Trading activity in eastern China's hot-rolled coil market rose to moderate levels on Thursday July 11 after sellers cut prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,880 yuan ($561-564) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,840 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading in Shanghai was robust in the morning when traders set prices at 3,860-3,870 yuan per tonne.But once pr...Read More
China's rebar prices held steady on Thursday July 11 amid a drop in both supply and demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,980-4,000 yuan ($578-581) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,910 yuan per tonne, unchangedA total of 3.76 million tonnes of rebar were produced during the week to Thursday, down 21,000 tonnes from the preceding week, according to a local industry inform...Read More
Chinese stainless steelmaker Tsingshan Holding Group has completed the construction of its 600,000-tonnes-per-year cold-rolling mill in India and is currently putting it through its final stage of testing.The steelmaker has plans for another two phases of expansion for the mill, which...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China moved down slightly over the past week amid low buying interest. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic, ex-whs China in the country's major market of Wuxi was 14,100-14,500 yuan ($2,049-2,107) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday July 10, down 100 yuan per tonne from a week earl...Read More
China's trade surplus with the United States in the first half of 2019 has increased as imports from the US have fallen by 25.7%, stoking fears thatPresident Trump will harden his position in trade talks with China. In his speech to Senate Banking Committee, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell maintain a dovish stance and stated that the US economy is in a very good place but faced...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 7 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged after the June Producer Price Index was released at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.1% versus a gain of 0.1% in May. Actual was an increase of 0.1%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the June Producer Price Index was an increase of...Read More
Nickel closed around 2% higher on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday July 10 after peaking at intraday high above $13,000 per tonne, its highest since April. The three-month price bottomed out at $12,710 per tonne before it reversed higher, breaking past key resistance levels to breach $13,000 per tonne. It closed just short of the mark at $12,990 per tonne. More than 10,000 lots of nickel cha...Read More
Bosnian aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar has shut down after years of financial struggle. Market sources cited issues with the smelter's debt as causing the plant to shut. The smelter's power was cut off around midnight on Wednesday July 10, local media outlet Klix reported. Nermin D? 3/4 indic, federal minister of energy, mining and industry, told local media a request for the smelter's bankrupt...Read More
Tin premiums in Europe, North America and Asia were stable over the week to Tuesday July 9, with European market participants questioning a further downside move from its lowest level since November 2018, and US and Chinese premiums holding firm against lagging demand. Global premiums static in quiet trading conditions. European market remains at November 2018 low, with downside bias. ...Read More
Peru has given Southern Copper the construction authorization it needed for the T?-a Mar?-a copper project to go ahead, the company and the Peruvian authorities said on Tuesday July 9.The mining company, which already has operations in Peru and in Mexico, has waited for eight years to get the permit for the project, which will exploit two deposits: La Tapada and T?-a Mar?-a. It is expected to prod...Read More
Central Asia Metals is well placed to hit its output targets for 2019, after meeting expectations for copper, zinc and lead output in the first half of the year, the company said on Wednesday July 10. During the six-month period, the company produced 6,594 tonnes of copper, 11,517 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and 14,357 tonnes of lead in concentrate, the company said. Central Asia Metals' guidanc...Read More
Copper-zinc miner Hudbay has appointed former Nevsun chief executive Peter Kukielski its interim chief executive officer after longstanding executive Alan Hair stood down from the post.Hair had been president and CEO of the company since 2016, having been at Hudbay for more than...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Turkish steel producers paused their deep-sea scrap bookings again to take in the latest downturn in steel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.After a steel mill in the Iskenderun region paid $288 per tonne cfr for UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), on Tuesday July 9, the daily scrap indices went down by $14.78 per tonne.The drop was...Read More
The Chinese central government has toned down its ambitious plan to ban all solid waste imports, including metal scrap, by the end of 2020 in its recently proposed revisions to the regulation on solid waste management. The country's National People's Congress announced on July 5 a proposed revision to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollutio...Read More
In a rare move, Japan has started selling steel billet to Southeast Asia amid diving scrap prices in the country's domestic market.Steel mills in the Tokyo area have started channeling shipments of the semi-finished product to Southeast Asia, where buyers are prepared to pay higher prices than Japanese re-rollers, market sources said.While the sale of Japanese billet to Southeast Asia is not unpre...Read More
Market participants seem to be waiting for something to provide direction and that impetus is likely to come from the testimony of the United States Federal Reserve chairman later today.Market participants are counting on Fed chairman Jerome Powell to remain accommodating when testifying to Congress, with high odds that the 'insurance cut' of 25 basis points will be implemented in its July Federal...Read More
Australia's Pilbara Minerals expects production and sales of lithium spodumene concentrate to return to full capacity in the fourth quarter of 2019 and has secured a new offtake agreement with the Chinese Great Wall Motor Co. The company made the announcement on Tuesday July 9 after discussions with offtake partners Ganfeng Lithium and General Lithium. On June 17, Pilbara Minerals said it would re...Read More
Australian lithium spodumene producer Altura Mining has finalized a binding five-year offtake agreement with Chinese lithium carbonate and hydroxide converter Shandong Ruifu.Altura will supply Shandong Ruifu with a minimum of 35,000 tonnes per year of 6% lithium spodumene concentrate, produced from its lithium mine at Pilgangoora in Western Australia, for a period of five years from July 2019 unti...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe have decreased over the past week due to poor demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.Buying activity has continued, however, but subject to limited demand from end-users and sufficient stocks held by buyers."Market activity is almost non-existent, and the situation is not going to change because in August the mills will go o...Read More