Brazilian slab export prices went up on Friday October 26, amid a stronger focus on trade to the United States and with no deals being made to other destinations.Fastmarkets' assessment of the weekly price of Brazilian slab exports reached $505-515 per tonne fob on Friday, up from $500-510 per tonne fob in the previous week.At least three different cargoes were sold to the US market for December s...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Friday October 26, with a continued downtrend in the three-month nickel price coming amid better-than-expected third-quarter GDP figures from the US.Reaching an intraday low of $11,810 per tonne on Friday afternoon, the three-month nickel price was trading at a 10-month low amid mounting pressure from a strong US...Read More

Fastmarkets rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metals markets this week. Base metalsVale, the world's largest producer of iron ore and nickel, believes that its base metals division will be completely different by 2020, senior executives said on Thursday October 25 during a third-quarter earnings call.The continuing use of trade tariffs applied to global movements of...Read More

Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema normalized its production and sales volumes during the third quarter after a scheduled maintenance brought volumes down in the April-June period, the company's earnings report shows.Paranapanema produced 82,000 tonnes in total during July-September, up by 2.5% from 80,000 tonnes a year before. This volume was composed of 43,400 tonnes of cathodes, a 1.81% fal...Read More

Base metal inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) were mostly lower on Friday October 26 from a week earlier, with lead stocks almost halving since last Friday.Deliverable lead stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses dropped by 4,942 tonnes or 44.6% week on week to 6,139 tonnes.This week Zhejiang Tainchuan saw the most stock leaving the sheds - 1,892 tonnes of the metal were delivered out....Read More

Comex copper prices dipped Friday morning in the US with a stronger dollar providing a serious headwind against the base metals complex.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.50 cents to $2.7295 per lb. Broad strength in the dollar, which is trading at its highest level since July, is proving the most prominent headwind to bas...Read More

State-owned Finnish company, Terrafame, will boost investment in developing a battery chemical plant in Sotkamo, Finland, amid a record-high quarter for zinc and nickel production output, the mining company said in a release this week.The investment, said to be worth ?,?240 million ($273 million), has received principle funding of ?,?100 million from parent company Finnish Minerals Group, with add...Read More

A summary of Glencore's third-quarter production results for the three months ended September 30 (own-sourced output volume, year-on-year change):Copper - 366,900 tonnes, + 21% Increase reflects the restart/ramp-up of Katanga operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Katango restarted in December 2017. Own-source copper metal from Katanga increased by 10% quarter on quarter to 39,300 tonnes...Read More

Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market during the week ended October 26.Raw Materials The Singapore Exchange's high-grade iron ore derivative contract will promote efficiency and transparency in price discovery and risk management related to this segment of the steelmaking raw material, market participants say.Global miner Vale has room to replace sales of low...Read More

Usiminas, Brazil's largest flat steel producer, focused on the domestic market during the third quarter and achieved its highest steel sales volume since the fourth quarter of 2015, its earnings report shows.Steel shipments rose by 8.96% to 1.11 million tonnes from 1.02 million tonnes a year before, the company reported on Friday October 26. The steelmaker sold 992,000 tonnes to Brazilian customer...Read More

The CIS export billet market was largely quiet in the week ended Friday October 26 on reduced availability of material. Some mills have almost sold out their November allocations, while others preferred to wait and assess the development of the market."We [stepped aside from] the market to wait for better times," a Ukraine-based producer told Fastmarkets.Some market participants, however, noted th...Read More

Swedish steelmaker SSAB forecasts solid demand in the fourth quarter of 2018 following a good performance in July-September this year, the company said on Friday October 26."Despite the political turbulence surrounding trade barriers, we expect the outlook to remain good for the fourth quarter of 2018," president and chief executive officer Martin Lindqvist said. "SSAB has strong positions in our...Read More

Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey decreased in the week ended Friday October 26, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Market participants were not expecting much improvement in local demand until the end of 2018, because of the low end-user requirements and the recent economic problems in the country.The Turkish lira lost significant value in August and September,...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely stable over the week, but the mills are likely to try to achieve higher prices in November, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Friday October 26.The sources, however, doubt that the rise of official offers will be reflected in the transaction prices.Polish steelmakers are expected to announce new prices in early November. In the meantime, no deals have...Read More

Key data for the pricing session in the week ending Friday October 26.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot market was stable from the past week but few deals were done. UG2 prices were stable, while the imported charge chrome index eased slightly. Chinese stainless steel mills lowered their tender prices for November delivery...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday October 26:Noble alloysFerro-vanadium basis 78% min, free delivered duty paid, $/kg: $114.50-118.50 per kg from $113.50-118.50Ferro-vanadium US 70-80% V, $/Ib: $53.50-55.50 per Ib from $51.50-53.75Vanadium pentoxide min 98%, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/lb: $26.00-26.50 per Ib from $24.10-25.50Bulk alloysFerro-ch...Read More

China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have started to move up this week after continuous price decreases since November 2017 due to reduced production from Qinghai, stronger industrial-grade lithium carbonate prices and lower stocks of lithium compounds.China's battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices held steady on quiet demand, while prices for the rest of the world went dow...Read More

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday October 26.Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during Asian morning trading on Friday after a firm dollar continued to put downward pressure on the complex. Copper and lead were the only metals to register gains - albeit marginal ones - in the early sessi...Read More

The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India edged up this week ahead of an expected a slowdown for the religious festival of Diwali, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 26.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India inched up to $355.67 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on October 26, from $354.42 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on October 19.Deals this we...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes and also confirmed other earlier transactions on Friday October 26, pushing prices upward.Details came to light on the two cargoes reported on Thursday.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $333 per tonne cfr and 5,000 tonnes of bonus grade at $342 per tonne cfr.Ad...Read More