Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 9 that are worth another look.Among the key talking points across the battery raw materials markets ahead of Fastmarkets' second annual Battery Materials Conference this week in Shanghai include the outlook for China's cobalt metal imports, cobalt hedging appetites, whether a shift to nickel-rich cathode chemistr...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday April 9, with a dip in the dollar index below the psychological level of 97 doing little to prompt rallies, while stock inflows continue push prices lower. Despite trading comfortably above $6,500 per tonne for much of the day, copper's three-month price closed $13 per tonne shy of the psychologica...Read More
Soci?(C)t?(C) Generale will close its proprietary and over-the-counter (OTC) commodities business including its metals trading, as part of a global cost cutting exercise involving 1,600 job losses, the company said on April 9.The French bank is a category I London Metal Exchange dealer and plans to continue this activity through its brokerage arm Newedge Group, informed sources confirmed to F...Read More
An absence of firm offers and bids kept participants in the seaborne coking coal market on the sidelines on Tuesday April 9, with buyers in particular waiting for prices to bottom out."Current seaborne coking coal prices are already 100-200 yuan ($14.90-$29.80) per tonne lower than those for domestic materials [in China]. We are just hesitating about whether the price advantage makes up for the de...Read More
Soci?(C)t?(C) Generale will close its proprietary and over-the-counter (OTC) commodities business including its metals trading, as part of a global cost cutting exercise involving 1,600 job losses, the company said on April 9.The French bank is a category I London Metal Exchange dealer and plans to continue this activity through its brokerage arm Newedge Group, informed sources confirmed to F...Read More
Manganese ore prices were hovering around recent levels amid low liquidity in the week to Friday April 5, while load shedding in South Africa continued to be supportive of alloy prices in Europe. Low activity for ores in China Alloy prices in Europe rise on lower supply Indian silico-manganese suppliers lift offer prices Silico-manganese market in US drops There was little mov...Read More
The Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project will be a top 20 copper producer and a future third phase expansion would put it in the top five, the chief executive officer of Teck Resources Ltd said. The current Quebrada Blanca mine, located in the Tarapac?? Region of northern Chile, is expected to see cathode production end this year at reduced rates. QB2 will develop the deeper sulphide resource und...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 9 that are worth another look.Among the key talking points across the battery raw materials markets ahead of Fastmarkets' second annual Battery Materials Conference this week in Shanghai include the outlook for China's cobalt metal imports, cobalt hedging appetites, whether a shift to nickel-rich cathode chemistr...Read More
Chile's copper and lithium reserves will be in high demand for development by both domestic and international companies as a result of the ongoing push toward electro-mobilty, according to the country's Minister for Mining.Baldo Prokurica noted that Chile is the world's largest producer of copper and the world's second-largest producer of lithium, both key raw materials for electric vehicle (EV) b...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan is moving ahead at "full throttle" with plans to develop a new smelter in Indonesia in partnership with state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (PT Inalum), the chief executive officer of the US copper producer said.The smelter is part of a package agreed by the company and the government, ending several years of negotiations over the fate of Freeport's activities in Indonesia,...Read More
Sustainability is an essential factor in mining or corporations run the risk of serious economic and reputational damage, Codelco chief executive officer Nelson Pizarro said. The world looks at the mining industry very negatively when there are disasters such as landslides, wall collapses and tailings dam breaches, he said at CRU's 18th World Copper Conference in Santiago, Chil...Read More
The price of copper could go as high as $3 per lb ($6,610 per tonne) by June 2019, and stay above that threshold for the rest of the year and into 2020, although the upside was limited, Diego Hernandez, president of Chilean mining society Sonami, said on Monday April 8."We should reach $3 per lb around June-July and stay there, or a bit higher, during the second half of the year," he told Fastmark...Read More
The world will need the same amount of copper over the next 25 years that it has produced in the past 500 years if it is to meet global demand, according to the head of copper at global miner Rio Tinto.Arnaud Soirat, chief executive officer of the mining company's copper and diamonds division, said that consumption of copper arising from what he termed the "electrification of everything" made the...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Tuesday April 9, although the upswing drove away buyers. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,000 yuan ($594-595) per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,940-3,950 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneSellers raised prices following an uptick in the futures market. Buyers, however, cut procurement rate...Read More
Rebar prices in eastern China surged further on Tuesday April 9 on an optimistic outlook among sellers for demand to strengthen over the rest of this month.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,070-4,100 yuan ($606-610) per tonne, up 70-90 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,960-3,990 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneEnd-user demand for rebar has been strong since mid-March and is expected...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transaction: rebarRebar East China, domestic, grade...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom.Latest transaction: billetBillet China,...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic,...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia dipped slightly over the past week amid softening demand in the region.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was $490-495 per tonne cfr on Monday April 8, narrowing downward by $5 per tonne from $490-500 per tonne a week earlier.Mills in...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices corrected down slightly on Tuesday April 9 after surging past $95 per tonne cfr China on Monday.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $94.85 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.45 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $93.97 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.45 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $96.99 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.61 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Inde...Read More