Sentiment in China's imported ferrous scrap market turned bullish on Thursday April 29, after the country's Ministry of Finance officially announced that the new tax regime for ferrous raw materials would start on Saturday May 1.According to the document published by the Ministry of Finance, there will be no import tariffs for steelmaking raw materials such as recycled steel, pig iron, crude steel...Read More

Export prices for scrap from Japan were largely stable over the past week due to the country's upcoming "Golden Week" holiday, sources told Fastmarkets this week.The holiday runs from April 29 to May 5 this year, with market participants not fully in the spot market during the period.Key market participants said many Japanese shippers were keeping offers unchanged ahead of the holiday and not enga...Read More

The world's largest iron ore project, Simandou, in the West African nation of Guinea has started railway construction and tunneling works.The works comprises the construction of the 11.6km Kindia Tunnel, which will form part of the Simandou railway and will pass under a mountain in the Madina-Oula subprefecture.Construction of the 9km Mamou Tunnel in the Oure-Kaba subprefecture has also started.Th...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Thursday April 29 on bargain hunting after declining a day earlier. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,770-5,790 yuan ($890-894) per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said spot sellers in the city had secured orders at higher prices than a day earlier after a strengthening of the futures market.The futures market's strength wa...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were higher across the board during morning trading on Thursday April 29, supported by a weaker dollar and bullish sentiment. Copper continues to drive the rest of the complex upward - the three-month price was trading $96 per tonne higher at $9,972 per tonne this morning. It hit a high of $9,999.50 per tonne earlier; the all-time high for the three-...Read More

With the exception of lead on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, base metals prices were stronger this morning, Thursday April 29, reassured that Federal Reserve would keep policy loose and because United States President Joe Biden pumped up the outlook for the US by saying the country is "ready for takeoff". Tin leapt higher on the LME on Wednesday, with the SHFE contract catching up today...... Mala...Read More

The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it...Read More

The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Wednesday April 28.Key drivers: Market continues its downtrend amid lower cif prices from China that has led some profit-takers in Europe to offer below $10,000 per tonne for both grades. Some producers also achieved higher prices, closer to $10,400 per tonne, however. The market picture continues to be mixed with traders taking different pos...Read More

A summary of Glencore's production results for the first quarter of 2021, as released on Thursday April 29.In brief Copper production was up by 3% year on year in the first quarter of 2021 because of productivity improvements and mine plan sequencing at Glencore's South American operations including Collahuasi, Antamina and Antapaccay.Lower grades at Kazzinc's Maleevsky mine and mine sequencing at...Read More

The approaching rainy season in southern China usually signals the start of a downtrend in the Chinese silicon price because of more availability of hydroelectricity to power operations, yet the price is unlikely to reach last year's low, according to market participants.In China, the main 553 silicon production hubs are in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. It is traditional for refineries in Sichuan...Read More

Export prices for Chinese stainless steel softened in the past week, but exporters plan to raise their offers after China's Ministry of Finance said the 13% export tax rebate for such products would be removed from May 1.According to a notice released by the ministry late on Wednesday April 28, stainless flat steel products classified under the following Harmonized System codes will no longer be e...Read More

The markets for high- and low-carbon ferro-chrome in Europe softened in the week ended Tuesday April 27 following weakening in the markets in Asia, particularly China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe, was $1.87-2.36 per lb Cr on April 27, a fall of 4-26 cents per lb Cr (6.6%) from $2.13-2.40 per lb Cr on March 30.There was a big fall at t...Read More

Emmerson's premium offeringSPONSOREDemmerson plcAlto emerging on song at SandstoneSPONSOREDalto metalsTowards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaWMX resetting the base for new Wiluna futureSPONSOREDwiluna mining corporationConsultants at Swann Global have provocatively asked, in a white paper, whether the current composition...Read More

Production at Champion Iron's (TSX: CIA; ASX: CIA) Bloom Lake iron ore mine near Fermont, Que., inched upward 1% in the year ended Mar. 31, 2021 to a record 8 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of 66.4% iron ore concentrate, despite Covid-19 restrictions that included a month of reduced operations early in the pandemic.For its most recent quarter, production was 2 million wmt of 66.5% iron ore concen...Read More

Copper hit US$10,008 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange today, nearing the record inter-day high of US$10,204 per tonne set in February 2011. "It's a great time to be a copper miner and prices are way, way above what it costs to get the metal out of the ground," Robert Edwards, principal analyst at the CRU Group, told The Northern Miner in a telephone call from London. "For every one dollar the...Read More

Ero Copper (TSX: ERO) says it has identified a new zone of mineralization at its Vermelhos project, an underground mine under development in Brazil and part of the company's MCSA mining complex, which includes the Pilar underground mine and the Surubim open pit mine, in the country's northeastern state of Bahia.The new discovery, named the Novo zone, was found about 200 metres below the existing i...Read More

Glencore's board approved on Thursday the proposed pay package for incoming chief executive Gary Nagle, despite coming under fire from proxy groups and some investors in recent weeks.Nagle, who is set to take over Ivan Glasenberg at the end of June, will receive up to US$6.4 million in any one year, as 40% of his bonuses will be held back until two years after he leaves his post. This ignores any...Read More

Mineral exploration and mining companies need to adopt a "proactive approach" to managing climate-driven impacts on infrastructure built on permafrost, says Christopher Stevens, senior consultant at SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. Surface infrastructure including roads, airstrips, buildings, and tailings dams often relies on permafrost's frozen state for stability. These structures, however, are beco...Read More

An eagerness to maintain relationships by doing deals with counterparties has left some manganese ore buyers and suppliers saddled with unsustainable financing costs, market participants told Fastmarkets this week.Market participants who bought high-priced material in February and March are still financing high-priced material that has since devalued and some have reached the end of their toleranc...Read More