Russian steelmaker Evraz has started up a new blast furnace (BF) with capacity for 2.5 million tonnes per year at its Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (NTMK) facility, Metal Bulletin has learned. "The construction of new blast furnace No7 [provides] an alternative to blast furnace No6 [which will be idled] for first category repairs," Maxim Andriasov, Evraz vice-president and head of the Ural...Read More
The manganese ore market experienced lower prices across all reported grades while buyers looked to cut their order size to manage their costs, according to industry sources. Chinese demand for smaller parcels Markets look vulnerable to further losses Less liquid trading creates wider international price ranges Manganese ore prices fell this week on lower assessments from most Chi...Read More
Chinese ammonium paratungstate exporters held firm or raised their offers on concerns output in major production hub Jiangxi province will fall following a new round of environmental inspections there; European prices declined due to falling demand. Production disruptions in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, buoyed Chinese APT and concentrates markets European prices fell amid fading demand Metal...Read More
The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, Vietnam and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price quotations, follow the links below: China - APT, fob China - Ferro-tungsten, fob ChinaEurope- APT, cif Rotterdam- Ferro-tungsten, in-warehouse R...Read More
Vedanta Resources has appointed Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan as its new chief executive officer (CEO), recruiting the executive from rising gold developer AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.Venkatakrishnan has been CEO of South Africa-based AngloGold since 2013 and was formerly the chief financial officer of the company between 2005 and 2013 following the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields Corp.The hire...Read More
Venezuela is likely to make further cuts in its output of hot-briquetted iron (HBI) in 2018 because of continued disruptions to raw material supplies, insufficient operating funds, insufficient supplies of gas and energy, and the country's economic crisis.Currently, only two of five HBI producers in the country are in operation, and only at reduced rates, a source familiar with the matter told Met...Read More
Vale's metallurgical coal production decreased by 14.20% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, due to poor weather conditions at the company's Moatize operations in Mozambique.The company produced 1.40 million tonnes of metallurgical coal during the quarter, compared with 1.63 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier, according to figures released by the miner on Monday April...Read More
Iron ore output by Vale declined by 4.90% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, the Brazilian miner announced on Monday April 16.Production totaled 81.95 million tonnes, compared with 86.20 million tonnes a year before.The drop was mainly due to Vale's decision to progressively reduce production of lower-grade ore from its southern and south-eastern systems, it said.A more intense rainy seaso...Read More
Turkish domestic ship scrap prices have slightly increased with the latest uptick in imported scrap costs, while auto bundle scrap prices have remained comparatively steady over the past week, sources said on Monday April 16.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for melting scrap from shipbreaking in the Turkish domestic market was $341-352 per tonne delivered, widening upward from last week's...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for ferrous scrap products. Latest transactions: HMS, shredded, busheling, bonus, P&STurkey, import, 12,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25),...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 oreRio...Read More
Chinese export volumes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products hit a record high for the year in March, according to preliminary Chinese customs data released on Friday April 13.China exported 452,000 tonnes of aluminium products last month, a 10% increase from 410,000 tonnes exported in March 2017, and up 22% from February's 372,000 tonnes, customs data showed. This is the highest level sin...Read More
The outlook for seaborne coking coal prices remains bearish, amid ample offers from traders and miners, market participants said on Monday April 16. "We do not want to buy above $195 per tonne cfr China," a Chinese buyer source said, adding that some sellers might still want to keep offer levels firm on being encouraged by recent trading activity. Cargoes of premium hard coking coal have been trad...Read More
Iron ore prices retreated on Monday April 16 on thin trading amid China's weakening steel and futures markets.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $63.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.03 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $52.09 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.28 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $81 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.20 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% Fe...Read More
The unresolved metals stocks of China's Fanya Metal Exchange remain the wild card in the indium market, despite the recent rise in the metal's price, Donna Vareha-Walsh, director of Indium Corp's metals business unit, told delegates at the annual Minor Metals Association (MMTA) conference in Montreal last week.Metal Bulletin assessed indium prices at $345-370 per kg on Friday April 13, unchanged f...Read More
Vale's cobalt production increased by 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018 while it focused on higher quality products, the Brazilian diversified miner said on Monday April 16.Output totaled 1,327 tonnes in the first three months of 2018, against 1,259 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2017.The highlight was production of cobalt rounds in Vale's Long Harbour operation in Canada, whic...Read More
There is an upside potential for bismuth prices in the next two years, according to Chinese bismuth-producer Hunan Jinwang Bismuth's president, Wu Zuxiang, talking at the Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference in Montreal last week."After the continual low price in 2014-2017, the bismuth price has no more room to decline greatly," Zuxiang told delegates at the annual MMTA conference.Conc...Read More
Chinese silicon export prices edged lower on weak consumption, while European prices followed China down and US prices dropped on the US International Trade Commission's (ITC) ruling against anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports from key suppliers.Chinese grade-553 silicon export prices moved down to $1,900-1,960 per tonne on April 13, from $1,940-1,980 per tonne one week ago. Cheap ma...Read More
Key data from the Friday April 13 pricing session in London. Key drivers: - There is less material available after production cuts on stricter environmental restrictions announced in the plenary session last month in China came into effect - High production costs due to rising...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange experienced slight upward pressure this morning, Monday April 16, with the complex posting an average gain of 0.5% amid decent trading volumes. Aluminium (+0.8%) and zinc (+0.8%) are leading the pack higher, while copper (-0.1%) is the only LME base metal to trade in negative territory.The slight upward pressure across the industrial metals coincides...Read More