The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron...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
The seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet markets remained muted in the week ended on Friday April 5 despite the surges in iron-ore fines prices.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly MB 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index stood at $104.12 per tonne cfr China on Friday April 5, up by $7.39 per tonne from March 29.Fastmarkets' daily MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $103.64 per tonne cfr China last week,...Read More
The impending bankruptcy which Vietnam's Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Joint Stock Company is facing will have limited impact on the Vietnam ferrous scrap import market, market sources told Fastmarkets MB this week.This is because the state-owned company has not been buying imported ferrous scrap since the last quarter of 2018."The company lost its scrap import licence last year, and is only purchasi...Read More
Fastmarkets wishes to clarify a discrepancy in the publication of its 65% Fe Value-In-Use Index on March 11.The weekly Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Value-In-Use Index, indicating the value of a 1% iron content differential in the 63-66% Fe range, was published incorrectly as $1.73 per tonne in the MBIOI email alert and PDF attachment on March 11 and subsequent dates due to an administrative erro...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange continued its uptrend during morning trading on Tuesday April 9, trading firmly above $6,500 per tonne amid easing trade tensions and a marked slowdown in the dollar index surge. Volumes traded in the red metal top the complex so far this morning, with 5,440 lots changing hands as of 9:20am London time. Zinc's trading volume was just behind...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices are generally subdued this morning, averaging up 0.2% while trading volume is considerably lower at 5,790 lots as of 06:23am London time on Tuesday April 9. While the United States and China trade negotiations are grinding closer to a positive conclusion, the Trump administration is considering imposing additional tariffs of $11 billion wort...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Tuesday April 9, with investors taking a risk-averse stance amid the uncertainties over trade negotiations between the United States and China. "Uncertainty remains over Brexit and US-China trade negotiations, weighing on US investment and global trade......It will be important to watch how investment...Read More
Key talking points across the battery raw materials markets ahead of Fastmarkets' second annual Battery Materials Conference, taking place this week in Shanghai, China. Will China's cobalt metal imports pick up significantly in 2019? When global cobalt metal prices bottomed out in late March and made a quick turnaround at the beginning of April, some Chinese traders and consumers resumed their app...Read More
UG2 chrome ore prices broke a seven-week upward trend on Friday April 5 due to weaker demand after consumers cited sufficient stock, while alloy prices in the United States weakened and were subdued in Europe. UG2 prices slip $1 per tonne, Turkish pump stabilizesAlloy prices steady in Japan, South KoreaAlloy prices hold on Chinese public holidayAlloy prices drop in Europe UG2 chrome ore prices we...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the March Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.2% in February. Actual was up 0.4%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the March Consumer Price Index was an increase of 0.2...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange had gone up by the close of trading on Monday April 8, once again trading at more than $6,500 per tonne over the afternoon, while a marginal dip in the US dollar index helped zinc's three-month price recover to more than $2,900 per tonne.Volumes traded in copper topped the complex over the day, with more than 13,000 lots changing hands by the...Read More
The deadly breach of one of Vale's tailings dams in Brazil this year was a harsh reminder for the mining sector that it needs to consistently operate within the parameters of strict controls and stay alert to potentially tragic risks, according to the chief executive officer of Anglo American's copper business. Hennie Faul said in an interview with Fastmarkets as part of the annual Cesco industry...Read More
Current global geopolitics add an element of uncertainty to the copper sector but the market's solid fundamentals have prevented a strong reaction in the metal's price, according to Hennie Faul, the chief executive officer of Anglo American's copper business.There is nonetheless an inevitable knock-on impact on decision-making for investments, Faul said in an interview with Fastmarkets as part of...Read More
With copper executives gathering in the Chilean capital of Santiago for this year's CESCO-organized copper industry convention, interest in mined copper concentrates was being boosted by disruptions to trade flows in copper scrap.Since last year, China's copper scrap imports have been restricted by a series of policies designed to restrict the amount of waste the country processes and to tackle it...Read More
The mining, production and concentrate transport at MMG's Las Bambas copper mine in Peru is expected to progressively return to normal operations, the mining company said on Monday April 8 in a notice to the Hong Kong Exchange. The resumption comes after an agreement was reached between MMG and the community of Nueva Fuerabamba. "In response, the community has agreed to lift their current roadbloc...Read More
The Chinese antimony price, despite dropping for the sixth consecutive week, has slowed its pace of descent in the latest assessment period ended Wednesday April 3 after suppliers resisted cutting prices and halted production instead to avoid further losses. Meanwhile, low offers were heard in Europe, where prices continued to follow a downtrend last week. Fastmarkets' price assessment for MM...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday April 5. Key drivers The European 553 silicon price fell 3.1% during the latest pricing session in a very low liquidity market in which some offers below the previous range started to emerge. The silicon grade 441 quotation also softened on a lack of liquidity...Read More
The price of steel rebar and wire rod exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) decreased by $5 per tonne over the week, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 8.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price of CIS export wire rod was $505-515 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 8, moving down from $510-520 per tonne fob a week earlier.The lower end of the assessment is reflective of...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of this week due to poor demand for finished steel and expectations of further prices decreases, sources said on Monday April 8.There was only one deal for scrap for import into Turkey last week, done on April 5. A steel producer in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 12,000 tonnes of...Read More