An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
A US District Court's decision to block Hudbay Minerals' Rosemont project, a proposed open-pit copper mine in southern Arizona, overshadowed the company's second-quarter earnings results, executives said in a conference call on Friday August 9."We are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the decision, which appears to overturn decades of settled mining law in the United States," Hudbay interim ch...Read More
Zinc's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 3% at the close of trading on Friday August 9, dropping its lowest price September 2016, while nickel futures held at newly elevated levels despite a 1.6% decline (over the day?). Turnover across the exchange was fairly light over the day's trading, with nickel volumes leading the complex at just over 10,500 lots exchanged by the close....Read More
Treatment and refining charges for spot copper concentrates trended lower still early in August, with traders placing sharp bids on tendered cargoes and smelters amid continued port disruptions in Peru.The Fastmarkets copper concentrate TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific dropped to $49.8 per tonne/ 4.98 cents per lb on August 9 from $50.4/5.04 cents a week ago. The latest value is another record l...Read More
The Chinese zinc industry has been asked to offer responses by mid-September to a government proposal on stricter import thresholds for zinc concentrate despite strong opposition. Under the current standards for zinc, in place since 2006, imported concentrates may contain a maximum of 0.6% arsenic, 0.3% cadmium and 0.06% mercury, according to the Ministry of Finance. The consultation document, iss...Read More
The Chinese domestic alumina price hit a fresh low on Thursday August 8 after falling for 13 consecutive weeks as a result of weaker domestic demand and an oversupplied market. Fastmarkets assessed the price of alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China at 2,380-2,450 yuan ($337-347) per tonne on Thursday, down 22.72% from the May peak of 3,050-3,200 yuan per tonne. Some market participants reported h...Read More
China launched a consultation paper on Friday August 9 to implement a stricter arsenic threshold on copper concentrates imports, a move that could lead to drastic changes in global trade flow of high-impurity concentrates and a further premium on treatment charges of clean concentrates. Under the proposed thresholds, the maximum content for imports would be 0.4% arsenic, 4.7% lead, 0.06% fluorine,...Read More
Fastmarkets MB has corrected its weekly price assessment for domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel in Eastern China, which was published incorrectly on Friday August 9 due to an input error.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was originally published at 430-4,580 yuan per tonne. This has now been corrected to 4,530-4,580 yuan per...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have increased over the past week, supported by an anticipated increase in ferrous scrap costs and solid demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,150-2,170 zloty ($557-562) per tonne on August 9, compared with 2,100-2,120 zloty per tonne a week earlier.The...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil decreased over the week ended Friday August 9, with demand reported to be weak in both the local and export markets.Domestic Turkish coated coil producers began to offer discounts amid the slow market activity.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was poor over the pricing week due to the summer holiday season...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) decreased over the week ended Friday August 9 due to the regular summer slowdown and the Eid al-Adha religious holiday next week, sources told Fastmarkets.HRC exportsTurkey's export price for HRC decreased with lower offers, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob main port Turkey, was $490-495...Read More
Reduced volumes of Chinese-produced steel have been going into the country's export markets throughout 2019 so far. So why is it that steel product prices remain under pressure in other global markets?According to China's General Administration of Customs, in July 2019 the East Asian country exported 5.57 million tonnes of steel, including both semi-finished and finished material. This was down ye...Read More
UK alloy steel scrap prices have increased over the past week due to rises in nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.The price of nickel, 3 months, London Metal Exchange Daily Official, was $15,675-15,680 per tonne on August 9, up from $14,520-14,525 per tonne on August 2.Following a...Read More
The export market for pig iron from Brazil was muted this week because suppliers were sold out for September, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was $325 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.Offers from mills were heard at $320-325 per tonne net to producer, or about $325-330 per tonne fob including...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron scrap was stable over the week to Friday August 9, extending the steady trend into a seventh week, with prices supported by major steel scrap shredders competing for business amid relatively tight availability, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant,...Read More
Turkish steel mills's were scarcely active in the scrap market this week before next week's Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources said on Friday August 9.There was only one deep-sea cargo traded this week, which was sold out of the United States on Wednesday at an average price of $294 per tonne cfr for 20,000 tonnes of shredded and 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10).Apart...Read More
The import markets for shredded and HMS-grade ferrous scrap imported into India have fallen to new annual lows this week because of poor demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $305.17 per tonne on August 9, down from $308.75 per tonne on August 2. The index was at a 2019 year-to-...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Friday August 9, with turnover predominantly low across the complex while continued buying momentum in lead this week tightened nearby spreads. Despite a 0.4% downturn this morning, the three-month nickel price held onto gains made earlier in the week, coming down from a 16-month high of $16,69...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during morning trading on Friday August 9 as the Chinese yuan stabilized, with nickel continuing to push higher amid bullish sentiment. "The markets have regained some semblance of composure after the People's Bank of China's countercyclical efforts temporarily tamed the yuan beast, but this probably won't stop traders from p...Read More
Key data from the Friday August 9 pricing session in London:Key drivers Manganese flake down with lower offers accepted in Rotterdam; the loss in value of the yuan and macroeconomic uncertainty boosted China's exports at competitive prices, with some flake producers and traders in China rapidly offsetting their cargoes before material could lose value. Material for shipment has dropped sharply dow...Read More