Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliThe stars have aligned and shine bright over a certain hillside on South Australia's Copper Coast - just a couple of hours drive from the capital city of Adelaide.It's there, on the Yorke Peninsula, where Rex Minerals' Hillside copper-gold project resides. It's shovel ready with 2 million tonnes of relatively easy-to-develop copp...Read More

Prices in the CIS export steel slab market picked up in the week to Monday March 1 with bookings heard at higher prices in Italy. Higher costs for raw materials and raised prices for finished flat steel prices supported the uptrend in the slab sector.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $450.49 per tonne on March 1, down...Read More

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Forest Service on Monday March 1 rescinded a January decision that would have cleared the way for a land swap deal for the Resolution Copper project involving Native American land in Arizona.According to an update on the project website, the USDA on March 1 "directed the Forest Service to withdraw the notice of availability and rescind the...Read More

The benchmark A380.1 secondary aluminium alloy price and the London Metal Exchange's North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) spiked to more than six-year highs, supported by healthy demand even as a semiconductor chip shortage disrupts automotive supply chains.Fastmarkets assessed aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest at $1.10-1.11 per lb on Thursday February 25, up 2.31% from...Read More

Ecobat has hired Sebastian Rudow as managing director of Berzelius Metall, the holding group for the company's German and Austrian assets. Rudow joins from European lead rival Recylex, which he has led...Read More

Fastmarkets plans to launch two new prices on a CIF China, Japan and Korea basis - nickel sulfate, cif China, Japan and Korea, $ per tonne, and nickel sulfate premium, cif China, Japan and Korea, $ per tonne.Fastmarkets Research estimates that the current demand for class 1 nickel units for use in electric vehicle (EV) batteries accounts for a minimal 3-4% market share, but this is forecast to inc...Read More

U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures gained 36 points in pre-opening trade. Strength was trigger by strength in Far East equity markets. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.21% and the Nikkei Average advanced 2.41%. China is expected to announce its five year economic plan tomorrow.Berskshire Hathaway advanced $4.99 to $245.50 after releasing its annual report....Read More

Publication of Fastmarkets' assessment of blister copper refining charges (RCs) for February was delayed due to a reporter error.The price assessment for copper blister 98-99% RC, spot, cif China, is normally published on the last trading day of the month.The price should therefore have been published on Friday February 26. It was instead published on Monday March 1. The price was $160-170 per ton...Read More

UC Rusal has signed and started the drawdown of a loan worth 45 billion roubles ($603 million) from VTB and Gazprombank to fund the capital expenditure of its Taishet aluminium smelter (TaAZ), it said on Monday March 1. Under the terms of the syndicated loan agreement, VTB will provide 30 billion roubles and Gazprombank will provide 15 billion roubles over a period of up to 15 years. The funds rai...Read More

Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up day on day on Monday March 1, supported by short supply, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?740 ($893.16) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?2 from ?,?738 per tonne on Friday.The index was up by ?,?15 per tonne week on week and ?,?26.67 per tonne...Read More

Turkey's total volume of flat steel exports fell by 33.55% year on year in January, despite a 202.30% increase in cold-rolled flat steel shipments, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The main reason for the decrease was the imposition of duties on Turkish hot-rolled coil in Europe, the country's largest export destination, which led to a sharp drop in hot-ro...Read More

Domestic prices for flat steel in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow were broadly stable over the past week, supported by cautiously optimistic sentiment amid rising exports and expected shortages because of maintenance at key suppliers, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 1. Hot-rolled sheet Trading activity in the region was subdued amid seasonally slow demand. Market participa...Read More

Domestic steel rebar prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow fell in the week to Monday March 1, due to seasonally slow demand and aggressive pricing by some producers, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia, was 50,000 roubles ($670) per tonne, including 20% value-added tax, on March 1, down by 4,000-...Read More

Turkey's flat steel import volumes decreased by 11.98% year on year in January 2021, according to the latest statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The country imported 637,818 tonnes of flat steel in January this year, compared with 724,601 tonnes a year ago. The main reason for decreasing imports was weak demand for imported steel in October 2020, when some of the bookings for...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to purchase deep-sea scrap at the end of the last week as a result of securing more steel sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday March 1.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $456 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis late on Friday February 26, but the cargo composition was not exposed by the parties.This transaction compares...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone up over the past week because of increasing imported scrap values, market sources said on Monday March 1.Prices for steel scrap imported into Turkey continued to rise after mills in the country booked a number of cargoes from Europe, the United States and the Baltic Sea region in the past week, supported by growing demand and rising prices for rebar and bill...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged on Monday March 1, with buyers from China showing little interest in purchasing cargoes.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.05 per tonne, up $1.32 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.81 per tonne, down $0.74 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $119.17 per tonne, down $0.10 per to...Read More

Iron ore prices dipped on Monday March 1, in line with finished steel prices, with sentiment potentially affected by the Chinese government's commitment to reduce emissions by cutting crude steel output in 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.55 per tonne,down $1.23 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.96 per tonne,down $1.31 p...Read More

Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets rose in the week ended Friday February 26 amid strong demand for steel products in China and stricter measures to cut emissions ahead of the annual meetings of policymakers in Beijing this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $198.94 per tonne, up $6.33 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $222.08 per...Read More

Plans to raise export offers for Chinese hot-rolled coil this week have emerged despite a weakening of domestic prices for the flat steel product in China on Monday March 1.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,820-4,840 yuan ($744-747) per tonne, down 60 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said sellers in the city's spot market made price cuts on seeing the futures market weaken.The move e...Read More