Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States surged past $25.50 per hundredweight ($510 per short ton) only one trading day after rising above $25 per cwt for the first time since mid-June, propelled by a round of domestic mill price increases and slowly rising demand. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.60 per cwt ($512 per ton) on Monday August 31, up...Read More

Fastmarkets examines the factors affecting the price spread between domestic steel reinforcing bar and shredded scrap over the past two years. Trade, supply factors widen, then tighten spreadWhile rebar and scrap prices tend to be directionally correlated, developments on the trade front helped widen that gap, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Philip Gibbs."If you look at it over a...Read More

Indian mills have increased export prices for hot-rolled coil by $15 per tonne this week, with material being offered at $515-520 per tonne, mainly to Southeast Asian destinations.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel hot-rolled coil (commodity) export, fob main port India at $500-505 per tonne on Friday August 28 - a range at which deals were being concluded."Domestic...Read More

The Brazilian steel industry is operating around 60% production capacity, up from 42% in April when demand was hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, but still far from the ideal level of 80%, Instituto A??o Brasil said on Friday August 28.At the worst moment of the pandemic, there were 13 halted blast furnaces (BF) in the country, the president of A??o Brasil, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes said du...Read More

Unigold (TSXV: UGD) has announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the Candelones oxide project on the company's flagship Neita concession, a 226-sq.-km land package located in the province of Djabon in the Dominican Republic, 220 km northwest of the capital Santo Domingo.The pit constrained oxide mineral resource now stands at measured and indicated resources of 3.43 million tonnes gradin...Read More

Copper cleared the pivotal US$3 per lb. level on Monday as the recovery in the Chinese economy, the world's top consumer of the metal, gains momentum.Copper for delivery in December trading on the Comex market in New York changed hands for US$3.065 per lb. (US$6,757 per tonne) in early afternoon trade, the highest since June 2018. The move brings gains of 10% for 2020 and 58% since the Covid-19 lo...Read More

A renewed demand for finished steel, higher steel mill utilization rates and mills actively on the hunt for ferrous scrap in recent weeks all point to a strong ferrous scrap trade in the United States in September.Higher numbers have already been tossed around, with sellers expecting scrap prices to rise by $20-40 per gross ton depending on the grade and the region in the pending trade. Some sugge...Read More

GFG Resources (TSXV: GFG; US-OTC: GFGSF) has begun this year's second-phase, 8,500-metre drill program at the 475-sq.-km Pen project, 40 km west of the Timmins gold district in Ontario.The program will test high-grade gold targets across four prospective areas of the property. Pen covers a 50-km-long section of Archean greenstone, the interpreted western extension of the Porcupine-Destor fault zon...Read More

After closing a $12-million private placement in August, Nighthawk Gold (TSX: NHK; US-OTC: MIMZF) is looking to triple the metres drilled at its Indin Lake gold project in Canada's Northwest Territories next year, with up to 75,000 metres planned using five drill rigs. The program, which starts this fall, marks a significant increase from this year's ongoing program of 25,000 metres using three dr...Read More

Iron ore futures rose on Monday August 31 due to a surge in steel prices over the weekend, but the physical market for the steelmaking raw material was largely stable.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.47 per tonne, up $0.10 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.21 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $109.94 per tonne,...Read More

Aurelius Minerals (TSXV: AUL) has released assay results for three holes completed within the Aureus West portion of its wholly owned 16.8-sq.-km Aureus gold project in Nova Scotia, 150 km from Halifax. These assays are from previously unsampled and unassayed core, which was extracted back in 2010 by a past project operator.The drill highlights include 22 metres of 2.31 grams gold per tonne from 8...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were relatively steady across the board on Monday August 31, though China's domestic coke market might strengthen soon amid tight supply.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.59 per tonne, down $0.31 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $114.83 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $85.93 per tonne, up $0.66 per tonn...Read More

Ecuador's Constitutional Court has struck down a request for a referendum on mining activities at INV Metal's (TSX: INV) Loma Larga underground mine project in Azuay province's Cuenca canton, the company reports.The referendum request, submitted on Aug. 3 by the prefect of Azuay, was the third referendum request for the project, all of which have been rejected by the country's top court."We have b...Read More

China imported nearly 7.37 million tonnes of coking coal in July, an increase of 17.8% from the previous month, Chinese customs data showed.The increase in coking coal imports is in line with China's steel output in July, which hit a record high.But China's coking coal imports for July were 4.9% lower than the 7.75 million tonnes brought...Read More

88 Energy (ASX:88E) Prepares for Billion Barrel Farm OutSPONSORED88 energyAVZ closes on financing for tier-one lithium projectSPONSOREDavz mineralsElement 25's Butcherbird on songSPONSOREDelement 25Lithium no quiet place for AVZSPONSOREDavz mineralsIt was Tsingshan Steel which stirred nickel 12 months ago with a big buying order that reportedly took 78,000 tonnes of nickel off the London Metal...Read More

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) and partner Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) are selling their 80% stake in Mali's Morila gold mine amid political uncertainty in the country following a recent coup, the second in less than 10 years.Australian miner Mali Lithium (ASX: MLL) will pay between US$22 million and US$27 million for the joint company that holds the two miners' stakes in the mine. The remai...Read More

Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets softened in the week ended Friday August 28 on reduced demand but those for concentrate edged up.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $131.87 per tonne, up $1.87 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $138.17 per tonne, down $1.10 per tonne.Key driversFew mills bought seaborne pellets last week, which kept inventory levels a...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Monday August 31, which led a major mill in northern China to raise its export offer by $10 per tonne.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,040-4,050 yuan ($589-590) yuan per tonne, up 30-50 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai raised their prices amid surging futures, although several sources in the city said trading activity was merely moderate in the spot marke...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Monday August 31 on stronger demand among stockists and a strengthening of the billet market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,670-3,700 yuan ($535-540) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneRebar demand is expected to rise in the next two months when consumption typically experiences a seasonal peak amid milder weather.The absence of any major calamities s...Read More

A revival of spot trading activity amid an improving auto industry and a drop in cheap imports sent US silicon prices close to 2020's year-to-date high.The rising price of secondary aluminium alloys, the main end market for the 5-5-3 grade silicon metal Fastmarkets prices in the United States, also drew the raw material up in its wake. Fastmarkets assessed the price for silicon, ddp US, at 94-97 c...Read More