Asia appears to be setting the trend in the global ferrous scrap market, with prices in Taiwan and Vietnam falling steadily since the start of the year before those in Turkey plunged toward the end of this week.VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $290-295 per tonne cfr on Friday January 17, down by $5-10 per tonne from last F...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices inched down on Friday January 17 because some participants in China have begun their Lunar New Year break early while others were holding off to consider the impact of import restrictions at the country's ports, talks of which surfaced this week. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.07 per tonne, down $2.19 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr...Read More
Traders reported a spike in interest for China-origin hot-rolled coil in the export market on Friday January 17 amid limited offers from mills ahead of the Chinese New Year break next week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,880 yuan ($561-564) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,590 yuan per tonne, unchangedPrices were unchanged with sellers keeping offers stable amid the pre-h...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange rose by 1% during morning trading on Friday January 17, holding above the $2,400 per tonne mark after breaching the mark earlier in the week. The outright LME zinc price was recently at $2,423 per tonne, while trading volumes were high at more than 2,100 lots exchanged as of 9:15am London time. Despite buying activity, the benchmark cash/thre...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices remained flat on Friday January 17 amid inactivity, though the futures market gained some strength following the release of economic data for 2019.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,640-3,670 yuan ($529-533) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, unchangedChina's domestic gross product grew by 6.1% last year, the country's National Bureau o...Read More
Deliverable lead stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses plunged by 32.3% in the week to Friday January 17 after restocking demand from downstream plants ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays (January 24-30) continued over the period.At 28,306 tonnes on Friday, SHFE lead stocks are down by 13,494 tonnes from the 41,800 tonnes recorded a week earlier.Zhejiang Tianchuan in eastern C...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Hoshine Silicon, the largest industrial silicon manufacturer in China, will build an 800,000-tpy organosilicon monomer and siloxane deep processing project in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, with a total investment of 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion), the Zhaotong Municipal Government said in late December.The company signed a strategic cooperation frame agreement with Yunnan provincial government on Dec...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday January 17. China Spot domestic ferro-chrome held amid low spot market activity prior to the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-30). The charge chrome market was stable with no activity expected before...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday January 16, falling by more than 3.5% to settle below nearby resistance, while a steady upswing in tin's outright price saw it close at a six-month high.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,775 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, losing more than $650 per tonne from an intraday high of...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday January 16, with price action breaking past the $2,000-per-tonne resistance level against strong volumes, while zinc futures followed higher. Lead's outright price on the LME was recently at $2,026.50 per tonne, while morning trading volumes were high with over 2,100 lots exchanged as of 9:30am Lo...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
South32 has maintained its production guidance for its Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters for its 2020 financial year, despite the first half being affected by South African power outages. Aluminium At Hillside, aluminium saleable production increased by 1% to 362,000 tonnes in the first half of South32's financial year ended December 31, 2019, attributed to the smelter continuing to test...Read More
A preliminary trade agreement between the United States and China has done little to change the outlook for industrial minerals and minor metals, with no sign of a reversal for tariffs on Chinese material and no firm commitments on Chinese purchases. The US has agreed to pause new tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for China signing a deal containing a number of commitments, including $200 billi...Read More
Copper production at the Deziwa copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially come online in January 2020, following successful trial operations in December 2019, sources told Fastmarkets this week. And the project is expected to start production of cobalt in late first quarter, they added. Deziwa is operated by Soci?(C)t?(C) Minere de Deziwa (Somdez), a j...Read More
UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers have added a further round of price increases for the latest monthly settlements to be delivered in January, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 16.January contracts were up by ?10 ($13) per tonne, the latest step in a climb of ?35 per tonne over three months, after increasing by a similar amount last month and by ?15 per tonne in Novem...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have tumbled with news of a fresh sale heard after negative signs emerged in the United States' export markets, sources said on Thursday January 16.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, which would put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $288 per tonne.The previous US cargo sold into Turkey was boo...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More