Chinese battery materials producer GEM Co has signed a five-year strategic cooperation framework agreement with Shanghai-listed battery manufacturer Farasis Energy to recycle spent electric vehicle batteries and battery scrap in China. Under the framework agreement, GEM will recycle, dismantle and re-use spent batteries and battery scrap from Farasis Energy, with prices to be led by market conditi...Read More

Selling prevailed on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Thursday August 19, with copper at its lowest levels in four months; tin's price decreased by as much as $4,000 during morning trade.Over 15,000 lots of copper had been traded by 9am on Thursday, more than half of the total 28,100 lots that were traded by the end of the day on Wednesday August 18, when the sell-off of the red metal w...Read More

The United States' domestic steel reinforcing bar prices were steady over the past week, with sources trying to absorb the mixed market signals of increased rebar demand and dropping prices for shredded scrap - rebar's key feedstock material.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on Wednesday August 18, unchanged from the previou...Read More

Production for 2021 is now forecast at 710-740,000 tonnes. Antofagasta flagged the water shortage as a potential risk to guidance in its June quarter production figures, released on July 21.Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose to nearly $97 per hundredweight ($1,940 per short ton) on Thursday August 19, surpassing the previous record set a week earlier.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $96.95 per cwt ($1,939 per ton) on August 19, up by 1.01% from $95.98 per cwt on Wednesday August 18, and 0.42% higher than the previous all-time...Read More

HVC was suspended on the weekend when the order was put in place by the district of Logan Lake. Teck said HVC was in the process of ramping back up to full operation and the company's copper guidance would be "updated as necessary after the risk of further effect on operations from wildfires subsides".HVC accounts for almost half the company's copper production and was expected to produce 128...Read More

Prices in the United States for imported hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and galvanized steel dropped due to Vietnam and Russia underbidding domestic and other foreign material in order to benefit from the lucrative US market."The Vietnamese are offering steel at much lower prices than domestic producers because they are still making a tidy profit," a West Coast trader source said.Fastmarkets' a...Read More

The cities of Al Ain and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates have issued decrees saying that only locally produced steel may be used in government-funded construction projects from Wednesday August 18 onward.The notices will apply to all projects approved after August 18. The move was intended to support the local steel industry, sources told Fastmarkets.The government projects to which...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 36 points in pre-opening trade.Equity index futures were waiting for release of the August Philly Fed Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus is an increase to 28.0 from 21.9 in July.Cisco slipped $0.65 to $54.50 despite reporting higher than consensus second quarter revenues and earnings. Nvidia added $4.18 to $194.58 after...Read More

German industrial group Thyssenkrupp has resumed steelmaking operations at its largest mill in Duisburg after scheduled maintenance, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday August 19.The company put blast-oxygen furnace No2 at the Duisburg steelworks, with capacity for 5.4 million tonnes per year of pig iron, back into operation on August 17, according to a press release seen by Fastmarkets.The meltshop...Read More

Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 23.85% year on year in July following the resumption of capacity that was idled early in the Covid-19 pandemic, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday August 19.Steel demand climbed to 2.36 million tonnes in July, up from 1.91 million tonnes a year before, data from A??o Brasil showed. Volumes, however, were down by 5.11%...Read More

Imported steel billet prices in Egypt fell in the week to Thursday, August 19, but demand failed to improve, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for billet imports, however, was weak because of limited demand for the end product, rebar.The Egyptian government ended the ban on construction on July 1.However, rebar demand remained low in Egypt during the week because of decreasing global...Read More

Brazil's Vale and Luxembourg-based steel producer Ternium signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to seek low-carbon steelmaking solutions in an attempt to cut emissions, the Brazilian mining company said on Thursday August 19.Plans include potentially installing an iron ore briquetting plant at Ternium Brasil, the steelmakers' slab mill in Brazil's southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro. Ot...Read More

Tata Steel India has commissioned its first steel recycling plant in Rohtak, Haryana, the company announced on August 18, providing a boost to the Indian domestic scrap industry.The plant will have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year and will be set up at Rohtak, Haryana. It is being built in partnership with Aarti Green Tech, a subsidiary of Aarti Steel, as a 'Build, Own, Operate' (BOO) partner...Read More

Iron ore prices continued to fall on Thursday August 19, with sentiment turning negative due to the bearish demand outlook, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $132.66 per tonne,down $20.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $133.30 per tonne,down $20.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $103.46 per tonne,down $20.02 per tonne65% F...Read More

A month-on-month drop in the Kanto Tetsugen auction and a price cut by major mill Tokyo Steel on Thursday August 19 has increased pessimism in the Japan steel scrap market, sources said.Japan's Kanto tender closed at a fall of $11 per tonne month on monthBearish sentiment in Chinese steel markets weighed on scrap import pricesTaiwan imported containerized scrap price stableJapanJapan's Kanto...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices inched higher in the cfr China market amid positive market sentiment, while fob Austrialia prices remained largely unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 19.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $366.41 per tonne, up $0.93 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $323.83 per tonne, up $1.16 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China extended their losses, falling to their lowest in about six weeks on Thursday August 19; futures prices continued their decline on demand concerns and waning cost supports.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,600-5,620 yuan ($863-866) per tonne, down by 90 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened for a second stra...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in China dropped sharply on Thursday August 19 on falling futures, but restocking demand picked up amid the decreases. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,010-5,040 yuan ($773-777) per tonne, down by 130 yuan per tonneThe most-traded January rebar futures contract dropped to a low of 4,925 yuan per tonne during Wednesday's night trading session - down by 219 yuan per tonne fr...Read More

A gradual increase in end-user demand kept domestic stainless steel prices in China from falling further in the week ended Wednesday August 18. Nickel and stainless steel futures also experienced small changes during the week, which helped to keep spot stainless steel prices stable. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $19,...Read More