9% on Thursday May 14 while weak downstream demand pressured more producers to lower prices to boost sales and the Asian seaborne lithium carbonate market fell.China's battery-grade lithium carbonate price edged down on unimproved downstream demand.China's lithium hydroxide...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will try to apply price increases to flat steel products next month, to compensate for the recent loss of value of the local currency."With the current value of the dollar [versus the Brazilian Real], a price increase is unavoidable; it is a matter of survival," commercial director Luis Martinez said during the company's first-quarter earn...Read More
Import prices for flat-rolled steel were either stable or higher in South America during the week to Friday May 15, with Chinese mills presenting more expensive offers while customer interest remained lackluster amid lockdowns due to Covid-19."There were no consultations for potential imports in the past few weeks in Brazil," a trader source said. "I call clients and they don't even want to listen...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been under downward pressure from limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?411.88 ($444.86) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?1.45 per tonne from ?,?413.33 per tonne on Thursday.Friday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices and...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have jumped over the past month due to low scrap collection in Europe, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E8 (thin new production steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill Italy was ?,?240-250 ($259-270) per tonne on May 15, up from ?,?210-230 per tonne in the middle of April. The assessment is...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland declined again this week on slower market demand, sources told Fasmarkets on Friday May 15.Buying activity in the Polish rebar market was reported to be slow this week, with trading companies shunning purchases due to payment issues, sources said."Insurance companies are reducing credit lines, which could cause additional big problems to everybody. May seems t...Read More
Domestic demand for rebar in China increased on Friday May 15, but prices remained unchanged with sellers being under pressure to destock. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,460-3,490 yuan ($487-492) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) - weekly assessment: 3,420-3,460 yuan per tonne, down by 30-40 yuan per tonneEnd users raised their procurement rates ahead of the weekend, but the heigh...Read More
A diversified portfolio may well prove to be a winning ticket for metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto. This is in stark contrast to the global financial crisis of 2008-09, when an across-the-board hit to demand broadly left diversified miners in the same position as pure-play operators, Tom Albanese said. "When the...Read More