Imported billet prices in Egypt fell this week while local rebar prices remained unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday April 19.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering rebar at E ?12,528 ($707) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, while Beshay Steel, also a major domestic producer, is offering rebar at E ?12,525 per...Read More
Japanese chemical compounds supplier Showa Denko (SDK) has set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China to distribute its range of battery materials to the local market, to capitalize on the rapidly growing electric vehicles (EVs) market in the Asian country.Showa Denko Battery Materials (Shanghai) (SDBM) will serve the Chinese market with the company's Advanced Battery Materials range of products. T...Read More
Lithium producer SQM is confident it will retain its market share amid forecasts of global supply growth, while cautioning of the industry's poor track record on delivering lithium projects. SQM plans to keep its 25% share of the global lithium market, senior commercial vice president Daniel Jimenez told delegates at Industrial Minerals' and Metal Bulletin's inaugural Battery Materials conference...Read More
Metal Bulletin Group has discontinued the price for one grade of zircon and launched another.After a consultation period, Industrial Minerals has today suspended the following grade of zircon, effective April 18, 2018:Zircon premium grade min 66.5% ZrO2 bulk FOB Australia US $ per tonneIndustrial Minerals has suspended this grade after assessing that FOB terms are no longer representative of globa...Read More
South32 has increased its full year 2018 manganese ore production guidance by 6% amid strong demand and record operating performance at its Australia unit.Manganese ore prices rose sharply in late 2017 due to the strong demand, particularly from China, but have been sliding since late March. Metal Bulletin's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth rose as high as $7.57 per dry metric tonne uni...Read More
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 oreRio Tinto, tender, 170,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, sold at $67.01 per tonne cfr...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
BHP is anticipating a drop in iron ore output from its Australian operations in its financial year ending June 30 but expects to meet its target for metallurgical coal production.The miner's Western Australia Iron Ore operations produced 67 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material on a 100% basis in the March quarter, up 8% on the year but down 6% from the preceding quarter, according to its...Read More
China's ferrous futures ended morning trading little changed from their opening prices on Thursday April 19, apart from the hot-rolled coil contract, after posting strong gains a day earlier. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,494 yuan ($556.20) per tonne, up 4 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,624 yuan per tonne, up 24 yuan per tonne Dalian...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday April 19*Copper -$97.92 (-615.44 yuan) Aluminium -$795.70 (-5001.14 yuan) Zinc -$75.82 (-476.56 yuan) Nickel -$2867.46 (-18022.55 yuan) * Metal Bulletin calculates the...Read More
The nickel price has rocketed to a four-year high on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Thursday April 19, alongside an ongoing surge in aluminium prices. The three-month nickel price reached a high of $16,690 per tonne this morning, its highest since December 2014 after Wednesday recorded the largest intraday move for the metal's since 2009. Nickel's closing traded volume reached...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Thursday April 19 amid big gains in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,750-3,800 yuan ($597-605) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,730 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne Rebar futures strengthened on Thursday following the release of data showing a 600,000-tonne decline in spot...Read More
Cadmium prices fell on Wednesdaydue to oversupply and weakened demand in the Indian market, sources told Metal Bulletin.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for 99.95% cadmium was 150-160 cents per lb on Wednesday April 18, compared with 155-160 cents the previous week, while the price assessment for 99.99% cadmium fell to 155-170 cents, compared with 160-175 cents a wee...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday April 18 pricing session in London. Key drivers: - Producers stopped offering material due to limited stocks and high costs of raw material - High Chinese prices are driving up European offer prices Key...Read More
South32 posted a significant year-on-year decrease in zinc, lead and silver production during its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2018, the company announced on Thursday April 19.The company's payable zinc production totaled 8,600 tonnes in the three-month period, 43% lower year on year and down 7% from the prior quarter's 9,200 tonnes.This brought its total payable zinc production for the ni...Read More
After the eventful rally on Wednesday, both the base and precious metals complexes have continued their upward momentum in the morning of Thursday April 19 with a broad-based commodity rally supporting all metals prices higher. Gains on base metals prices have averaged 1.2%, while precious metals have seen a 0.3% rise as of 6.27am London time. Trading volume on the London Metal Exchange is signifi...Read More
Rio Tinto produced 12.7 million tonnes of bauxite in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 12% year on year, primarily driven by operational improvements, the company said on Wednesday April 18. Bauxite production at Rio Tinto's Gove mine in Australia, in which it holds a 100% interest, totaled 3.124 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2018, marking a notable 31% increase from the same peri...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia maintained their upward momentum over the past week, with rapidly rising production costs resulting in higher Chinese offers.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,150-2,230 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday April 18, narrowing upward by $50 per tonne from a week...Read More
A complete ban on imports of category-7 copper scrap will be implemented by the end of this year, the Chinese government said on Thursday April 19.The newly created Ministry of Ecology and Environment will move 16 solid wastes that are currently deemed 'restricted', to the list of banned imports, according to the official statement. The ban will prohibit the import of scrap materials, including co...Read More