(IDEX Online) - Israel's Washington ambassador and the head of its Mossad intelligence agency were both reportedly involved in lobbying for sanctions to be lifted on mining magnate Dan Gertler.They were successful, albeit briefly.  The Trump administration froze his US assets in 2017 over allegations about his business activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.It reversed that decis...Read More

Aluminium's futures price reached yet another year-to-date high at $2,289.50 per tonne during trading on the London Metal Exchange on Monday March 22, with supply concerns for the metal continuing, and with all base metals prices up day-on-day at the close.The price of aluminium closed at $2,272 per tonne, $7 per tonne higher than on Friday, while its intraday high point on Monday was its highest...Read More

The process at the heart of proposals to overhaul the London Metal Exchange's market structure is problematic and suggests the exchange is not putting its users first, the president of the International Wrought Copper Council (IWCC) said. In an interview with Fastmarkets, Mark Loveitt said that it was not clear to the IWCC and its members why the exchange was revisiting plans to change its margin...Read More

The proposals included in the London Metal Exchange's discussion paper would not serve the needs of the physical market and could have a negative impact on copper and copper alloy semis-fabricators, the International Wrought Copper Council (IWCC) said.Mark Loveitt, IWCC president and director, said the association is not opposed to change but believed the proposals would not achieve the LME's stat...Read More

The Defense Logistics Agency will potentially offer at least 400 tonnes of tin to the United States market through to September, starting with 40 tonnes in April, a DLA spokeswoman told Fastmarkets.The DLA has authorization to sell about 4,000 tonnes of tin from the US government stockpile this fiscal year (FY21), which, for the federal government ends, on September 30.Tin is in acutely short supp...Read More

Brazil-headquartered Nexa Resources has suspended operations at its Extremo Norte underground mine in the Vazante unit, due to the identification of ground displacements on the site, the base metals producer said on Friday March 19.The downtime is not expected to significantly affect production in the first quarter, however, Nexa said. Throughput of the second mine in the division, also called Vaz...Read More

Initial deals for second-quarter supply of aluminium to Japan have settled at levels that would mark six-year highs, boosted by demand from other key importer regions. Since the beginning of March, international producers have locked deals with Japanese buyers at $148-149 per tonne cif main Japanese ports (MJP), the highest since the second quarter of 2015, when the settlement was at $380 per...Read More

The European Commission has published proposed provisional anti-dumping duties on certain flat rolled products originating in China. Industry association European Aluminium called the announcement an important step forward in the fight against "China's unfair trade practices." The duty rates may vary from 19.60% to 47.30% and come after an anti-dumping investigation opened on August 14, 2020,...Read More

The hot-rolled coil price in the United States again surged to all-time high on Monday March 22, with steel mills said to have low spot availability and some buyers indicating imports are more feasible.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mil US was calculated at $65.78 per hundredweight ($1,315.60 per short ton) on Monday, up by 1.23% from $64.98 per cwt on March 19 and b...Read More

Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States rose in March for both hot-rolled and cold-finished product due to rapid increases in demand and higher raw material costs.Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled special bar quality 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US was at $51 per hundredweight ($1,020 per short ton) on Friday March 19, up by 15.91% from $44 per cwt on F...Read More

Prices for cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod in the United States moved higher this month after remaining flat in February, while mills that are struggling to meet demand have extended lead times. Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (high carbon), fob mill US was at $50 per hundredweight ($1,000 per short ton) on Friday March 19, up by $2.25 per cwt (4.71%) from&nb...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady for a second week in a row, with market participants expecting another round of mill price increases to be announced shortly. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was again unchanged at $54.50 per hundredweight ($1,090 per short ton) on Friday March 19. The assessment is up by 118...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on Monday March 22, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board.United States 10-year treasuries yields have eased to 1.67%, from recent highs of 1.75%.Base metalsLME three-month base metals prices were mixed, with copper, aluminium and lead down by an average of 0.5%, while the rest of the metals were up by an av...Read More

The mood in the European hot-rolled coil market has become upbeat due to the continuing material shortage combined with good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 22.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?798.00 ($949.65) per tonne on Monday, down by just ?,?1.38 per tonne from ?,?799.38 er tonne on March 19.The index was, howe...Read More

Steelmakers in Turkey stepped back from the deep-sea scrap market after the unexpected sacking of the head of the country's central bank sent the Turkish currency into freefall, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 22.The Turkish steel mills have been away from the deep-sea scrap markets since March 12, when two cargoes from the Baltic Sea were booked at $435-437 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:2...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have continued to soften over the past week due to falling values for imported scrap, while several mills have stopped buying material due to the plunge in the value of the country's lira, market sources said on Monday March 22.The country's deep-sea scrap import prices have made a downward correction in recent weeks, with mills staying away from scrap purchases due t...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the cfr and fob markets diverged on Monday March 22, with tight supply supporting the cfr market and ample supply in the fob market, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.90 per tonne, down $0.06 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $213.23 per tonne, up $0.37 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $106.25 per...Read More

Iron ore prices weakened again on Friday March 22 due to the newly introduced measures on emissions restrictions in Tangshan, , sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $157.01 per tonne,down $4.38 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $157.12 per tonne,down $4.55 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $143.08 per tonne,down $4.97 p...Read More

Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets rose in the week ended Friday March 19 amid a tightening of restrictions on steelmakers in Tangshan - China's steelmaking hub - to control emissions, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $192.18 per tonne, down $2.66 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $231.08 per tonne, up $3.65 per tonne Key driversLocal au...Read More

The New Tonkolili iron ore project in Sierra Leone has achieved full-scale operations, China's Kingho Investment Co Limited - its operator - said last Saturday March 20.The project, with estimated resources of 13.7 billion tonnes, is the world's single largest magnetite mine, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. Shandong Iron & Steel Group, a state-backed Chinese steelmaker, bought the mine...Read More