China's domestic rebar market was flat on Thursday March 28, with mills' higher output discouraging buyers from placing bookings while lower inventory levels in the spot market kept sellers from lowering their prices.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,870 yuan ($570-576) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,830-3,880 yuan per tonne, unchangedA declining futures market and data s...Read More
Brazil's Vale has adopted the Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index as the reference for the pricing of contract cargoes of its blast furnace and direct-reduction pellets in 2019."The [Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index] is the new reference index and the premiums for blast furnace and direct-reduction pellets remained the same as [that in] 2018 - $60 per tonne on average," the miner said on Thur...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly range-bound at the close of trading on Thursday March 28, with continued strength in the dollar deterring commodity investment while weaker-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the United States continued to indicate economic contraction.Nickel's three-month price was the biggest downward mover of the day, closing once...Read More
Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an ex-works China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets price assessment for lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade, spot price range, ex-works China, yuan per tonne.Fastmark...Read More
The extreme weather that hit Australia over the past week will cause some delays but should have no impact on total deliveries of manganese ore for April, according to producers that mine high-grade material in areas affected by the cyclones. Consolidated Minerals, which owns the high-grade manganese ore Woodie Woodie mine in Western Australia via its Pilbera Manganese subsidiary, said Cyclone Ver...Read More
The Turkish billet import market was very quiet this week, with demand for imported material still soft although the export and domestic markets showed some signs of revival, sources said on Thursday March 28.The suppliers in the CIS region increased their offers to $475-480 per tonne cfr because of the renewed demand from North Africa, and Algeria in particular.But Turkish buyers were still looki...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday March 28 that are worth another look.Weaker-than-expected demand from steel mills following the introduction of new rebar standards in China and increased use of ferro-niobium there have hit the ferro-vanadium market with prices in Europe now trading at levels last seen in December 2017. So far this month, the European fer...Read More
Robin Scheiner will lead a merged aluminium-alumina department at Glencore following the departure of David Streule, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets. "Change will take place in the coming weeks or months," a source close to the matter said, while two sources said Streule will be departing by the end of June.Streule will leave Glencore...Read More
Weaker-than-expected demand from steel mills following the introduction of new rebar standards in China and increased use of ferro-niobium there have hit the ferro-vanadium market with prices in Europe now trading at levels last seen in December 2017. So far this month, the European ferro-vanadium price has fallen by more than 25%. Fastmarkets assessed the price for ferro-vanadium, 78% min, free d...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly range-bound at the close of trading on Thursday March 28, with continued strength in the dollar deterring commodity investment while weaker-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the United States continued to indicate economic contraction.Nickel's three-month price was the biggest downward mover of the day, closing once...Read More
Prices in the US copper market continued to push upward on Thursday March 28, with macroeconomic data outweighing recent growth in market participants' bearish speculative positioning.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up by 1.15 cents to $2.8745 per lb on Thursday.On the technical side, the net speculative length has declined marke...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Thursday March 28, with market participants awaiting the outcome of a miner's tender for direction.A cargo of second-tier hard coking coal was heard offered at $186 per tonne cfr China. The was no word of the cargo being sold by 6pm, the data collection cut-off time for the Fastmarkets MB daily coking coal indices.In the premium hard coking coal segment,...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices remained largely unchanged over the past week on a lack of demand, sources said on Thursday March 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for rebar exports from Turkey was unchanged at $490-500 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis.Turkish steel producers continued to offer rebar for export at $500-510 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, but buy...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for rebar and wire rod have remained fairly stable over the past week, with demand showing few signs of recovery, sources said on Thursday March 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,200-3,250 ($593-602) per tonne ex-works, narrowing downward slightly compared with the TRY3,200-3,263 per tonne of last week.The domestic rebar...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday March 28 that are worth another look.Weaker-than-expected demand from steel mills following the introduction of new rebar standards in China and increased use of ferro-niobium there have hit the ferro-vanadium market with prices in Europe now trading at levels last seen in December 2017. So far this month, the European fer...Read More
Copper and brass scrap prices in the United States have largely held steady over the past week, with sustained domestic and offshore competition helping to mitigate price erosion.Copper scrap discounts were mostly flat week on week, aside from that for refiners No1 copper, which widened by a penny to 14-16 cents per lb, according to Fastmarkets AMM's latest assessment on Wednesday March 27. All ot...Read More
The collapse of a tailings dam at an iron ore mine in the south-east Brazilian state of Minas Gerais will not change miner Vale's plans for its base metals division, the company's chief financial officer, Luciano Siani, said on Thursday March 28.During a conference call with analysts, Siani said that the Salobo and Sossego copper mines will continue to operate normally, while the expansion of Salo...Read More
Prices in the US copper market continued to push upward on Thursday March 28, with macroeconomic data outweighing recent growth in market participants' bearish speculative positioning.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up by 1.15 cents to $2.8745 per lb on Thursday.On the technical side, the net speculative length has declined marke...Read More
Robin Scheiner will lead a merged aluminium-alumina department at Glencore following the departure of David Streule, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets. "Change will take place in the coming weeks or months," a source close to the matter said, while two sources said Streule will be departing by the end of June.Streule will leave Glencore...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale sold its nickel products at a $545 per tonne premium over the London Metal Exchange benchmark price in 2018, the company said in an earnings report published on Wednesday March 27.The premium of 4.20% above LME prices was the highest achieved by the company since 2002, it said.According to Vale, the average realized price in the year was $13,667 per tonne, with the company foc...Read More