The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, the US and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price assessments, please follow the links below:China- APT 88.5% WO3 min, fob main ports China, $/mtu WO3Europe- APT 88.5% WO3 min Europe, cif Rotterdam an...Read More
Copper stocks at Shanghai bonded warehouses fell in April amid an increase in import activity due to expectations of a cut to China's VAT rate in May and the opening of the arbitrage window between Shanghai and London.Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded copper stocks at 291,000-301,000 tonnes on Thursday April 30, down by 12.7% from 334,000-344,000 tonnes on March 23. "The rumor of a VAT cut enti...Read More
The European Commission's (EC) antitrust authorities granted Europe's largest copper smelter Aurubis unconditional approval for the ?,?380 million ($417 million) acquisition of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo Group, the company said on Monday May 4.The transaction will formally close on May 29, with Metallo's consolidation into Aurubis taking place on June 1. The investment firm TowerBrook Capita...Read More
Christine Keener has been appointed Alcoa's vice president of operations for Europe and North America, in a new role combining the two operating locations, Fastmarkets understands. The consolidation, effective from Friday May 1, will streamline the management of operating Alcoa's assets and ensuring alignment among common markets, the company said. Keener replaces Jean Francois Cyr and...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Monday May 4, with price action losing some 0.8% against low turnover, while the LME tin price also lost ground over the morning. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $5,065 per tonne, down from Friday's closing price of $5,110 per tonne, while turnover was low over the morning with jus...Read More
Mining and metalworking in Peru will gradually resume in May after a government order on Sunday May 3 targeted key industries for restarts."Exploitation, processing, storage, transportation and closure of mines in the strata of large-scale mining," will be part of an initial phase of business returning to some type of normality, the government said...Read More
Last week's weaker tone in the metals has flowed through into morning trading on Monday May 4, with the three-month base metals on the London Metal Exchange down by an average of 0.6%, led by a 0.9% fall in copper to $5,061 per tonne. With Japan and China closed trading volumes are thin.Market participants likely to focus on European purchasing manager's index (PMI) data and US factory orders. Bas...Read More
Steel mills in the United States appear to be holding firm on hot-rolled coil prices after a round of price increases last week, but it remains to be seen if buyers are picking up tons at those levels. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.83 per hundredweight ($496.60 per short ton) on Monday May 4, up by 4.9% from $23.67 per cwt on Friday May 1 and 7.8...Read More
Flat-rolled steel import prices were mostly stable week on week in South America on Friday May 1, after deals became scarce and negotiations for June-shipment cargoes finished with low interest from clients. Demand for flat steel has continued to drop in the region due to factory closures and weaker end-user consumption stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Sellers were already focusing on talks fo...Read More
Turkey exported 305,658 tonnes of flat steel products in March 2020, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).This volume was down by 46.34% year-on-year from the 569,364 tonnes exported in March 2019, the institute said.This meant that the country's total exports of flat steel products for the first three months of the year came to 1,185,141 tonnes.This volume was down by 30.85% from...Read More
Turkey imported 467,201 tonnes of flat steel in March 2020, up by 1.33% from 461,048 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country's total flat steel imports in January-March 2020 totaled 1,821,147 tonnes, an increase of 24.73% from the 1,460,106 tonnes imported in the corresponding period of 2019, TUIK said.Demand for flat steel in th...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market opened the week quietly on Monday May 4 after an expected drop in prices late on Friday May 1, sources told Fastmarkets.On Friday, a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $236 per tonne cfr, and 7,000 tonnes of bonus at $246 per...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The first quarter continued the trend of 2019 - for China to actively import relatively cheap metallics and semi-finished steel - but can this be sustained? The answer to this question will come down to the price competitiveness of the products, we believe. One additional incentive to continue to import metallics this year -...Read More
Turkish domestic ship scrap prices went down over the past week on falling imported scrap values, sources said on Monday May 4.Deep-sea scrap import prices weakened once again on May 1, with the news of a fresh European cargo deal.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $242.42 per tonne on May 1, down from $258 per tonne on April...Read More
A short working week for many countries in the global scrap market, coupled with the continuing Covid-19 restrictions, resulted in a dip in demand and falling prices in the week to Friday May 1. Turkey books lower cargoes on reduced output and demand Market in United States remains flat on lack of trading Vietnam market quiet due to public holiday Demand for Taiwan scrap dips India deman...Read More
India has announced that it will extend its countrywide lockdown under the Covid-19 pandemic for a second time, but the creation of high- and low-risk zones in the country has meant that some steel producers were now increasing production levels once more.Indian steelmaking giant JSW has started to ramp-up steel output again after receiving government approval and instituting social-distancing pro...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was muted on Monday May 4 in the absence of China, the only country that has been buying metallurgical coal spot cargoes since the global spread of Covid-19. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.12 per tonne, unchanged Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $117.33 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $93.26 per tonne, unchanged...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were flat on Monday May 4 from Friday April 1 due to a holiday in China, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.04 per tonne, unchanged.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.70 per tonne, unchanged. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $72.13 per tonne, unchanged. 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $101.70 p...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in Europe in the week to Friday May 1.Key drivers European antimony prices down slightly on continuing weak spot demand, despite supply-led increases in China. Over the week, only small volumes - no higher than 5 tonnes - for standard grade II material were sold close to $5,850 per tonne, with offers...Read More
Broader markets are looking a bit brighter this morning, Tuesday May 5, with equity indices and base metals prices firmer while participants look forward to better demand once more plans are announced about lifting lockdown restrictions.* The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed from being down by 1.5% to close positively on Monday.* US factory orders dropped by 10.3%, but this data was for March...Read More