Chile's Copper Workers Federation (FTC), which represents workers employed by state-owned copper miner Codelco, has appointed Juan Olgu?-n president for a term that will last until 2022, it said on Thursday April 19.Olgu?-n replaces the trade union's long-standing president, Raimundo Espinoza. After 25 years as head of the FTC, Espinoza was removed from his position at the end of March amid accusa...Read More
The Chilean government has named Andr?(C) Sougarret as the new executive vice president of copper producer Empresa Nacional de Miner?-a (Enami), effective April 27. Sougarret is currently general manager of Codelco's El Teniente division and is known in the industry for his key role in the rescue of the 33 miners trapped at the San Jos?(C) mine in Chile in 2010.He joins Enami at a challenging time...Read More
Lead exports from major exporter Iran have been cut since last week after the country's rial currency fell to an all-time low against the US dollar, market sources told Metal Bulletin.Tuesday April 10, Iranian vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri said the government would fix an official exchange rate of 42,000 rials against the US dollar in an attempt to stem a run on the currency. The rate was an 11%...Read More
Base metal prices were lower on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Thursday April 19, despite aluminium volumes reaching a record-high 41,000 lots.Both nickel and aluminium's three-month prices soared to multi-year highs during the day, but closed on a downward move. Nickel's intraday price difference surpassed Wednesday's record of $1,670 per tonne, reaching $1,810 per tonn...Read More
Physical iron ore traded at much higher prices on Thursday April 19 following a surge in the paper market.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $68.45 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.57 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.92 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.82 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $86.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.60 per tonneMetal Bulleti...Read More
Trading slowed down in the seaborne coking coal spot market on Thursday April 19 compared with the first half of the week, with buyers waiting for prices to bottom out before committing to cargoes.A top Australian brand was heard to have been traded around $197-198 per tonne cfr China during the day. There are at least 16 cargoes of premium hard coking coal being offered in the seaborne spot marke...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped Thursday April 19 with no deep-sea bookings, although another booking from the previous day came to light.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo of 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $348 per tonne cfr on Wednesday. However, the cargo was sold before a Baltic Sea trade was done at...Read More
Turkish prices for imported and exported billet have gone down over the past week, in line with the low demand for both finished and semi-finished steel products and weakening imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday April 19.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for billet imports into Turkey was $520-530 per tonne cfr, widening downward from last week's $525-530 per tonne.Suppliers in t...Read More
The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) throughout the automotive industry will force a significant shake-up in the lithium-ion battery industry in the coming years."Electrification of [the] automotive industry is a game-changer," Alex Iasnikov, lead chemist at Titan International, told delegates at the annual Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference last week in Montreal.Consumer...Read More
Alcoa Corp is mulling the restart of idled aluminium and alumina capacity, a top executive said, citing high prices and the expectation of a material deficit in both markets this year. "We continue to monitor global and regional market prices and other factors in deciding whether to restart some of our curtailed capacity, which is mostly in the United States and Brazil," Alcoa president and chief...Read More
Chile's Copper Workers Federation (FTC), which represents workers employed by state-owned copper miner Codelco, has appointed Juan Olgu?-n president for a term that will last until 2022, it said on Thursday April 19.Olgu?-n replaces the trade union's long-standing president, Raimundo Espinoza. After 25 years as head of the FTC, Espinoza was removed from his position at the end of March amid accusa...Read More
China-based cathode supplier Easpring believes demand for battery materials will be driven by the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicles (NEVs) sector worldwide. Demand for battery materials including nickel, cobalt and lithium will grow in 2018, supported by a positive outlook for the cathode market on the increasing use of NEVs, according to Li Jianzhong, general manager of cathode specialis...Read More
Novelis has said it is no longer purchasing fresh aluminium produced by Rusal and it will continue to use pre-sanctioned metal, a spokesperson told Metal Bulletin in an email on Thursday."Novelis will continue to get raw material (prime) from Rusal, but only and exclusively pre-sanctioned material. Pre-sanctioned means prime [material] in [London Metal Exchange warehouses] owned by our traders and...Read More
Comex copper prices consolidated in the US morning on Thursday April 19 amid a bout of technical selling, although the outlook remains positive with demand expected to peak in the next few months.Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 3.35 cents or 1.1% to $3.1250 per lb. Yesterday, the contract traded at the highest point since March 14. "We expec...Read More
Rebar prices in the United States have risen after multiple mills announced $20-per-ton increases in a tight market, even as a leading producer remained silent. Commercial Metals Co (CMC), Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI) and Gerdau Long Steel North America all came out with $20-per-ton hikes this week. Nucor is the sole producer to not make any official announcement on rebar prices.But the pric...Read More
Prices for imported steel reinforcing bar have been offered in a wide band in the United States, with domestic traders setting a new price range after digesting potential Section 232 tariffs.American Metal Market's assessment for imported rebar rose to $617-794 per short ton cfr port of Houston on Wednesday April 18, up an average of 21% from $576-590 per ton previously.The low end of th...Read More
Brazilian steel producer CSN is still considering the sale of its LLC subsidiary in the United States, but there is no deal to announce yet, it said on Wednesday April 18.The company is evaluating divestment possibilities, including its US steel assets, it added, in response to queries from the S??o Paulo stock exchange, B3 (formerly known as Bovespa).The exchange's queries concerned a story publi...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices went up slightly on a US dollar basis, following the strengthening lira, sources said on Thursday April 19.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic rebar was $570-590 per tonne ex-works, widening upward from $570-580 per tonne last week.Market participants were surprised by the early election decision announced on Wednesday April 18.T...Read More
Chilean steel and iron ore producer Compa???-a de Acero del Pac?-fico (CAP) plans to invest $1.60 billion over the next five years to achieve organic growth and business diversification.The announced capital expenditure is part of the company's strategic plan to strengthen its presence in markets other than iron ore and steel, to mitigate the effects of price volatility on its revenues, it announc...Read More
Turkish rebar export prices continued to slide on poor demand over the past week, while wire rod prices were comparatively stable, sources said on Thursday April 19.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey was $550-565 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, widening downward from the...Read More