Progress at Mauritius-based Alphamin Resources' Bisie tin mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led the company to alter its leadership structure, with the project now a step closer to full production after the conclusion of its commissioning phase.Alphamin's chief executive officer, Boris Kamstra, stepped down after four years in the role earlier this week, making way for the appointment o...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Friday August 16, though trading activity increased slightly. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,670-3,700 yuan ($521-525) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,610-3,630 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures picked up earlier in the day, which stimulated buying interest in the spot market. The benchmark rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in China, Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday August 16. Europe The high carbon ferro-chrome price dropped by 4.4% in the past week due to lower offer prices with one deal reported being done at $0.71 per lb for 350 tonnes. European industry sources generally put prices in the upper 0.70 cents per lb range, although there wer...Read More
Compagnie de Tifnout Tiranimine (CTT) cut cobalt production at its operations in Morocco at the beginning of the August and will continue to operate at a lower rate in September as a result of low cobalt prices. Production will be reduced by 40-50% in August and September. In addition, there will be a full 10-day closure for maintenance in September, Fastmarkets understands. Production was initial...Read More
Progress at Mauritius-based Alphamin Resources' Bisie tin mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led the company to alter its leadership structure, with the project now a step closer to full production after the conclusion of its commissioning phase.Alphamin's chief executive officer, Boris Kamstra, stepped down after four years in the role earlier this week, making way for the appointment o...Read More
Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama rose by 2.9% month on month in July, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp on Friday August 16. Total aluminium stocks at the three ports totaled 308,800 tonnes at the end of July compared with 300,000 tonnes at the end of June. It is the second consecutive monthly incre...Read More
Deliverable zinc stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell to 73,857 tonnes on Friday August 16, a drop of 5,585 tonnes or 7% from a week earlier, according to the SHFE's latest inventory report.The outflows came mainly from the warehouses of Zhongjinshengyuan and Nanchu in the southeast province of Guangdong, with 2,977 tonnes and 2,579 tonnes respectively, while 1,842 tonnes w...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was little moved during morning trading on Friday August 16, with its price action largely unfazed by another fresh inflow of some 31,000 tonnes, while nickel futures held gains above $16,100 per tonne. The red metal's three-month price was recently trading around $5,752.50 per tonne, mostly unchanged from its Thursday closing price of $5,7...Read More
Against the background of heavy economic and geopolitical clouds, markets are getting some lift on Friday August 16, presumably since they have absorbed all the latest gloomy news on global economy, trade, the unrest in Hong Kong and debt default concerns in Argentina. Gold, the yen and US and German government bonds, remain in high demand, which highlight the cautionary stance investors hold and...Read More
China's domestic alumina market recovered slightly this week after producers raised their offer prices amid production cuts across the country, but the upward momentum will be difficult to sustain over the long term, Huatai Futures aluminium analyst Li Shuheng told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 15."Fundamentally, there is no support for the uptrend of [alumina prices in China] over a long period...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil remained unchanged this week, while some market participants reported buying demand has started to revive.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, again held at $425-435 per tonne on August 16, stable from the previous week.There were consultations to buy slab from buyers in Europe, and also in...Read More
After rising for four consecutive weeks, prices for cold-rolled coil and coated steel in the United States were unchanged in the week to Thursday August 15, although market sentiment remained mostly positive, according to sources.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, at $38 per hundredweight ($760 per short ton) on August 15.Fastmarkets' price assessments for&...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have moved up over the past week supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was 2,150-2,200 zloty ($547-559) per tonne on August 16, compared with 2,150-2,170 zloty per tonne...Read More
Prices for steel billet in the Black Sea export market continued to soften in the week ended Friday August 16 under pressure from a lack of trading activity due to holiday absences in most sales outlets as well as weaker raw materials prices.Buying activity was low in the Middle East and North Africa due to the Islamic Eid al Adha holiday, which ended on Wednesday.Turkish customers showed some int...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were stable over the week ended Friday August 16, with the market slow because of the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkey was on eid holiday on August 12-14, and the market was stable over the other two working days of the week.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was poor over the p...Read More
Turkish export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) decreased over the week ended Friday August 16 while the prices for other flat-steel products were stable because of the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkey was on eid holiday on August 12-14, and the market remained steady over the other working days of the week.Some market participants believed that prices could fall in t...Read More
Turkish steel producers believe that their market has become a 'backyard' for European steel firms, they told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 15.This was demonstrated by trade data which showed that Turkey's flat steel sector has returned to deficit in terms of the trade with EU countries, they said. This unbalanced relationship has long been the traditional market position, they added.The table be...Read More
Brazil's pig iron export market remains inactive but is still more attractive for suppliers than the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil was at $325 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Offers from mills were heard at $325-330 per tonne fob, including financing costs,...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has decided to temporarily halt part of the operations of subsidiary Ferrous Resources due to the absence of licensing documents.This will reduce its output of iron ore by around 330,000 tonnes per month, the company said late on Thursday August 15.The annualized effect of the stoppage has been calculated as being equivalent to 3.96 million tonnes per year.The South American c...Read More
The import pig iron market in the United States was muted during the week ended Friday August 16 with buyers in wait-and-see mode, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was unchanged at $365-368 per tonne on Friday, reflecting the level of the latest deals heard in the market in late July."The [market] level remains $365 [per tonn...Read More