CIS exporters of rebar and wire rod increased their offers in the week ending Monday April 30, on improving demand and low stocks in the global market, and in China in particular."At the moment we see an increase in demand in the major sales outlets. Stocks of material are minimal and there is already a [shortage] in the markets," a producing source told Metal Bulletin. Metal Bulletin's weekly pri...Read More

Prices for CIS-origin billet remained largely unchanged in the week ending Monday April 30 amid reduced buying activity.Mills and traders sold significant volumes of billet in the preceding week and took a wait-and-see position over the past seven days, preferring to assess the market situation.Traders expect to see another round of price falls in the near term, but mills were more optim...Read More

Earnings at Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa more than doubled in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the corresponding period of last year on higher sales prices.The mill reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of 97 million nuevos soles ($29.97 million), against 39 million nuevos soles the previous...Read More

Earnings at Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) increased by 60% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, amid higher sales prices and reduced operating costs.The mill's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) totaled 1.43 billion pesos ($76.69 million), it said in a note to Mexico's stock exchange late on Friday April 27."The positive results...Read More

Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia have edged up again over the past week despite the level of general demand remaining soft, while prices for slab fell on lower offers after a period of high prices that lasted for several weeks.BilletMetal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $540-555 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday April 30, widening upwar...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore were stable in the past week on thin demand from end-users unwilling to accept offers for China-origin position and mill cargoes....Read More

Import prices for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil sold into Vietnam were stable over the past week amid limited trading activity.Metal Bulletin's assessment of HRC import prices in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $590-605 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday April 30, stable from a week earlier.Market sentiment was...Read More

First-quarter production of tungsten concentrates at Wolf Minerals' Drakelands mine in the United Kingdom fell 20% from the previous quarter due to extreme weather in March, the company said on Monday April 30. Wolf Minerals' processing plant produced 34,602 metric tonne units (mtu) of tungsten concentrates in the quarter ended March 31, 2018. "The operating performance for the quarter continued t...Read More

The Chinese ferro-silicon market has rebounded in the week to Friday April 27, ending a steady run of losses since early March, because of supply worries and renewed buying from traders; prices in Europe and the US have gone the other way, however, due to slack demand for alloy on a prompt basis. China pares losses, eyes more gains as China futures jumps Europe, US suppliers cut offer prices...Read More

World silico-manganese supplies rose by 41.9% year on year in March to 1.37 million tonnes due to soaring Chinese production feeding strong demand from domestic steel mills, according to the International Manganese Institute (IMnI). In the first quarter of 2018, world supply of the alloy rose 36.9% year on year.In March alone, output was up 8.9% compared with February. The institute said global de...Read More

World manganese ore supply grew by 5% year on year in March to 1.58 million tonnes of manganese units, according to the latest figures from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI).For the first quarter of 2018, all regions except the Americas recorded higher production, leading to a 15.3% year-on-year increase in global production for the first three months of the year. In March alone, global...Read More

Turkish steel producers booked more deep-sea scrap for May at the end of last week, and prices continued to inch upward in trades on Monday April 30.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $352 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $362 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the same region booked a Canadian cargo, comprisin...Read More

Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices have gone up in line with imported scrap prices while ship scrap prices have remained stable over the past week, sources said on Monday April 30.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle scrap (DKP grade) in Turkey was TRY1,370-1,500 ($339-372) per tonne delivered, narrowing upward from last week's TRY1,270-1,500 per tonne.This...Read More

The seaborne coking coal spot market was quiet on Monday April 30 with China, Japan and parts of India away on holiday. "Last week's transactions were driven by traders. However, both premium hard coking coal and pulverized coal injection cargoes remain in ample supply," an ex-Chinese end user source said. "The shut-down of a 1.5mtpy capacity cokery in Tangshan last week and the raise of 50 y...Read More

The seaborne iron ore concentrate market saw higher premiums and increased enquiries last week.The weekly Metal Bulletin 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index was at $89.57 per tonne cfr China on Friday April 27, up $1.69 per tonne - or 1.90% - from a week earlier. The daily Metal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $84.88 per tonne cfr China over the week, up $1.22 per tonne - or 1.5% - from the...Read More

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up during Asian morning trading on Monday April 30, following the release of positive Chinese economic data and an easing in geopolitical tensions.The LME three-month copper price stood at $6,811.50 per tonne as at 10.19am Shanghai time, up by $14.50 per tonne from last Friday's closing price. A total of 138 lots of the contract have been...Read More

Chinese silicon export prices bounced back up on Friday April 27 on rising domestic quotations, while European assessments were unchanged week on week. Metal Bulletin's Chinese grade 553 silicon metal export price moved up to $1,900-1,950 per tonne on Friday, up from $1,880-1,950 per tonne a week earlier. Domestic quotations from Chinese silicon refineries rose about 100-200 yuan ($15.79-31)...Read More

Israeli businessman and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) mining magnate Dan Gertler is suing former partner Glencore for just shy of $3 billion in unpaid royalties, Glencore said late on Friday April 27.Gertler's Ventora Development Sasu alleges Glencore DRC subsidiaries Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper Co (KCC) owe approximately $695 million and $2.28 billion respectively in royalties that...Read More

Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox reported a 39% year-on-year decrease in earnings in the first quarter of 2018 in a financial statement published on Friday April 27.Earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) dropped to ?,?118 million ($143.01 million) in January-March. This was "lower than in the same period of the previous year, when [Ebitda] was boosted by...Read More

WILMINGTON, Del., April 30 (Reuters) - Contura Energy Inc and Alpha Natural Resources Holdings Inc said on Monday they agreed to merge, creating the largest U.S. producer of metallurgical (met) coal, used in steelmaking, and reuniting the two businesses that were split following a 2015 bankruptcy.The deal comes as investors look for consolidation in an industry that is recovering from a deep downt...Read More