Turkish steel producers spent Thursday March 8 without making any deep-sea scrap transactions, but they are still expected to book more cargoes for April, according to market sources.The mills have booked a number of deep-sea cargoes this week, leading to an increase in the prices."Today, the scrap market was quiet, but Turkish mills need more...Read More

China's coke export offers have risen to track domestic price increases after the country's Chinese New Year break, but trading activity has yet to pick up.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Chinese coke exports with 65% coke strength after reaction (CSR), 12.5% ash, and in physical sizes of 30-90mm, was $355-365 per tonne fob China for the week ended Tuesday March 6.This has widened upward fro...Read More

Iron ore prices tumbled to $73 per tonne cfr China on Thursday March 8 amid a weakening Chinese steel market.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $73.23 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $2.61 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $76.65 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $59.28 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $1.05 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $60.78 p...Read More

Seaborne coking coal buyers are expecting prices for premium hard coking coal to fall amid ample availability of cargoes in the market. A shipment of premium low-vol materials was heard to have traded at $235 per tonne cfr China on Thursday March 8. Half of the 10 cargoes of premium materials offered in the market have a March-laycan while the rest are scheduled for loading in April, according to...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBeijing Iron...Read More

Physical iron ore prices continued to drop on Thursday March 8 with the April swaps contract hitting the $70-per-tonne-cfr-China mark amid a weakening Chinese steel market.Key driversChina's ferrous futures tanked across the board for a second day, with the benchmark contracts falling 2.9-3.8% from the settlement levels a day earlier. The iron ore contract had the worst performance, ending just ab...Read More

China's ferrous futures, especially those of finished steel, remained weak during morning trading on Thursday March 8.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,858 ($610) per tonne, down 27 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,940 yuan per tonne, down 21 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 512.50 yuan per tonne, down 0.50 yuan per tonneMay...Read More

China's iron ore imports edged up by 0.9% on the year in February despite the Chinese New Year break.The world's largest buyer of the steelmaking raw material took in 84.27 million tonnes last month, up from 83.49 million tonnes a year earlier, according...Read More

Prices for high and low-grade cobalt metal rallied through the $40 per lb psychological barrier in the midweek pricing session, with scope to keep rising over the coming days and weeks. High prices are, at least for now, unlikely to deter purchasing, because tight supplies, strong demand from the battery and super-alloy sectors and larger volume inquiries are sufficient to underpin the latest gain...Read More

Cobalt log based on trades, bids and offers confirmed to Metal Bulletin.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Click here for Metal Bulletin's cobalt pricing specifications. Click here for Metal Bulletin's January cobalt trade log. Click here for Metal Bulletin's February cobalt trade log. Metal Bulletin prices Click here for...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are split into two camps this morning, Thursday March 8, with copper ($6,924 per tonne), nickel, zinc and tin prices all down by an average of 0.6%, while aluminium and lead prices are up by an average of 0.3%.Volume has been average with 7,370 lots traded as of 06.43am London time. This follows a day of weakness on Wednesday when prices were down by...Read More

Stainless cold-rolled coil prices in East Asia widened over the past week with offers from China and Taiwan going in opposite directions, while those for stainless hot-rolled sheet narrowed on thin trading.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed CRC was $2,235-2,350 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday March 7, widening from $2,250-2,330...Read More

Copper product manufacturers are already suffering from the growing trend for protectionism, panelists at the Metal Bulletin Copper Conference said, and prices could suffer if global trade founders in the coming years.The physical steel and aluminium markets are reeling after the United States said it intends to introduce tariffs on imports of 25% and 10% respectively.The LME three-month copper pr...Read More

Major aluminium producers and Japanese buyers are closer to reaching a premium settlement for its second-quarter aluminium supply after further deals were concluded at a premium of $129 per tonne to main Japanese ports (MJP). Second-quarter deals amounting to close to 40,000 tonnes have been reported to Metal Bulletin since the start of this week. The first deal was confirmed on Monday. The $...Read More

As U.S. President Donald Trump signed proclamations Thursday imposing 25 per cent tariffs on steel imports and 10 per cent for aluminium for almost every country but Mexico and Canada, other nations have expressed their desire to join the lucky duo.European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said that the EU was a close ally of the United States and should also be exempt from metals tariffs.On t...Read More

Researchers from Arizona State University have developed a new method to produce lithium-metal batteries that allows for a controlled dendrite growth, which makes them safer and longer-lasting.The team found that using a 3-D layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), or silicone, as the substrate of the lithium metal anode can mitigate the formation of dendrites, which are needle-like growths that app...Read More

The Democratic Republic of Congo imminent law that more than double the tax miners operating in the country pay on exports of cobalt, will severely affect buyers of the metal, a key component in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars and mobile phones."Given the tight nature of the cobalt market at present, we would expect miners to attempt to pass through higher royalty costs to c...Read More

Swedish mining company Boliden (STO: BOL) won't have to pay over $12 million (100 million Swedish crowns) in compensation for health problems allegedly caused by toxic waste it dumped in northern Chile, a court ruled Thursday.The lawsuit filed in 2013 by around 800 residents of the city of Arica, in northern Chile, alleged Boliden exported 20,000 tonnes of mining waste in the mid-1980s, despite kn...Read More

The government of British Columbia revealed today the timeline that will guide the procedures to reform the province's environmental assessment process.Known by its initials, the EAP is a course of action to predict environmental effects of proposed initiatives, particularly mining and resource extraction projects, before they are carried out. In general, an EAP should identify potential adverse e...Read More

https://www.reuters.com/Gold mining in Africa has a bad rap - particularly when it comes to women. Depictions of the trade often focus on poverty, environmental destruction, prostitution and harassment. But in the gold mining belt of Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, the victimization lens does great injustice to the hundreds of women mining alongside men.Women working in the mines would...Read More