The UK's Insolvency Service has made contact "with more than 80 potential trade purchasers" interested in buying troubled UK long steel producer British Steel, it said on Tuesday May 28.Sixty of the potential bidders have been sent non-disclosure agreements, with official expressions of interest due by early June, the UK's Official Receiver, part of the UK's Insolvency Service, said.British Steel...Read More
China Communications Construction Co (CCCC) plans to build a steel rolling mill by 2023 in Marab??, a city in the Brazilian northern state of Par??, through its local subsidiary Concremat, the company said on Thursday May 23.Iron ore producer Vale will be involved as well, ensuring collateral for the project funding, the miner stated. The unit will need around 1.5 billion Reais ($371 million) in c...Read More
Manganese ore prices have been sliding for seven consecutive weeks and fell to 18-month lows over the past week amid buyer caution in China. 37% and 44% ore hit lowest levels since late 2017Alloy prices flatline across Asia and EuropeFurther price cuts predicted in ores and alloysUS alloy markets dormant Manganese ore prices continued their seven-week slide on Friday May 24 amid increasingly caut...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) went up in the week ended Tuesday May 28 on improved market sentiment.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of HRC was $470-490 per tonne fob Black Sea on May 28. This was up by $10 per tonne week on week."Despite talk about low demand in Turkey, the domestic a...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have continued to book deep-sea scrap for June now that the United States has removed the extra import tariff for the country, sources said on Tuesday May 28.Three steel mills booked a total of 80,500 tonnes of deep-sea cargoes at the end of last week and the beginning of this week.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a UK cargo, comprising 22,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:2...Read More
Revenues at Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest were down in January-March 2019 mainly due to lower sales prices in the metallurgical sector, the company said on Friday May 24.In the first quarter of 2019, Metinvest's consolidated revenues decreased by 5% year-on-year to $2.86 billion, primarily due to the sales prices of steel products and pig iron being on a global downtrend, and to lower resale volu...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 28 that are worth another look.The Chinese government is examining an industry proposal to discard the use of the term "scrap" by officially renaming certain copper scrap products as "recyclable copper raw materials" to reflect the high purity of the furnace-ready feed, sources with direct knowledge of the matter confir...Read More
South32's decision to review the future of its manganese alloy assets comes as little surprise to fellow manganese alloy producers because they are likely to be considering similar options. The review, which could result in the divestment of the assets, reflects a wider predicament affecting alloy producers struggling with historically high ore prices and a subdued market for their own product. So...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has decided on a dispute over when the load-in, load-out (LILO) rule should have been activated, ruling in favor of warehouse company Istim. People familiar with the situation said that the warehousing firm had been found to have acted vigorously and without delay in its dealings with Glencore at its warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, following large cancellations of alu...Read More
The temporary truce on tariffs between China and the United States could be over, injecting a new round of uncertainty into the global financial markets and suspending hopes that a resolution to the countries' trade impasse was likely.US President Donald Trump has threatened to raise the tariff on $200 billion-worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% by Friday May 10. He also said that the US may...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price continued its decline to fall 1.9% since the close on Friday May 24 to end the afternoon kerb at $12,120 per tonne on Tuesday May 28.The LME three-month nickel price surged by 4% to a kerb close of $12,355 per tonne on May 24 with a spate of short covering in anticipation of the UK and US bank holidays on May 27 driving the price up to a $12,450-p...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market showed some signs of weakness on Tuesday May 28, with supply outpacing demand in the fob Australia premium segment, even though prices for China-bound cargoes appeared to hold up.A July-laycan cargo of second-tier hard coking coal was traded at $197.05 per tonne cfr China. The transaction is part of a term contract, according to various sources.This is down $0.95 pe...Read More
Chinese mills lowered their export offers for hot-rolled coil on Tuesday May 28 to generate interest after a recent lack of activity in the market, both at home and abroad.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,000 yuan ($578-580) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,900-3,910 yuan per tonne, unchangedA Hangzhou-based trader said trading activity remained thin during...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price continued its decline to fall 1.9% since the close on Friday May 24 to end the afternoon kerb at $12,120 per tonne on Tuesday May 28.The LME three-month nickel price surged by 4% to a kerb close of $12,355 per tonne on May 24 with a spate of short covering in anticipation of the UK and US bank holidays on May 27 driving the price up to a $12,450-p...Read More
CIS export rebar and wire rod prices increased at the end of May, supported by fresh bookings at higher levels, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 28. They said positive sentiment in the market, driven by the reduction in duties on Turkish steel in the United States, had led to the resumption in buying activity.Several cargoes of June-rolling Ukrainian rebar were sold to E...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 28 that are worth another look.The Chinese government is examining an industry proposal to discard the use of the term "scrap" by officially renaming certain copper scrap products as "recyclable copper raw materials" to reflect the high purity of the furnace-ready feed, sources with direct knowledge of the matter confir...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday May 28. Please click...Read More
European lead and zinc smelter Recylex has again been granted a reprieve from debtors regarding repayments of loans its German subgroup took out to finance asset investment, but will also be on the hook for a ?,?26.7 million ($29.9 million) fine from the European Union, the company said on May 24.A group of German banks loaned Recylex's German subgroup, which includes zinc-oxide manufacturers Norz...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to move the weekly publication day of five price assessments - two nickel pig iron (NPI) prices, two laterite nickel ore prices and one nickel sulfate price - from Tuesday to Friday.The proposed specifications are listed in full below:Assessment: Laterite nickel ore 1.8% cif China $/tonne Quality: Loose mud. 1.8% Ni, 15-20% Fe, Water content 30-35%, Si:Mg ratio <2Quantity:...Read More
Auroch Minerals has signed a binding agreement with fellow Australian miner Minotaur Exploration to acquire its Western Australian Saints and Leinster nickel sulfide deposits for A$1.5 million ($1.03 million), Fastmarkets learned on Tuesday May 28.The Saints deposit houses 1.05 million tonnes of unexploited 2% nickel-containing ore while the smaller Leinster deposit comprises 600,000 tonnes of une...Read More