South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) has agreed to buy a 4.8% stake in China's Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co for 35 billion Won ($29.72 million), the Chinese battery materials producer said on Friday September 17. In addition, two parties have signed a supply contract for six years, which entails Greatpower supplying a total of 20,000 tonnes of nickel sulfate to th...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 17.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Trading activity in the import pig iron market in the United States slowed in the week ended Friday September 17, while the market remains firm, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $530-540 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week."I have not seen any activity...Read More
Brazilian aluminium smelter Albras expects to double its output of primary foundry alloy (PFA) in 2021 over the volume in 2020, and to reach 10,000 tonnes by the end of the year, the company said on Wednesday September 15.Albras launched PFA products in 2019, and has invested in technology and workforce skill qualification to increase output in each year since then.One of the newest examples, it s...Read More
Domestic steel wire rod prices in Poland were flat in the week to Friday September 17, but buyers were expecting the previous downtrend to resume in October and therefore were holding back from trading, Fastmarkets has heard.The Polish wire rod market was quiet during the assessment week with limited trading, according to sources."Activity is weak. Everyone is waiting for a price reduction," one d...Read More
Brazil-based metals producer Nexa Resources will shift its chain of command next year, with Ignacio Rosado to take the role of chief executive officer, it said on Thursday September 17.Rosado, former CEO at Peruvian miner Volcan, will join the company on November 1 and start the transition to substitute Tito Martins as Nexa's top executive on January 1, 2022.According to the company, Rosado has mo...Read More
Russia's Primorskiy Metallurgical Plant intends to build a steelmaking facility in the country's Far Eastern Primorsky Krai region, with capacity for 1.5 million tonnes per year of heavy steel plate and 250,000 tpy of large diameter pipe (LDP), Fastmarkets has learned.The new facility, scheduled to begin production in 2025, will be built in the territory of Bolshoy Kamen in the south of Primorsky...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME and SHFE were mixed on the morning of Friday September 17, with most remaining listless despite being buffeted by a firmer US dollar, generally weaker economic data and disruption to both production and supply.Broader markets were quiet but firmer heading into the weekend and China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday takes place on Monday and TuesdayBase metalsThree-month b...Read More
Rising freight rates continued to push the import prices for flat-rolled steel products upward in South America in the week ended Friday September 17, despite offers from China remaining scarce and demand slowing down, especially in Brazil.Some market participants reported that freight rates were $20-30 per tonne higher, depending on the port of origin and the product. For coiled material, for exa...Read More
Prices for steel billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States remained firm over past the week, supported by demand from China.Having sold a significant part of their October allocations and even part of their November allocations to China in the week to September 3, CIS mills were mainly in wait-and-see mode and not hurrying to sell their remaining volumes.Rare indications of offers...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland declined again in the week to Friday; buyers expect further price declines and so held back from trading in the week ended September 17, sources told Fastmarkets.Trading activity in Poland's rebar market has been sluggish over the past seven days, with most sources expecting substantial price cuts by domestic mills toward October when the new quota period open...Read More
Base metals price movements on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on Friday September 17 following a week marked by volatility, with copper, nickel and lead down, the last-named having been under selling pressure for most of the past five days.Nickel's three-month price reached $20,245 per tonne on Friday, while its volumes were at their highest since the start of the week, with more than 11,400...Read More
The upward trend in China's domestic rebar prices came to an end on Friday September 17, mainly due to a drop in demand for replenishment stocks, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,580-5,620 yuan ($865-871) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,300-5,340 yuan per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonneEnd-user demand in eastern China was stable on Fr...Read More
Senior executives from 17 companies and industry association European Aluminium have called on the European Commission (EC) to move forward with anti-dumping duties on aluminium flat-rolled products (FRP) imports from China. In a letter sent on Wednesday September 15, the signatories said that planned definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese FRP are balanced, fair and critical to the survival of...Read More
China's nickel pig iron (NPI) prices held steady in the week to Friday September 17 amid nationwide production cuts while those for nickel ore surged amid increased freight and tight supply.Fastmarkets price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China was 1,430-1,450 yuan ($222-225) per nickel unit on Friday, unchanged from a week earlier.Prices have been unchang...Read More
Indian hot rolled coil export prices slumped by $65 per tonne at the top end of the range on Friday September 17, on lower-priced bookings to Vietnam, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil (commodity) export, fob main port India was $840-845 per tonne on Friday, down by $5-65 per...Read More
Coated steel coil prices continued to decline in Turkey in the week to Friday September 17, mainly due to sustained weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Producers in the country reduced their offer prices in the domestic and export markets following a drop in the price of hot-rolled coil - the coated steel substrate.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Tur...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States strengthened to new all-time highs again after market participants judged the upcoming maintenance outages at domestic mills as problematic for short-term spot availability.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US jumped to $109.50 per hundredweight ($2,190 per short ton) on Thursday September 16 f...Read More
Rising freight rates continued to push the import prices for flat-rolled steel products upward in South America in the week ended Friday September 17, despite offers from China remaining scarce and demand slowing down, especially in Brazil.Some market participants reported that freight rates were $20-30 per tonne higher, depending on the port of origin and the product. For coiled material, for exa...Read More
Most futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange were slightly higher in the morning of Friday September 17, with the exception of nickel, following a Thursday session in which most metals declined. "After a volatile day [on Thursday], which saw prices lose ground, the metals were a somewhat dull affair [to start with] this morning. There was some end-of-week short covering early on, which was...Read More