Fastmarkets rounds up the key discussion points on lithium battery chemistries, sustainability and ESG from its Lithium 2021 conference that took place over September 20-22.Lithium price spikes key to chemistriesThe price of lithium will be key in determining battery chemistries, according to market participants. Sustained high prices would cause use to shrink, although few expect lithium to be re...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More
Poland's steel wire rod producers decreased their offers for October due to weak buying activity and cheaper imports, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers from local producers for October material were heard at 3,800-3,900 zloty ($953-978) per tonne delivered, down sharply from the initial September rolling offers of 4,100-4,230 zloty per tonne.The domestic wire rod market has been downbeat in Septembe...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More
Base metals prices were down on the morning of Friday October 1, extending the weakness that started to accelerate on Thursday, when the LME base metals closed down by an average of 2.3%, with tin dropping by 6.2%. The weakness was broad based with equities retreating, too. Asia-Pacific equities weaker this morning.Gold and the yen rallied on Thursday, and US treasury yields are weaker this mornin...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Buyers in the Philippines are being asked to bid higher to secure steel billet cargoes due to limited supply available to the Philippine market, sources told Fastmarkets.In China's latest round of buying in the week to October 1, the steelmaking behemoth took in material from Russia, Turkey and Indonesia, among others. Total purchases of import billet to China since September 6 have now reached ar...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 1.ChinaHebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) hiked its October tender price for silico-manganese to 12,800 yuan ($1,979) per tonne, up by 4,150 yuan per tonne (48%) from that for September-delivery.The sharp increase was attributed to lingering production restrictions among smelters caused by the...Read More
Rising demand led to higher ferrous scrap prices for material imported into Turkey in the week to Friday October 1, while prices in most other markets were comparatively lackluster. Turkish mills were increasingly active in the market over the week, leading to an uptick in regional import prices United States sellers were able to sell at higher levels amid an increased appetite for scrap in Turkey...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 1.ChinaHebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) hiked its October tender price for silico-manganese to 12,800 yuan ($1,979) per tonne, up by 4,150 yuan per tonne (48%) from that for September-delivery.The sharp increase was attributed to lingering production restrictions among smelters caused by the...Read More
Rising demand led to higher ferrous scrap prices for material imported into Turkey in the week to Friday October 1, while prices in most other markets were comparatively lackluster. Turkish mills were increasingly active in the market over the week, leading to an uptick in regional import prices United States sellers were able to sell at higher levels amid an increased appetite for scrap in Turkey...Read More
Demand for low-carbon aluminium units in Europe remains strong, especially for value-added products (VAP), market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product (VAP), Europe at $20-30 per tonne on Friday October 1, up from $15-25 per tonne on September 3.Market participants noted a clear gap between different VAP un...Read More
The suspension of activity in the vicinity of the Xingu dam in Vale's Mariana iron ore complex has been partially revoked, allowing the associated railway to resume activities, the Brazilian company said on Thursday September 30.The Regional Labor Superintendence (SRT) had issued an order to partly reverse the suspension of operations to allow the resumption of transportation along the Vit??ria-Mi...Read More
Tata Steel officially separated its operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on Friday October 1 after an agreement was reached a day earlier, the company said.Under the new structure, Tata Steel Europe will no longer exist as an operational organization; Tata Steel Netherlands and Tata Steel UK will operate as two independent companies.Tata Steel started national-level consultations t...Read More
The purchase of NatSteel Holdings in Singapore by trader Toptip Holding from India's Tata Steel could result in the city state exporting rebar to China eventually, market sources told Fastmarkets this week."This is due to the production cuts in China, which could result in further steel shortages in the future," a trader in Singapore told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.Toptip Holding purchased 10...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More