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
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. David Stein, who manages the Aerecura Capital fund and invests directly in mines, said base metal prices including zinc and lead could fall in a wider rout of the markets. Du...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday April 17:Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $7,000-7,300 per tonne from $6,900-7,200Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $3.40-3.80 per lb from $3.30-3.80Cobalt MB free...Read More
A summary of BHP's production results for its financial third quarter ended March 31, 2019.In brief BHP owns a 57.5% stake in the Escondida copper asset, 33.8% in Antamina, and 100% of Pampa Norte and Olympic Dam. The company's wholly-owned Spence Growth Option project in Chile, a new 95,000 tonne-per-day concentrator, is expected to increase its copper in concentrates production by approxima...Read More
Fastmarkets' battery raw materials team summarizes eight key takeaways from last week's Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai. Cobalt's upside is limited without China on board: While market participants at last week's MMTA conference in Edinburgh were enjoying cobalt having found its floor and the resultant round of restocking, delegates in Shanghai were more concerned about whether Chine...Read More
Ferro-silicon prices in the Chinese domestic market held steady last week despite elevated April tender prices from steel mills, while export offers in the country sank due to an influx of imported material into Asian markets. Meanwhile, US ferro-silicon prices softened slightly amid low levels of spot activity. Chinese domestic ferro-silicon prices stable despite higher April mill tender prices C...Read More
The price range for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe has remained unchanged week-on-week ahead of the Easter holidays, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe was ?,?535-550 ($604-621) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, unchanged from April 10. "We expect the price to remain stable over the we...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday April 17:Titanium scrapTurnings, unprocessed type 90/6/4, 0.5% Sn max: $1.15-1.20 per...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 4 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for release of the redacted version of the Mueller report at 9:30 AM EDT.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was an increase to 205,000 from 196,000 last week. Actual was 192,00...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday April 16.Please click...Read More
Fastmarkets research led a bullish charge on the London Metal Exchange lead cash price, projecting it to rise as high as $2,200 per tonne in the fourth quarter of 2019 at the International Lead & Zinc Conference on Tuesday April 16, 2019.Despite waning demand for the heavy metal in the face of ecological concerns, Fastmarkets research has adopted a bullish stance for the material in the short term...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 3% at the close of trading on Tuesday April 16, settling just above $2,800 per tonne while fresh inflows did little to narrow a wide backwardation in the metal's nearby spreads. Zinc's nearby cash/three-month spread was most recently in a backwardation of $89 per tonne, with inflows of more than 14,000 tonnes into European w...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for Asia Pacific fell to their lowest in at least six years, squeezed by the smelter consumption ramp-ups and against a backdrop of tightening supply.Fastmarkets' cif Asia-Pacific spot copper concentrate TC/RC index was calculated at $62.10 per tonne/6.21 cents per lb on April 15, down from $66.70 per tonne/6.67 cents per lb in late M...Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia fell to its lowest in over two months on April 16 due to continued extra cargoes in the market and positive news surrounding Alunorte's restart.The daily fob Australia alumina index fell to $354.85 per tonne today, down 3.9% from the previous day and 11.3% lower week on week from when the index was at $411.29 per tonne.Key driversIndex pushes lower after a...Read More
The UG2 chrome ore price fell again on Friday April 12 after activity lessened due to market participants waiting for Chinese mills' next ferro-chrome tender releases; meanwhile falling demand pushed down the high-carbon ferro-chrome assessment in Europe. UG2 and Turkish lumpy ore prices in China drop Domestic alloy price in China weakens Alloy markets in Japan, South Korea, Europe fa...Read More
Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases on Tuesday April 16 at slightly higher prices, but it was still unclear in which direction the market was moving, sources said.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo late on April 15, comprising 17,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) and 7,500 tonnes of bonus at an average price of $308 per tonne cfr.The cargo was sche...Read More
Chinese steel mills are ignoring low bids from overseas buyers on expectations of continued strength in China's domestic market over the remainder of April, sources told Fastmarkets MB this week.Expectations of a supply drop have also improved sentiment in the spot market.Steel prices in China have been on an upward climb since the end of the Lunar New Year. Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in east...Read More
Trading across most of the metals is relatively quiet in early morning on Tuesday April 16 and the market seems to be waiting for fresh direction, which we think means the market is waiting for a US/China trade deal. Before that, today's ZEW and US industrial production data may provide direction, as too will tomorrow's Chinese GDP data. Asian equities are stronger this morning, suggests a ri...Read More
Dutch trade union FNV is preparing to take legal action to fight Tata Steel Europe against the sale of the Segal hot-dipped galvanizing (HDG) line in Belgium, which was proposed as part of Tata's move to form a joint venture with ThyssenKrupp, the union told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 16."We have an agreement with Tata Steel authorized by Tata Steel [Group] that all assets of Tata Steel Netherla...Read More
The market for hot-rolled coil (HRC) exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained soft during the week ended Monday April 15 on low bids in the key outlets, while cold-rolled coil (CRC) was almost unchanged on lower availability.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of HRC was $485-495 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 15, down from $500-515 per...Read More