The market for pig iron in the United States improved during the week ended Friday May 29, with suppliers bullish amid continued demand and higher prices in China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $310-312 per tonne on Friday, up from $305-310 per tonne a week before. "Our next deals will be at a higher level [than the previous purchase a...Read More

The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India in containers moved up on Friday May 29, on growing interest from mills returning to the market for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $275.21 per tonne on Friday, up from $266.67 per tonne a week earlier. Many market...Read More

The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK has moved higher by ?5 ($6) per tonne in the week to Friday May 29, the first price movement in May. Reduced arisings from scrap generation amid a slump in manufacturing and construction is outweighing slow demand from steelmakers.The price move may extend into monthly steel scrap delivery prices to consumers in the UK steel sector, wit...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases on Friday May 29, with prices increasing slightly, sources said.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a 42,000-tonne UK cargo comprising 3,000-8,000 tonnes of bonus at $262.50 per tonne, 10,000-15,000 tonnes of shredded at $257.50 per tonne and the balance HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $252.50 per tonne cfr. The latest shipment date for...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices increased rapidly on Friday May 29 on growing concerns over supplies from Brazil. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $102.39 per tonne, up $5.30 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $105 per tonne, up $6.11 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $87.30 per tonne, up $1.76 per tonne. 65% Fe Brazil-origi...Read More

Premium hard coking coal prices slumped after lower transaction prices emerged on Friday May 29, amid concerns that quota restrictions in China will be tightened.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.59 per tonne, down $2.64 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $116.45 per tonne, down $3.32 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.56 per tonne, up...Read More

Deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses moved in different directions in the week to Friday May 29, with copper posting the biggest decline, while lead saw the biggest gains. SHFE copper stocks stood at 144,988 tonnes on Friday, down by 30,837 tonnes, or 17.5%, from 175,825 tonnes the previous week. Copper inventories fell for the second straigh...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held on to the previous day's gains during morning trading on Friday May 29, while a second consecutive day of fresh cancellations of metal offered support to LME copper futures. The LME three-month copper price was recently trading at $1,541 per tonne, up $9 per tonne on the previous day's close.Gains were broadly capped across the majority of th...Read More

Broader markets were generally weaker this morning, Friday May 29, while they wait for what United States President Donald Trump's response will be to China's plans to impose national security laws in Hong Kong. The base metals were mixed, however. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange only the lead contract was showing price falls, while most of the base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More

An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More

Boliden has stopped processing operations at its Kevitsa mine in Finland after a fire broke out overnight and caused "extensive" damage to a crushing plant there, it said on May 29."Production at the concentrating plant is halted until further notice [but] mining production is unaffected," the company said.Kevitsa produced 27,498 tonnes of copper in concentrates, 13,948of nickel in concentrat...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ending Friday May 29.China UG2 chrome ore prices rose for a fourth consecutive week - deals at higher prices were reported, reflecting attempts to restock among ferro-chrome producers with low on-hand inventories. Domestic spot ferro-chrome prices stabilized - sentiment further strengthened after Taiyuan Iro...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ending Friday May 29.China Domestic prices continued to rise, propelled higher by supply tightness. Market sentiment also improved after many steel mills set their June tender prices for ferro-silicon at 5,900-6,000 yuan ($824-838) per tonne for cargoes...Read More

Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC) has released full assays for hole CR20-33 as well as nickel assays for hole CR20-32, which step out the East zone nickel-PGM mineralization by 400 metres to the east and extend the Main zone nickel mineralization by 1.5 km to the north.Drill highlights include 38 metres of 0.37% nickel and 0.17 gram per tonne PGMs within a 315-metre interval of 0.25% nickel starting at 12...Read More

Bank of America forecasts global copper consumption could contract by 18% year-over-year in 2020 should global GDP drop by an estimated 4.2% due to economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Although a decline in copper purchases of this magnitude "would be devastating for the red metal and also the wider mined commodities complex," the bank said in a research note today, it also note...Read More

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) appears to be back on track towards obtaining final permits for its proposed massive copper-gold mine in Alaska after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declined to subject the project to water pollution restrictions evaluations, which have effectively stalled the project since they were outlined in 2014.The move reduces the likelihood of a potential...Read More

Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, saw profit nosedive in the first three months of the year as prices for the metal dropped to an average of US$2.49 per lb. in the same period compared to US$2.72 a year earlier.The state-owned miner reported an 85% decline in profit to US$54 million in the first quarter of 2020, even though production climbed 6% to 361,000 tonnes.Lower costs -...Read More

BMO Capital Markets has hiked its long-run gold and silver price forecasts to US$1,400 per oz. and US$18.25 per oz., increases of 16.7% and 5.8%, respectively.The bank's long term price forecasts have been "static" since 2015, the analysts stated, noting that "changing a long-term price is not something we take lightly, or indeed do very often."In the nearer term, BMO's analysts forecast gold pric...Read More

After beginning the year by formally appointing Peter Kukielski as its CEO, and this month settling a long-drawn-out boardroom battle with its second-largest investor, Canadian copper producer Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) is setting its sights on gold.Despite strong performance at its Canadian operations, Hudbay swung to a loss in the first three months of the year, mainly due to weak base met...Read More