Copper is once again pushing ahead with its advance toward $10,000 per tonne this morning, Tuesday April 27, and such is the upward momentum now across most of the complex that it has woken nickel up from its two-month slumber in low ground.* Market focused on economies that are recovering...* ...less so on the areas where Covid-19 is ragingBase metalsMost of the LME three-month base metals prices...Read More

The flat steel import market in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia was slow in the week to Tuesday, April 27, with some prices edging down while others nudged up, sources told Fastmarkets.The weak demand was due working hours being reduced in both countries during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which started on the evening of April 12.In addition, most buyers said the current price leve...Read More

Prices for steel billet and rebar were mostly stable in the United Arab Emirates during the week to Tuesday April 27 because of weak demand during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources told Fastmarkets.Working hours are reduced during Ramadan and the month is traditionally a period of low trading activity for the Middle East region, Fastmarkets understands.Rebar producers in the UAE...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationUnder the bill approved on Monday by the Mining Commission of Chile's lower house, the state would receive a royalty of 3% of the value of minerals extracted compared to the current royalty calculatedRead More

Ferrous prices in Asia are rising at a steady pace and look likely to surpass 2008's high levels as early as next month, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week.Coking coal and cokeSupply tightness in both the domestic and import markets for high-quality, low-sulfur hard coking coal should continue to support prices in May, sources said.Since the start of April, domestic supply shortages have...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices stopped rising on Tuesday April 27 because buying interest dropped after Monday's price hike, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,230 yuan ($802-806) per tonne, unchangedEnd users felt it was difficult to keep high procurement rates at their current prices and they bid lower, a trader in Shanghai said. Sellers maintained prices because t...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices edged closer to record highs last seen in July 2008 on Tuesday April 27 amid sustained measures to control emissions in the country's northern region.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,760-5,800 yuan ($888-894) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneSpot sellers in Shanghai offered cargoes at 5,780-5,800 yuan per tonne in the morning but lowered these to 5,760-5,78...Read More

Splunk (SPLK), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved below $130.55 extending an intermediate downtrend.Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday April 27thU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Tesla (TSLA) dropped $16.00 to $722.20 despite reporting higher than consensus first quarter revenues and earnings. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) added $3.10 to...Read More

What took Wall Street so long to figure out something I’ve been saying for months?Six months ago, even before the presidential election in November, I began warning my readers that Joe Biden was going to double the capital gains tax.It wasn't a difficult prediction. Biden said so himself in his campaign website as one of a long list of policy proposals.Of course, the mainstream media didn't...Read More

Brazil-based miner Vale predicts 60 million tonnes of iron ore supply will be added to the seaborne market in 2021, with it being one of the main contributors to that volume, ferrous director Marcello Spinelli said on Tuesday April 27.Brazil alone will account for around 40 million tonnes of that production growth, Spinelli said.Iran, which was heavily pressured in 2020, will probably supply more...Read More

Turkish steel mills have started buying deep-sea scrap again at steady prices for shipment in June, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 27.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $427.50 per tonne cfr.This compared with the most recent deep-sea transactions heard on April 21, when two Baltic Sea suppliers secu...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices increased in the cfr market amid necessary procurement activity, which kept prices largely stable in the fob market on Tuesday April 27.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.46 per tonne, down $0.32 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $222.72 per tonne, up $1.11 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.37 per tonne, up $0...Read More

Prices for imported ferrous scrap in China edged up on Tuesday April 27 amid renewed interest in imports.Offer prices remained stable because of the approaching Golden Week holiday period in Japan, sources said. Offers for imported ferrous scrap were heard at $510-520 per tonne cfr north China - equivalent to around $500-510 per tonne cfr east China."Many sellers are either holding on to carg...Read More

Chinese steel mills are likely to import more pig iron, hot-briquetted iron (HBI) and steel scrap to feed basic oxygen furnaces in 2021 due to the stringent restrictions imposed on blast furnaces in China, market participants told Fastmarkets recently.The China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) is actively advocating more cuts to the country's pig iron production to achieve this year's goal of reduc...Read More

Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao, rose to a new record high on Tuesday April 27 with iron ore prices all going up further. The 62% Fe index has been above the previous high of $183.59 per tonne, set in January 2011, since April 20.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $195.31 per tonne, up by $1.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $196.35 pe...Read More

Aluminium smelters are reeling in profits, with the London Metal Exchange aluminium price and premiums at multi-year highs and raw material prices depressed due to oversupply, sources said.The LME three-month aluminium price traded at a high of $2,412 per tonne so far on Tuesday, the highest since April 23, 2018, when the price hit a high of $2,531 per tonne."The light metal remains well supported...Read More

Copper and nickel were the leaders of the rally during morning trading on Tuesday April 27 on the London Metal Exchange, rising by 1.6% and 1.7% as of 9am from their Monday prices, which were also on an upward momentum.LME copper's three-month price is nearing its all-time high of $10,190 per tonne from February 2011, having hit $9,965 per tonne during early trading. It was at $9,911 per tonne at...Read More

A summary of South32's results for its third quarter ending March 31, 2021.In brief:Net cash increased by $242 million to $517 million in the quarter due to a strong operating performance combined with improving commodity prices. Brazil's sellable alumina production increased by 1% to a record 1,049,000 tonnes in the nine months to March 2021 while the refinery continued to benefit from strong pla...Read More

Copper is once again pushing ahead with its advance toward $10,000 per tonne this morning, Tuesday April 27, and such is the upward momentum now across most of the complex that it has woken nickel up from its two-month slumber in low ground. Market focused on economies that are recovering......less so on the areas where Covid-19 is ragingBase metalsMost of the LME three-month base metals prices we...Read More

Workers at silicon and manganese producer FerroAtlantica's Monzon plant in Spain have called a one-day strike on Thursday April 29, after a restructuring of the ferro-alloys production unit was announced, Fastmarkets learnt on April 27.A third meeting between employees and the company to negotiate collective redundancies heard a proposal by owner Ferroglobe that these would affect 63 workers at th...Read More