China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices fell on Friday April 24 despite futures gains, and participants believe the country could resume importing on lower offers from India and South Korea.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,280-3,300 yuan ($463-466) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,230 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai started with offers at 3...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price declined during morning trading on Friday April 24, with price action consolidating lower amid slow turnover, while a marginal incline in zinc futures pushed it to close in on nearby resistance levels this morning. LME copper's underlying price was recently trading at $5,115 per tonne, a decline of some $45 per tonne from Thursday's closing price...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed this morning, Friday April 24, after markets had to absorb weak flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) data on Thursday, especially in the services sector where readings were 11.7 in the European Union and 27 in the United States, while manufacturing readings were also weak. Broader markets were for the most part weaker this morning with losses seen in Asian-Pacific a...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday April 24.China The UG2 chrome ore market rose for a third consecutive week after buyers were willing to accept higher prices, with a number of concluded deals above and below the new index level The increased chrome ore prices have underpinned domestic ferro-chrome...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ending Friday April 24.China The low-grade seaborne manganese ore market surged after the first offers were made since South Africa - the major producer - went into lockdown, with transactions made for late June and July delivery.High-grade ore prices soared...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
China will cut its new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidies progressively between 2020 and 2022, with a 10% reduction planned for this year, the country's ministry of finance announced on Thursday April 23.Compared with the 50% cut to subsidies in 2019, future reductions in principle will be done so at a slower rate of 10% in 2020, 20% in 2021 and 30% in 2022.This comes after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Shanghai, New York and Galway on Friday April 24. China The lower end of domestic prices widened downward due to producers' attempts to destock. Export market dropped after suppliers slashed their offer prices to attract...Read More
British Steel is set to restart production at its North Yorkshire special steel mill, on Monday April 27, following a three-week shutdown the company announced on April 24.In addition to the 240,000 tonnes-per year special steel mill at Skinningrove in Redcar & Cleveland, the company said it also plans to reopen its Lisburn service centre in Northern Ireland."Whi...Read More
A summary of Spain-based stainless steel producer Acerinox's financial results for the first quarter of 2020. In brief The company said the stainless steel market recovery in the first quarter was cut short by the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus, with profits down 14% year on year. The company had paused operations in Spain for four days in April and will resume...Read More
Vietnamese buyers continued to focus on Japanese scrap imports this week, and eschewed deep-sea bulk cargoes due to their high offers.Transactions involving individual shipments comprising 8,000-15,000 tonnes of Japanese H2 scrap were concluded at $234-235 per tonne cfr Vietnam.Bids for such cargoes were made at $230 per tonne cfr Vietnam, while offers were at $234-245 per tonne cfr Vietnam. Fastm...Read More
Taiwanese buyers continued to chase after imports of heavy melting scrap (HMS) imports this week, which caused prices to increase amid limited supply.Transactions were being concluded at increasingly higher prices throughout the week.They went from $220 per tonne cfr, $221 per tonne cfr and $222 per tonne cfr in the first half of the week to around $226-227 per tonne cfr in the second half. Offers...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 23 that are worth another look.Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on April 23.South Africa is to end its nationwide lockdown and ease r...Read More
The three-month copper price on the LME climbed by just over 1% on Thursday April 23 to settle at its highest level since April 14, while nickel futures gained ground in the afternoon despite low turnover. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,160.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, gaining some $30 per tonne from Wednesday's closing price, while turnover in the re...Read More
Total zinc inventory in London Metal Exchange warehouses has risen by 37% since the start of April to 100,075 tonnes as of April 23. Market sources attribute the rise in stocks to producers shipping their stock into warehouses to wait out the storm that is Covid-19. Demand for the galvanizing metal, like many other commodities, has fallen due to Covid-19 related lockdowns, leaving traders and prod...Read More
Anglo American has put its Quellaveco copper project in Peru on standby for up to three months while the government continues to restrict people movements to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus.Most of Anglo American's on-site staff at the project in southern Peru have been under lockdown since March 17, when the Peruvian government declared a national emergency, the UK-based miner said on...Read More
Tungsten concentrates and ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices in China inched up this week after declining steadily since early March, but whether this minor recovery turns into a uptrend depends greatly on downstream demand, market sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for tungsten concentrate 65% WO3, in-whs China was 76,000-77,000 yuan ($10,726-10,867) per tonne on Wednesday April 2...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 23 that are worth another look.Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on April 23.South Africa is to end its nationwide lockdown and ease r...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 23 that are worth another look.Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on April 23.South Africa is to end its nationwide lockdown and ease r...Read More
Turkish steel mills extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap markets due to a public holiday in the country on Thursday April 23, keeping any possible trading opportunities on hold.Thursday marked the National Sovereignty and Children's Day public holiday in Turkey, with most people in the country away from work. In addition to this, the country has imposed a lockdown from April 23 to April...Read More