Brazilian iron ore exports are not being affected by the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country, despite recent data showing a slowdown, Usiminas' mining arm director Carlos Rezzonico said in a conference call on Friday May 22.Minera????o Usiminas (Musa), a 70:30 joint venture between Usiminas and Japanese group Sumitomo Corp, has been operating normally during the pandemic, the executive told...Read More

Turkish producers returned the market late in the week ended Friday May 22, paying higher prices, while Asian buyers were in no hurry to purchase imported cargoes.Turkish mills purchase at higher pricesUS export market silentVietnam halts purchases after offers jumpTaiwanese prices peaking, sources sayIndian market remains steady.TurkeyTurkish producers were out of the spot market for most of this...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases at the end of the week at steady prices, sources said on Friday May 22.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 13,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $250 per tonne, 9,000 tonnes of shredded at $255 per tonne and 6,500 tonnes of a mixture of bonus and busheling at $260 per tonne cfr.The same mill booked a...Read More

The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap prices in Europe moved slightly higher in the week to Friday May 22 on scarce availability despite demand remaining at low levels, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK assessment was ?750-800 ($916-977) per tonne on Friday, up by ?20 per tonne on the low end from ?730-800 pe...Read More

The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India in containers was largely unchanged on Friday May 22, with the country looking to re-enter the market, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $266.67 per tonne on Friday, little changed from $265.50 per tonne one week before.Trading in the country has been almo...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices dipped slightly on Friday May 22 with the opening of China's twin sessions, in which, for the first time since 1994, no gross domestic product growth target was set by the Chinese government. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $97.65 per tonne, down $0.61 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $100.28 per tonne, down $1.35 per tonne. 58% Fe...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Friday May 22 due to mixed news emerging from a meeting of policymakers in Beijing.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,590 yuan ($500-503) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) - weekly assessment: 3,550-3,600 yuan per tonne, up by 130-140 yuan per tonne Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in the morning that there would not be a gross...Read More

Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices narrowed downward on Friday May 22 after the Chinese government decided for the first time to drop its gross domestic product growth target for this year.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,570 yuan ($500-501) per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,510-3,520 yuan per tonne, unchangedPremier Li Keqiang confirmed at...Read More

A 14,350-tonne fresh cancellation of aluminium in London Metal Exchange-approved Asian sheds, as of 9am on Friday May 22, kept the metal's three-month price above thepsychological level of $1,500-tonne.The light metal's LME three-month contract was trading at around $1,506.50 per tonne during morning trading, down from the previous day's $1,521-per-tonne close.LME aluminium futures breached $1,500...Read More

Broad markets were weaker this morning, Friday May 22, led by a 4.8% fall in the Hang Seng; base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down across the board. Given the dire economic situation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the last thing the global economy needs is an escalation in the United States-China trade war that the latter's plans to...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

The price of stainless steel in Europe was stable in the week to Friday May 22, but mills are expected to announce significantly higher alloy surcharges for June next week after Outokumpu published higher figures on its website this week.Outokumpu, which traditionally is the first to announce new surcharges each month, said its June alloy surcharge for grade-304 flat products will be ?,?1,363 ($1,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More

One of the oldest companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Moneta Porcupine Mines (TSX: ME; US-OTC: MPUCF), believes it has found a new zone of gold mineralization at its Golden Highway project, 100 km east of Timmins, Ontario.Drilling 1 km to the west of the project's South West deposit and 500 metres from the company's recent Westaway discovery intersected 4 metres grading 8.09 grams gold...Read More

Canada's Dominion Diamond Mines has unveiled a transaction that would allow it to exit court protection from creditors and access short-term operating funds, which would pave the way to eventually restart its idled Ekati mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.The company, which owns and operates the iconic Ekati diamond mine and also has a 40% interest in the nearby Diavik, said it had signed a le...Read More

Australian iron ore major Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) has invested $1.38 million (US$984,000) in Candente Copper (TSX: DNT), increasing its stake in the Canadian junior from 9.7% to 19.92%.Through wholly owned subsidiary Nascent Exploration, Fortescue has subscribed for 27.5 million shares at 5 ? apiece in Candente, which owns a series of copper assets in Peru. Those include Ca??ariaco Norte...Read More

The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK has been steady over past week and unchanged in May, supported by lower scrap arisings and material being delivered into yards amid a slowdown in heavy industry manufacturing, sources said.Market support looks likely in the near term as competition for scrap looks firmer among some major shredders for feed. While there is slower trade at...Read More

Infill drilling at QMX Gold's (TSXV: QMX) Bonnefond deposit, near Val d'Or, Que., continues to hit strong intercepts as the company prepares a resource update to be released this summer.The junior released assays from nine holes drilled in the eastern part of the deposit meant to test the extension of mineralized shears east of the Bonnefond intrusive, along 200 metres of strike.Hole 105A targeted...Read More

Traders dealing in containerized steel scrap are battling expensive freight rates, while holiday banking closures in Pakistan are causing additional concerns in the market.Container freight rates for scrap have continued to increase in recent months due to factors such as a renewed tightness of containers following bottlenecks at ports, together with shipping lines looking to recoup some of their...Read More