Buyers in China and the Philippines have recently booked a handful of steel billet import cargoes, leading to a rise in offer prices in the past day, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 25.Demand for physical cargoes of imported billet in China has been hampered by volatile futures markets over the past week, while interest in Southeast Asia has been hurt by ongoing battles with Covid-19...Read More

Trading remained thin in China's steel plate export market in the week to Tuesday August 24 due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, uncompetitive offer prices and uncertainty surrounding China's export tax.Fastmarkets' price assessment for October-shipment steel heavy plate export, fob China main port was $915-925 per tonne on Tuesday, down by $20-25 per tonne from a week earlier.Yingkou Medium P...Read More

Tsingshan Group has lowered its tender price for September-delivery ferro-chrome to 9,995 yuan ($1,543) per tonne, the Chinese stainless steelmaker said on Wednesday August 25.The tender price is 800 yuan per tonne (7.41%) lower than what the eastern Chinese mill - the country's largest ferro-chrome buyer - had sought for August-delivery material.While lower than the previous month's 13-year high,...Read More

CIBC World Markets Inc. stated in a research report that MAG Silver posted solid results from its 2020 110-hole drill program at its Juanicipio JV Project in Fresnillo, Mexico. CIBC commented that when the new 4,000 tpd Juanicipio mill comes online it will provide a key catalyst towards growing throughput processing capabilities and expanding the resource In an August 5 research report, CIBC Worl...Read More

Adrian Day of Adrian Day's Global Analyst discusses Pan American Silver and Fortuna Silver, two companies he believes, despite their rough patches, offer value to investors. Our favorite silver producers have experienced difficult times recently, with COVID restrictions hitting Mexico, Peru, and Argentina particularly hard. For both, stock prices are very weak, but both are undervalued and very s...Read More

Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained flat on Wednesday August 25 due to the quiet summer market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,400-1,430 ($1,644-1,679) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.Trading remains low during the summer holidays - participants have not yet returne...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 23 that are worth another look.Increasing costs for long-term storage at the Chinese port of Tiajnin have added to the financial burdens facing alloy smelters and trading houses this year.Tianyuan Manganese Industry Group (TMI), said to be the world's largest producer of manganese flake, has not halted production, it told Fas...Read More

Russian steelmaker Metalloinvest and another, unnamed, non-European steel company, are in discussions about acquiring Hungarian flat steel producer Dunaferr, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The Hungarian steelmaker's owners have been in negotiations with both parties and a decision is imminent, sources said, because Dunaferr is about to go through the liquidation process. Metalloinv...Read More

The provincial government of Liaoning in northeastern China has approved a merger between Anshan Iron & Steel (Angang) and Benxi Iron & Steel (Bengang), according to a notice released by the latter's listed arm, Bengang Plate, on Thursday August 19.The owner of Bengang - Liaoning's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission - will transfer a 51% controlling stake in the steelmaker...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 25 that are worth another look.The global markets for containerized freight have entered even deeper water in recent weeks, with closures at the key port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China leading to worsening cargo delays, port congestion and a further...Read More

Spot refined zinc ingot premiums have firmed to multi-year highs in the United States and Europe, with smelter hitches and increasingly expensive transportation stretching supply chains further during the summer season in the northern hemisphere.US spot zinc premium rises to a more than four-year high Rotterdam, Antwerp zinc premiums at highest since early 2018China market eyes narrowing negative...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday August 25.Please click...Read More

Sentiment was mixed in the European hot-rolled coil market on Wednesday August 25, with activity starting to recover slowly after holidays, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers who have returned to the market after the traditional holiday period in August were taking their time before making deals, believing that prices would decline. Mills, in the meantime, felt no pressure to make deals at discounts...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 25 that are worth another look.The global markets for containerized freight have entered even deeper water in recent weeks, with closures at the key port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China leading to worsening cargo delays, port congestion and a further...Read More

If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More

Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More

London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices increased in the cfr China market following a strong domestic coking coal market on Wednesday August 25 and stayed largely firm in the fob Australia market amid low trading activities, market sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $391.84 per tonne, up $5.01 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $365.31 per tonne, up $8.63 per tonnePr...Read More

Iron ore prices mostly increased on Wednesday August 25 despite weaker trading activity in the physical market, especially at Chinese ports, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $148.66 per tonne, up by $2.53 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $148.95 per tonne, up by $0.99 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $116.96 per to...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China stemmed their recent rally on Wednesday August 25 while industry data points to an output increase in mid-August.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,690-5,720 yuan ($879-883) per tonne, widening downward by 20 yuan per tonneThe China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) said on Tuesday morning that daily crude steel output from its member mills average...Read More