The United States Department of Commerce will impose preliminary anti-dumping duties of 37.65% and 43.73% on imports of China-made steel wheels in diameters of 12.0-16.5 inches, it has announced.Commerce will instruct the US Customs and Border Protection agency to collect this money as a deposit from importers, it said. These fees will be refunded if final assessments conclude that the exports hav...Read More
The number of new passenger car registrations in the EU decreased by 3.93% year-on-year in March 2019.This made it the seventh consecutive month of decline, the European Automotive Manufacturers Assn (ACEA) said on Wednesday April 17.New car sales in Europe totalled 1,722,442 units in March 2019, down from 1,792,880 vehicles sold in the corresponding month of 2018."Demand decreased in all the majo...Read More
BHP has lowered its iron ore production guidance and raised costs expectations for the 2019 financial year amid disruption to operations caused by a cyclone that hit the west coast of Australia last month.The miner expects its iron ore operations to produce 265-270 million tonnes (at 100% basis) in the 2019 financial year, down 4.6% from its earlier estimate of around 273-283 million tonnes. The l...Read More
A court decision has paved the way for Vale to completely resume operations at its 30-million-tonnes-per-year Brucutu mine, in Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais.But the miner - the world's biggest iron ore producer - is maintaining its sales guidance for the steelmaking raw material despite this latest development, due to bad weather affecting production at its Northern System."The Minas...Read More
The state court of Minas Gerais (TJMG), in Brazil's southeastern region, partially suspended on Tuesday April 16 a previous injunction that was keeping Vale's Brucutu iron ore mine halted.The decision came after a request from the municipality of S??o Gon??alo do Rio Baixo, where the mine is located.The Brazilian miner shouldn't be prohibited from running the operations, as that could "severely hu...Read More
The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, Vietnam and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price assessments, please follow the links below: China - APT, fob China- Ferro-tungsten, fob China Europe - APT, cif Rotterdam- Ferro-tungsten, in-warehou...Read More
The outlook for domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe remained negative, although they have been largely stable in the week ended Wednesday April 17, sources have told Fastmarkets.Domestic HRC prices in Europe have been under pressure from limited trading activity and they were expected to gradually decline, according to market participants."The market is showing a trend in a negativ...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange climbed above $6,600 per tonne at the close of trading on Wednesday April 17, buoyed by strong GDP figures out of China while a softer dollar index below the psychological level of 97 supported afternoon buying.Volumes traded in the red metal reached their highest level since March 22 over the day, with more than 24,000 lots changing hands by...Read More
Chinese nickel premiums strengthened on Tuesday April 16 due to optimism that the import window will open, while the European nickel briquette premium softened on bearish sentiment. Chinese premiums strengthen ahead of import window opening European briquette premium slides on bearish sentiment US premiums hold firm, retain previous gains Chinese premiums rise to meet import window open...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 17 that are worth another look.Precious metals prices would support zinc and lead mining even if the global markets crashed, including those for base metals, panelists said at Fastmarkets' International Lead & Zinc Conference in London on Tuesday April 16. Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange...Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, when market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. Normally volatile low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, after which market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. F...Read More
When the London Metal Exchange amended its policies related to its physical delivery network a few years ago, it overlooked one key thing. The issue centers on LME's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule, which operates by linking the amount of metal a warehouse loads in to the amount it is obligated to load out for warehouses that have queues of over 50 days.The rule changes were part of package of...Read More
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More
Chinese vanadium prices have dropped significantly since this year's week-long Lunar New Year holiday (February 4-10) amid falling international prices and weak demand in both the domestic and international markets.For example, Fastmarkets assessed the export price for ferro-vanadium, min 78%, fob China, at $50-54 per kg on Thursday April 11, which is down by around 28.5% from $70.50-75 per kg on...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange climbed above $6,600 per tonne at the close of trading on Wednesday April 17, buoyed by strong GDP figures out of China while a softer dollar index below the psychological level of 97 supported afternoon buying.Volumes traded in the red metal reached their highest level since March 22 over the day, with more than 24,000 lots changing hands by...Read More
The lead price could rebound above $2,000 per tonne and even touch $2,100 per tonne in the next six months because it is oversold and supply and demand conditions remain tight this year, Macquarie bank said on Tuesday April 16. "The recent decline in the lead price is overdone and was on the back of a large re-warranting in Asia rather than a change in fundamentals," Macquarie metals strategist Vi...Read More
The Comex copper market jumped up in US morning trading on Wednesday April 17 amid positive reaction to a combination of better-than-expected Chinese economic news and a softer dollar.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange surged 5.95 cents to $2.99 per lb. At last glance, the dollar index was at 96.95, down 0.16% and just below the psychologi...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More