South Korean zinc smelter Young Poong is facing a 20-day shutdown at its Sukpu refined zinc smelter after a court rejected the company's appeal against a closure order.Situated in a national park, the Sukpu smelter is alleged to have discharged waste from the smelting process into the local river, which is used for drinking water by millions of people. Environmental groups and residents have been...Read More

Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema expects relatively stable copper prices and treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) during the fourth quarter compared with the July-September period, chief executive officer Marcos Camara told Fastmarkets MB on Friday October 26. The company estimates the London Metal Exchange three-month copper price to range $6,000-6,500 per tonne until year-end. TC/RCs, t...Read More

Cobalt spot market prices for both high- and low-grade material increased week on week on Wednesday October 24 on bullish sentiment that was fueled by supply tightness in the United States, arising from sanctions on Chinese metal, Fastmarkets has heard.Although the cobalt spot market was unusually slow last week, due to industry conferences and the beginning of contract price negotiations, the dea...Read More

The Monday Market Minute Global stocks edge cautiously higher as investors continue to focus on developments in the U.S. corporate earnings season and rising geo-political risks.China stocks tumble, with the Shanghai Composite falling 2.2%, after weaker industrial profit data and further signs of slowing growth in the world's second largest economy.European stocks book modestly gains, with HSBC...Read More

Global antimony continued to trade last week amid weak demand for the metal, with prices remaining unchanged in both China and Europe on scarce spot market activity.In China, Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for Chinese Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) standard grade-II antimony price, delivered, duty-paid, was 51,000-51,500 yuan ($7,341-7,412) per tonne on Wednesday October 24, unchang...Read More

Turkish steel producers have continued to book cargoes in the deep-sea scrap trade, with two more transactions coming to light, pushing prices up further on Monday October 29.These two deals were heard on Friday after the data submission deadline for the day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $335 per tonne, shredded at $340 per tonne and...Read More

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that her party's dismal showing in weekend elections has meant her coalition government has "lost credibility" and that she will step down as party leader and retire from politics when her current term as leader of Europe's biggest economy ends in 2021. Merkel's told Christian Democrat leaders that she will stand down as leader of the party that has ruled Ger...Read More

Comex copper prices edged higher Monday morning in the US with the market holding steady amid further Chinese stock market deterioration. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.25 cents to $2.7535 per lb.Concerns of a slowdown in the Chinese economy continue to weigh on Asian shares, with the Shanghai Composite falling 2.2% ov...Read More

Prices for manganese ore imported into China on an fob basis ticked upward in the pricing session that ended on Friday October 26, while trading activity started to pick up in China before the onset of winter. High- and low-grade manganese ore prices showed modest increases Manganese ore grade prices in China ticked upward Falling bids weigh on Indian silico-manganese prices US focuses on long-ter...Read More

The need for investment in new lithium projects creates a need for risk management tools, but the market's immaturity creates challenges, according to panelists at an LME focus session during this year's annual LME Week. Increasing demand for lithium compounds arising out of the electric vehicle and battery boom has created an appetite to bring new projects on stream, but there are risks associate...Read More

Vietnam's Southern Steel Sheet Co (SSSC) is targeting a larger share of the coated coil market by adding a third galvanizing line to its Nhon Trach operations in the country's Dong Nai province.Italian equipment supplier Tenova will supply the company - a joint venture of Vietnam Steel Corp, Japan's Sumitomo Corp and Malaysia's FIW Steel - with a galvanized coil line with capacity of 150,000 tonne...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped on Monday October 29 amid weak demand, with trading activity being described as "very sparse." DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,150-4,170 yuan ($597-600) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,080-4,090 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneTrading today was very thin during the day, with traders in both the northe...Read More

China's ferrous futures fell during morning trading on Monday October 29 after the central Chinese government voiced its objection over what it considered to be indiscriminate restrictions to cut emissions.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange January rebar: 4,168 yuan ($600) per tonne, down 34 yuan per tonneJanuary hot rolled coil: 3,854 yuan per tonne, down 41 yuan p...Read More

The price for import merchant bar shot up due to confirmed sales of Mexican material into the southern and southwestern United States, while that for domestic material was steady due to calm market conditions. Fastmarket AMM's latest assessment for imported merchant bar rose to $770-800 per short ton ($38.50-40 per hundredweight) ddp port of Houston on Friday October 26 from $640-680 per ton...Read More

French tube and pipe maker Vallourec said last week that it would not subsidise a takeover bid for its joint-venture Ascoval steel mill in France, which may now have to close.Ascoval said in March that it was searching for a new majority shareholder that would allow it to continue steelmaking operations beyond 2019, after Swiss special steels maker Schmolz & Bickenbach acquired Ascoval's majority...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore were stable over the past week on thin demand for the long steel product.Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for rebar in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - was $525-530 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday October 29, unchanged from the preceding week."The best offers are still $530 per tonne...Read More

Turkish steel producers have continued to book cargoes in the deep-sea scrap trade, with two more transactions coming to light, pushing prices up further on Monday October 29.These two deals were heard on Friday after the data submission deadline for the day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $335 per tonne, shredded at $340 per tonne and...Read More

* Spot gold faces strong resistance at $1,238/oz- technicals * Speculators cut net short position in week to Oct. 23(Updates prices)By Vijaykumar VedalaBENGALURU, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower onMonday as the dollar firmed, but the metal moved in a narrowrange as worries over U.S. corporate earnings and a slowdown inglobal economic growth weighed on Asian shares.Spot gold was down 0.2...Read More

Iron ore prices were largely steady on Monday October 29, with limited liquidity in the spot market amid expectations of a loosening of steelmaking restrictions in China.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $76.48 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.51 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $80.23 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.17 per tonn...Read More

Seaborne iron ore pellet prices dipped for the third consecutive week on Friday October 26, on limited demand from China according to market participants.Fastmarkets' MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Pellet Index (MBIOI-PT) was $152.47 per tonne cfr China on Friday, down by $3.16 per tonne from a week earlier.The fall in the MBIOI-PT is based on the visible market activity detailed below.A 65% Fe Indi...Read More