Vale's nickel production fell 17.9% year on year in the first-quarter 2018, following the company's decision to place non-competitive mines in Canada on care and maintenance, among other steps taken to optimize margins.Finished nickel output came to 58,600 tonnes in the three months ended in March 31, against 71,400 tonnes in the corresponding months of 2017, the Brazilian diversified miner and wo...Read More
Minera Lumina Copper Chile (MLCC) has reached a deal for a new labor contract with union workers at its Caserones mine, the company said late on Friday April 13. The agreement includes a gross bonus of 14 million Chilean pesos ($23,473.90) per worker, as well as a soft loan of 3 million pesos and an average pay rise of 2.5%. The offer was approved by 88% of the unionized workers, the miner said. T...Read More
Comex copper prices recovered further in the US morning on Monday April 16 amid a brief pause in geopolitical tensions. Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 3.60 cents or 1.2% to $3.1070 per lb. "We expect volatility to remain high this week as the geopolitical situation with Russia remains...Read More
The Brazilian competition regulator, Cade, has approved the sale of long steel assets from ArcelorMittal Brasil to Mexico's Grupo Simec, according to a document published in the country's official gazette on Monday April 16.These divestments are part of the merger process between ArcelorMittal Brasil and local long steel producer Votorantim Siderurgia. In February, Cade approved the merger between...Read More
Mexico's steel association, Canacero, has appointed M??ximo Vedoya its new president, it announced on Monday April 16.Vedoya, chief executive officer at Latin American steel producer Ternium, will lead the group for one year, but with the possibility of his mandate being extended for a further two years.He replaces...Read More
Trading activity in the export market for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States remained low during week ended Monday April 16, Metal Bulletin was told. "We will see some activity in the market this week because producers, traders and buyers will meet at a trade fair in Dusseldorf," one trader told Metal Bulletin Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment f...Read More
CIS export rebar and wire rod prices decreased in the week to Monday April 16 on thin trading and a less positive sentiment in the global market.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for CIS wire rod exports dropped to $580-605 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 16, compared with $590-620 per tonne Offers from Russia's Abinsk Steel Mill for May delivery were heard at $595-600 per tonne fob.....Read More
CIS export billet prices remained largely unchanged in the week ended Monday April 16 amid reduced buying activity in the major outlets.Some market participants expected more price declines in the near term, because of the uncertainty in the scrap market."The market [for steel billet exports] will soon fall to $505 per tonne fob Black Sea," one trader said.Meanwhile, some sources expected the mark...Read More
Turkey's flat steel exports increased by 46.53% in February 2018, compared with February 2017, according to the latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).But current demand for flat steel is weak in the country's export markets, so export volumes may decrease in the next few months, Turkish market participants told Metal Bulletin.The import tariffs applied by the United States o...Read More
Russian steelmaker Evraz has started up a new blast furnace (BF) with capacity for 2.5 million tonnes per year at its Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (NTMK) facility, Metal Bulletin has learned. "The construction of new blast furnace No7 [provides] an alternative to blast furnace No6 [which will be idled] for first category repairs," Maxim Andriasov, Evraz vice-president and head of the Ural...Read More
The manganese ore market experienced lower prices across all reported grades while buyers looked to cut their order size to manage their costs, according to industry sources. Chinese demand for smaller parcels Markets look vulnerable to further losses Less liquid trading creates wider international price ranges Manganese ore prices fell this week on lower assessments from most Chi...Read More
Chinese ammonium paratungstate exporters held firm or raised their offers on concerns output in major production hub Jiangxi province will fall following a new round of environmental inspections there; European prices declined due to falling demand. Production disruptions in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, buoyed Chinese APT and concentrates markets European prices fell amid fading demand Metal...Read More
The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, Vietnam and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price quotations, follow the links below: China - APT, fob China - Ferro-tungsten, fob ChinaEurope- APT, cif Rotterdam- Ferro-tungsten, in-warehouse R...Read More
Vedanta Resources has appointed Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan as its new chief executive officer (CEO), recruiting the executive from rising gold developer AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.Venkatakrishnan has been CEO of South Africa-based AngloGold since 2013 and was formerly the chief financial officer of the company between 2005 and 2013 following the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields Corp.The hire...Read More
Venezuela is likely to make further cuts in its output of hot-briquetted iron (HBI) in 2018 because of continued disruptions to raw material supplies, insufficient operating funds, insufficient supplies of gas and energy, and the country's economic crisis.Currently, only two of five HBI producers in the country are in operation, and only at reduced rates, a source familiar with the matter told Met...Read More
Vale's metallurgical coal production decreased by 14.20% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, due to poor weather conditions at the company's Moatize operations in Mozambique.The company produced 1.40 million tonnes of metallurgical coal during the quarter, compared with 1.63 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier, according to figures released by the miner on Monday April...Read More
Iron ore output by Vale declined by 4.90% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, the Brazilian miner announced on Monday April 16.Production totaled 81.95 million tonnes, compared with 86.20 million tonnes a year before.The drop was mainly due to Vale's decision to progressively reduce production of lower-grade ore from its southern and south-eastern systems, it said.A more intense rainy seaso...Read More
Turkish domestic ship scrap prices have slightly increased with the latest uptick in imported scrap costs, while auto bundle scrap prices have remained comparatively steady over the past week, sources said on Monday April 16.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for melting scrap from shipbreaking in the Turkish domestic market was $341-352 per tonne delivered, widening upward from last week's...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for ferrous scrap products. Latest transactions: HMS, shredded, busheling, bonus, P&STurkey, import, 12,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25),...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...Read More