Fortis Group has appointed Sebastian Voigt as its chief executive officer, replacing Kris Guns, who held the position at the minor metals and chemicals company since 2014.Voigt is moving into the role of CEO, "in order to drive sales activities both externally and internally," the company said in a release on January 21, and will remain in close cooperation...Read More
Broader markets rebounded in Asia on Wednesday January 22, after Tuesday’s coronavirus scare, but the metals look fairly limp ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday - especially copper that also saw London Metal Exchange stocks rise by 33% yesterday.Asian equities are firmer led by a 1.2% rise in the Hang Seng. European equities open firmer too - suggesting virus scare may not be a headwind...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at U.S.76.68 cents following release of Canada's December Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was unchanged versus a decline of 0.1% in November. Actual was unchanged.IBM added $6.70 to $145.01 after reporting higher than consensus fo...Read More
* Copper registers biggest one-day loss since Oct. 31 * Investors scramble to shed copper longs (Updates with closing prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Copper prices slumped on Tuesdayas investors liquidated recent bullish positions over fears thata new strain of coronavirus in China could hit economic growthin the world's top metals consumer. The metal often used as a gauge of eco...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday January 20, back above the $14,000 per tonne threshold against the lowest turnover since December 24 last year.In contrast, lead futures edged lower against a similar absence of liquidity.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $14,025 per tonne on Monday afternoon, back above nearby resista...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange climbed by 0.5% during morning trading on Monday January 20, briefly breaching the $2,000 per tonne mark, while continued inflows of nickel have prompted minimal price reaction. Lead's outright price on the LME rose above $2,000 per tonne during morning trading before dipping back below the key resistance level to $1,985 per tonne. Trading vo...Read More
Samancor Chrome has provisionally decided to restructure its mining and smelting operations in a move that will reduce staff and production levels due to the deteriorating chrome markets and rising power costs, Fastmarkets has learned. South Africa's largest ferro-chrome producer wrote to employees and unions on Friday January 17, in letters seen by Fastmarkets, warning that it had made the provis...Read More
UG2 chrome ore prices continued to rise in the week to Friday January 17 after sellers reported higher bids due to a stronger yuan and market sources are eyeing stronger demand after the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-30). Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China edged up by $1 or 0.7% to $136 per tonne on Friday from $135 per tonne in the previous wee...Read More
Fastmarkets will host a free web seminar on Wednesday February 26 at 10am London time, to discuss the current trends for alumina and the evolution of its pricing.Benchmark alumina prices have been static below $280 per tonne for the past month, with Chinese demand underpinning the market. Register here to join the webinar. Date Wednesday February 26, 2020Time 10am London timeJoin our market expert...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday January 17.ChinaKey drivers The price of antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, gained some upward momentum in the latest assessment period, ending Wednesday January 15, after many suppliers raised their offer prices amid a growing number of inquiries.Several antimony consumers, who had maintained low inventorie...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world for the week ended January 17.ChinaKey drivers Export price for silicon increased by 1.3% week on week amid higher offer prices in the market.Overseas inquiries picked up. Exporters, on average, raised their prices by $20-30 per tonne given the appreciation of the yuan and tight spot supply. There were no deals...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet at the beginning of the week, following the sharp price decline that was seen late last week, sources said on Monday January 20.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo of 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $295 per tonne cfr late on January 15.This would have put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $288 per tonne, compared with a previou...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the global markets continued to weaken during the week ended Friday January 17, following the sharp decline in the Turkish market.Turkish prices decline sharply with fresh US tradeUnited States East Coast prices down; West Coast to followPrices in Taiwan and Vietnam fall steadily on soft demandInternational downturn drags down Indian pricesTurkeyPrices for ferrous scrap imp...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
Broader markets were generally firmer but quiet on Monday January 20, with equities in Asia mainly stronger, as were the base metals, while gold was holding up in high ground.Equities in Asia are consolidating recent gains, but multi-year highs in many regional equity indices suggests sentiment is bullish overall. Markets quiet ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, which start on Friday in China....Read More
Argentinian lithium miner Orocobre has signed two contracts for lithium sales linked to a pricing mechanism for delivery over the next three years.The contracts, for the supply a combined 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate to two Chinese cathode manufacturers, follow a trend of companies looking at pricing mechanisms to hedge their risk against price volatility.Lithium carbonate prices have gone d...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have increased with support from good demand and a lack of competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday January 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, rose to ?,?449.48 ($498.39) per tonne on January 20, up by ?,?5.70 per tonne from ?,?443.78 per tonne on January 17.The index was...Read More
China's steel refining and rerolling industry's capacity utilization rate was 80.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019, above the national industrial average of 77.5%, according to figures from the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Friday January 17.The country's industrial capacity utilization rate of 77.5% was 1.5 percentage points higher than the corresponding period a year e...Read More
Prices in Asia's hot-rolled coil market are poised for more upticks immediately after the Lunar New Year holiday, according to industry sources."There is a sense of tightness in HRC supply in Asia, especially with fewer cargoes heading to the region from March and April," a source at a major re-roller in Vietnam said.This is largely due to an expected decrease in shipments from Indian steelmakers...Read More