Copper concentrate treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RCs) fell in the week ending Friday January 8, with more smelters looking for units on the spot market to replace delayed shipments from the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.This week, several parcels of clean concentrate for first-quarter shipment were sold to Chinese smelters at TC/RCs in the mid to high $40s per tonne, while some secon...Read More

Base metals, with the exception of copper and nickel, registered increases in inventory levels in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses in the week to Friday January 8, with zinc up the most at 22.5%. Zinc inventories totaled 35,008 tonnes, up by 6,427 tonnes (22.5%) from 28,581 tonnes a week earlier. The R&S Logistics warehouse in Shanghai recorded the largest inflow, with stocks up by...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index, which was published incorrectly on Monday January 4 due to a calculation error. Fastmarkets' weekly index for copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific (MB-CU-0287) should have been $44.70 per tonne, instead of $47.80 per tonne as previously published. Fastmarkets' weekly index for c...Read More

Base metals forward prices on the London Metals Exchange consolidated on the morning of Friday January 8, ending a week when some reached multi-year rises, due to a recovery in the dollar index. The three-month nickel price was down by 1.2% on Friday at 9am to $17,895 per tonne, while zinc fell by 1.4% to $2,848 per tonne from Thursday's closing prices of $18,109 per tonne and $2,888 per tonne res...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States climbed during the first week of 2021 after customers on the prowl for spot material came up mostly dry yet again. The new year ushered in the 22nd consecutive week of gains for one hot-dipped-galvanized metric.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US rose to $58.50 per hundredweight ($1,170...Read More

Brazilian automotive production rose by 22.8% year-on-year in December 2020, amid stronger export figures, national carmakers' association Anfavea said on Friday January 8.Vehicle output totaled 209,296 units in the last month of 2020, up from 170,504 units a year before. Volumes, however, were 12.1% lower than 238,200 units in November.Full-year production in 2020 was 2.01 million units, a 31.6%...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable day on day on Friday January 8 due to a seasonal demand slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets.Transaction prices are expected to increase in the first quarter, according to market participants.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?667.50 ($820.19) per tonne on Fri...Read More

ArcelorMittal has increased its official spot offer prices for coil products across Europe by ?,?30-50 ($37-61) per tonne effective immediately, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8.New offers for hot-rolled coil have increased to ?,?730 per tonne ex-works, up by ?,?30 per tonne. New offers for hot-dipped galvanized coil moved up by ?,?50 per tonne to ?,?850 per tonne ex-works. Official of...Read More

The export market for steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was quiet during the first week of January due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, but sentiment remained largely optimistic, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8.Offers from Russian and Ukrainian suppliers ranged between $620 and $625 per tonne fob before the holiday break.But higher offers for March-...Read More

Flat steel prices in the Turkish domestic and export market were unchanged in the first full week of 2021 after the festive holidays, while local producers were offering material with long lead times which buyers were hesitant to accept, sources told Fastmarkets. Domestic prices Market activity was slow during the week to Friday January 8 because it was the first week of 2021 and some countries we...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesWhile 2020 output was expected to come in near the top of Copper Mountain's guidance range due to higher mined ore grades, full-year production totalled 77.6 million pounds of copper versus the planned 70-75Mlb, with Q4 output at 23.1Mlb the 137-year-old operation's best ever quarter.Gold and silver production were also strong during the...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe company said mineralisation and favourable alteration appeared to be increasing with depth. Both holes ended in the favourable lithological host rocks for skarn-style alteration and mineralisation, indicating potential for more mineralisation at depth.Highlights included 59.05m grading 0.47% copper, 0.38 grams per tonne of gold and 3...Read More

Base metals prices were pausing and precious metals were mainly on a back footing this morning, Friday January 8, with sentiment generally bullish on the prospects for greater fiscal spending out of the United States when Joe Biden becomes the president in a few weeks’ time.* Asian-Pacific equities generally upbeat, along with pre-market western equity index futures* US 10-year treasury yield...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to refresh their scrap stocks in the week to Friday January 8, with fresh deep-sea cargoes booked at higher prices, while concerns increased over tight supply in Asia, with China entering the market.Turkish mills book more cargoes for February-March at escalating pricesUS East Coast exporters enjoy demand from Turkish producers; West Coast lacks fresh dealsVietnamese...Read More

The price of austenitic stainless scrap in the UK and Europe increased in the week to Friday January 8 on rising nickel costs and tight supply, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment of stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK increased to ?1,020-1,100 ($1,385-1,494) per tonne on Friday, up by ?40-50 per tonne from ?980-1,050 per tonne on Decem...Read More

Monthly European alloy steel surcharges have increased substantially for January on the back of further gains in the nickel market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8. Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe was calculated for January at ?,?1,578-1,604 ($1,939-1,971), up by ?,?71-88 per tonne from the December level of ?,?1,507-1...Read More

The British light iron market this week hit a high last seen in April 2013 due to strong export demand in Turkey for European exports, prompting a surge in UK demand for tightening domestic supplies, trade sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?130-145 ($177-197) per tonne on Friday Janua...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 14 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the December Employment Report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for December Non-farm Payrolls was s gain of 71,000 from an upwardly revised gain of 336,000 in November. Actual was a drop of 140,000. Consensus for the December Unemploym...Read More

The prices of steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan moved up in the week to Friday January 8 despite a dull and uncertain market, sources have told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $479.33 per tonne on Friday, up from $458.02 per tonne on December 31.Offers this week were in the range of $480-485 per tonne, up from...Read More

Turkish steelmakers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes at the end of this week to refresh their stock levels for February and March, sources said on Friday January 8.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $471.50 per tonne and bonus at $486.50 per tonne cfr.And a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo at $481 per tonne cfr on an HM...Read More