Total London Metal Exchange off-warrant stock fell by 77,245 tonnes, or 3.9%, month on month to 1.88 million tonnes in December, according to its latest off-warrant stocks report. That is roughly the same amount by which stocks increased over November 2020, when data collected by the LME showed there was 1.96 million tonnes of metal held off-warrant. Although volumes of aluminium decreased by 4.9...Read More
Latin American crude steel production fell by 8.4% in 2020 over the previous year due to operations being halted or limited especially in the second quarter as a result of restrictions imposed in several countries to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, regional steel association Alacero said on Thursday February 11. According to data from Alacero, crude steel output totaled 55.56 million tonnes in Latin...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have increased this week in line with rising imported scrap values, which also triggered demand especially for exports, market sources said on Thursday February 11.The country's steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings on Wednesday, raising prices by around $10 per tonne.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have increased over the past week on a rebound in scrap costs and improving demand, sources said on Thursday February 11.The producers in the country resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings on Wednesday, dragging prices up by around $10 per tonne.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $396.04 per tonne on F...Read More
Demand for steel billet and rebar was still very poor in Egypt in the week to Thursday February 11 but producers were not giving discounts because of increasing prices for raw materials, sources have told Fastmarkets.Egyptian demand for long steel products has been weak since the country imposed a ban on construction in May 2020.The rules of the ban were eased in September 2020, but that did not h...Read More
With markets in China and much of Southeast Asia closed on Thursday February 11 ahead of Lunar New Year, trading on the London Metal Exchange this morning has been quiet with the base metals ranged between being down by 0.3% and up by 0.2%.* The US Dollar Index remains on a back foot* US 10-year treasury yields were weaker than they were at the start of the weakBase metalsThe three-month base meta...Read More
China Large Cap iShares (FXI) moved above $53.14 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Hong Kong iShares (EWH) moved above $26.54 extending an intermediate uptrend.Asia ex Japan iShares (EPP) moved above $50.52 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.Australia iShares (EWA) moved above $25.11 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.KraftHeinz (KHC), a N...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices increased again on Thursday February 11, in response to news of a fresh cargo arriving from the US, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $410 per tonne, 4,000 tonnes of shredded at $415 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $420 per tonne cfr.This compared with the prev...Read More
The fob seaborne premium hard coking coal prices drifted lower on Thursday February 11 amid thin demand during the Lunar New Year holiday period in Asia. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $142.01 per tonne, down $3.51 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.23 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.57 per tonne, down $2.50 per tonn...Read More
Iron ore prices were rangebound on Thursday February 11 due to limited market activity while China begins its week-long Chinese New Year holiday, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.88 per tonne, down $0.02 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $167.25 per tonne, unchanged 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $152.66 per tonne, up $0.64...Read More
Rebounding scrap prices in Asia have caused Taiwanese importers of containerized ferrous scrap to source material even with the start of the Lunar New Year holidays in the territory.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $370-375 per tonne on Thursday February 11, unchanged from a day earlier but u...Read More
Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesEnvironmental and social governance (ESG) is critical to the success of miningSPONSOREDonyen corporationWith multiple auction rounds planned for 2021, interested parties need to register from F...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to reduce the frequency of its two low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) indices to a weekly basis from a daily basis.This is due to the illiquid nature of the spot market, which has been further affected by China's ongoing ban on Australian coal.The specifications with proposed amendments in italics are as follows:MB-COA-0007 PCI low-vol, cfr Jingtang, $/dmtQuali...Read More
With markets in China and much of Southeast Asia closed on Thursday February 11 ahead of Lunar New Year, trading on the London Metal Exchange this morning has been quiet with the base metals ranged between being down by 0.3% and up by 0.2%.The US Dollar Index remains on a back foot US 10-year treasury yields were weaker than they were at the start of the weakBase metalsThe three-month base metals...Read More
Fastmarkets rounds up the latest logistical issues affecting supplies of metal, ores and alloys from African countries, in the period ended Thursday February 11.February 4Fastmarkets reports that South32 has declared force majeure on some manganese shipments after rail lines to its Hotazel Manganese Mines consortium were suspended under state transportation provider Transnet's force majeure notice...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade,...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday February 10. Key drivers There was renewed optimism after a long period of lackluster trading. Demand in India, a major spot market consumer of the metal, has risen over the past two weeks and some producers are reportedly sold out. There was strong interest in a tender from Russian...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Indian steelmaker Jindal Stainless up to December 31, 2020, representing the third quarter and first nine months of its 2020-21 business year.In brief Shipping costs for imported raw materials increased by 30-35% in July-December 2020 compared with the first-half of 2020. In October-December 2020, Jindal Stainless' share of domestic sales grew to 85% up...Read More
Canaccord Genuity mining analyst Dalton Baretto has raised his copper price forecast for the first quarter from US$3.50 per lb. to US$3.75 per lb."Given the average quarter to date price of $3.61 per lb., this implies that the price will need to average $3.89 per lb. over the rest of the quarter," he wrote in a Feb. 10 research note to clients, adding that his price forecast for the second quarter...Read More