Chinese copper and zinc smelters are now finding the sulfuric-acid price hike had provided some breathing room as a key source of income while processing fees for concentrate both sank to multi-year low levels, Fastmarkets understands.The sale of sulfuric acid - a major by-product of copper and zinc smelting - has been generating more cash for smelters, with acid prices increasing substantially in...Read More

Deliverable lead stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell by 15.8% during the week to Friday March 26, while inventories of other base metals showed minimal movement, according to the exchange's latest stocks report.Lead stocks dropped by 7,984 tonnes to 42,672 tonnes, compared with 50,656 tonnes the previous week.The largest outflow was recorded at warehouses run by Zhejiang...Read More

Micon Awarded Front End Engineering Design and Definitive Feasibility StudySPONSOREDmicon internationalHot Chili rises to the topSPONSOREDhot chiliMarimaca timing its run to meet resurgent demand for copperSPONSOREDmarimaca copperFilo del Sol copper-gold-silver advanced explorationSPONSOREDfilo miningEBITDA was £29.3 million (ZAR622 million), while revenue jumped 110% yoy for the half to &po...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have held above $66 per hundredweight ($1,320 per short ton), although buyers remain wary of importing.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $66.17 per cwt ($1,323.40 per ton) on Friday March 26, up slightly from $66.12 per cwt on Thursday March 25 and 1.83% higher than $64.98 per cwt the week before.Fresh inputs w...Read More

Indian hot-rolled coil export prices have increased by $30-35 per tonne during the week to Friday March 26 on continued demand from South East Asian countries.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel hot-rolled coil (commodity) export, fob main port India was $790-800 per tonne on Friday, an increase of $30-35 per tonne from $760-765 per tonne last week.The assessment was based on indicative offers from.....Read More

Hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and pre-painted galvanized iron, or color coated coil, prices in Turkey increased by $15-50 per tonne during the week to Friday March 26, with more increases expected, sources told Fastmarkets.Market sources expect more price increases because of strong demand in both the local and export markets, as well as increasing production costs.Prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) -...Read More

Flat steel prices increased further on strong demand during the week to Friday March 26, even as scrap prices decreased, sources told Fastmarkets.Hot-rolled coil producers in Turkey were accepting orders to be produced in late July, and cold-rolled coil was offered for July and August.Several import deals were heard during the week from Russia.There were no new offers from China, which has been an...Read More

The domestic steel rebar market in Poland was static over the week to Friday March 26 amid slow buying, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was 2,900-2,930 ($738-746) zloty per tonne on Friday, the same as seven days earlier.Rebar was heard traded in the secondary market at about 2,900-2,910 zloty per tonne delivered...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of U.S. economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for February Personal Income was a drop of 7.0% versus a revised gain of 10.1% in January. Actual was a drop of 7.1%. Consensus for February Personal Spending was a drop of 0.7% versus...Read More

Deep-sea scrap import prices in Turkey plunged this week but a recovery in rebar exports was expected to bring support to the market soon, while markets in Asia, apart from China, have already felt the revival.Scrap exporters in the United States, however, were lowering their buy prices during the working week from Monday March 22 to Friday March 26. Turkish import prices crash, but set to recover...Read More

A man shovels himself deep into a hole. He then wishes to climb out. What must he do first?He must stop the digging.Yet the United States government has shoveled itself into a $28 trillion hole. How does it plan to rise out of it?By digging deeper... and deeper... and deeper.Within one year... the United States government has shoveled up nearly $6 trillion of "pandemic relief."$6 trillion is plent...Read More

Gold has taken a hit this year, no doubt about it. Since peaking over $1,950 in early January, the price of gold has fallen to $1,725 today.But not all is doom and gloom. Some perspective is needed. If we go back to the beginning of the current bull market on December 16, 2015 (when gold bottomed at $1,050 per ounce), gold is up over 60% even at today's beaten-down price.That bottom occurred on th...Read More

Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan trended downward in the week to Friday March 26 as a result of slow trading activity and weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $423.29 per tonne on Friday, down from $427.50 per tonne one week before.A deal was heard at $423 per tonne thi...Read More

Pig iron import prices in the United States weakened in the seven days to Friday March 26 under pressure from falling scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets.Scrap is a relative substitute for pig iron in electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking and its price is a good indicator for pig iron buyers.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $555-565 per t...Read More

Pig iron export prices from Brazil fell in the week to Friday March 26 on slow demand, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $510-515 per tonne on Friday, down from $520 per tonne a week earlier.The target price for suppliers from the south of Brazil was...Read More

Turkish steel producers started to look for scrap cargoes at the end of this week after the latest downturn in prices and a revival of demand for long steel products in Southeast Asia, market sources said on Friday March 26.With news of a UK-origin cargo sold at $410 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis, the daily scrap indices plunged by around $24 per tonne on March 25.But several steel mil...Read More

The export price for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell in the week to Thursday March 25, although the drop was capped by steady supplier offers, sources said. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $520-530 per tonne on Thursday, down by $10 per tonne from $530-540 per tonne a week before. "Other...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal price reversed down in the cfr market and inched higher in the fob market on Friday March 26 amid a positive outlook on the demand side in the fob market, sources said.The seaborne low-volatility pulverized coal injection price increased in the fob market amid more procurement activity while falling down in the cfr market due to weak demand and sufficient local su...Read More

Iron ore prices increased on Friday March 26, supported by the strong steel prices, especially in billet, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $161.30 per tonne, up $1.45 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $162.74 per tonne, up $0.61 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $147.66 per tonne, up $0.69 per tonne 65% Fe B...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices remained strong on Friday March 26, which encouraged suppliers in India to issue high export offers, particularly in the absence of any clarity on the former's export tax rebate.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,100-5,150 yuan ($780-788) per tonne, widening from 5,110-5,130 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 5,050-5,100 yuan per tonne, up...Read More