Over two million tonnes of copper mine supply could be temporarily lost this year due to disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic and other non-virus factors, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group Benedikt Sobotka said.This is equivalent to around 10% of 2020 copper mine supply and is double the roughly 5% of planned copper mine production that is typically lost due to unfore...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 21 that are worth another look.The lockdowns imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic were offering automotive manufacturers a rare opportunity to take a step back and to re-evaluate their long-term strategies, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group has said.Italian long steel producer Alfa Acciai Group has resum...Read More
Tantalum prices have found support due to tightness of supply and concerns about obtaining material during the continued lockdowns in central African countries imposed to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.Prices have been moving up over the past month, with buyers struggling to find cheap prompt units due to the increased worries about the future availability of material, market sources...Read More
Mexican steel scrap prices decreased in the week ended April 17, with some buyers applying the first round of a series of price cuts planned for the month, and a second group of buyers keeping their prices stable.In Mexico's central Baj?-o region, steelmakers applied price cuts of 200-400 pesos ($8-17) per tonne last week, and have announced a second round of price cuts of 200 pesos per tonne to s...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went through the second working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings and they were expected to remain quiet for the rest of the week, sources said on Tuesday April 21.The mills in the country booked at least seven deep-sea cargoes last week, totaling almost 220,000 tonnes.Market participants believed that those cargoes will be enough to cover mills' urgent needs."I...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker this morning, Tuesday April 21, and Asian-Pacific and pre-market major western equity indices were weaker too. On Monday we had thought poor corporate earnings data had the potential to rattle markets, but it seems that negative oil futures prices were the catalyst that caused traders concern. The soon-to-exp...Read More
The lockdowns imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic were offering automotive manufacturers a rare opportunity to take a step back and to re-evaluate their long-term strategies, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group has said.Benedikt Sobotka said that although the world is currently facing distressing times, it was also a chance to restructure supply chains and to take more decisiv...Read More
Chinese lithium producer Tianqi is exploring asset or equity sales, or the possibility of bringing in new domestic or foreign investors, due to continuing problems with liquidity, it has announced.The Shenzhen-listed firm said on Saturday April 18, however, that a final decision had yet to be taken.Earlier in April, the company announced that it expected to report a net loss of 450-510 million yua...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 21 that are worth another look.The lockdowns imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic were offering automotive manufacturers a rare opportunity to take a step back and to re-evaluate their long-term strategies, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group has said.Italian long steel producer Alfa Acciai Group has resum...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were stable day on day on Tuesday April 21, although sentiment in the market remained downbeat, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?445.63 ($484.15) per tonne on Tuesday, up by only ?,?0.63 day on day from ?,?445 per tonne on...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were stable this week, with market activity close to none because of the precautions taken due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 21.No deals or new prices were heard during the week and steel consumption was very slow because of the curfew orders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, sources said.The UAE...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 21 that are worth another look.The lockdowns imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic were offering automotive manufacturers a rare opportunity to take a step back and to re-evaluate their long-term strategies, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group has said.Italian long steel producer Alfa Acciai Group has resum...Read More
Italian long steel producer Alfa Acciai Group has resumed production this week following a month of downtime, sources told Fastmarkets on April 17.Last week Alfa Acciai had resumed steel product deliveries from stock, while this week the company has restarted production, several sources confirmed to Fastmarkets.The company is currently running at "more or less 20%" capacity utilization rate, the s...Read More
Steel billet and rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates remained unchanged over the past week, largely because of the lockdown introduced to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday April 21.The UAE introduced a two-week, 24-hour lockdown on April 4 and extended it for another week starting from April 17.Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has been subject to a&n...Read More
Mexican steel scrap prices decreased in the week ended April 17, with some buyers applying the first round of a series of price cuts planned for the month, and a second group of buyers keeping their prices stable.In Mexico's central Baj?-o region, steelmakers applied price cuts of 200-400 pesos ($8-17) per tonne last week, and have announced a second round of price cuts of 200 pesos per tonne to s...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went through the second working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings and they were expected to remain quiet for the rest of the week, sources said on Tuesday April 21.The mills in the country booked at least seven deep-sea cargoes last week, totaling almost 220,000 tonnes.Market participants believed that those cargoes will be enough to cover mills' urgent needs."I...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped on Tuesday April 21, following the crash in US oil prices, which fell into negative territory late on Monday evening in Singapore for the first time on record, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.37 per tonne, down $3.08 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.96 per tonne, down $3.15 per tonne58% Fe fines...Read More
CIS export slab prices surged in the week to Tuesday April 21 with mills managing to achieve higher levels in recent sales.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $325-330 per tonne on Tuesday, up from $305-320 per tonne a week earlier.Demand for semi-finished steel products in China continued to render support to CIS slab producers. A large cargo of Ru...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices slid further on Tuesday April 21 amid futures losses sparked by an oil market crash in the United States. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,420-3,450 yuan ($483-488) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,430-3,450 yuan per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonne The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell as low as minus...Read More
Steel production outside China could contract by a double-digit percentage in 2020, according to global miner BHP, but output in China may rise slightly in the same period if the country can avoid a second wave of Covid-19 infections. According to the miner, steel makers from a variety of regions, including Europe, the Americas, India and Japan, have announced or signaled full shutdowns or curtail...Read More