Vale expects to reduce its debt level to $10 billion in 2018, investor relations director Andr?(C) Figueiredo said during a presentation for investors on Wednesday January 17 in S??o Paulo.This compares with net debt of $21.07 billion in the third quarter of 2017.The company's fourth-quarter 2017 results have yet to be released, but its debt level should have come down to $15-16 billion by the end...Read More

The Turkish steel mills extended their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets on Wednesday January 17, because of tight supply in the US and high prices, according to market participants.The mills were expected to book more cargoes for February, but the weak demand for their finished goods was keeping them out of the market.Meanwhile, the heavy winter conditions along the US East Coast...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 Tinto, tender, 61% Fe Pilbara Blend...Read More

Trading activity for seaborne hard coking coal picked up this week, with Chinese market participants flagging interest for low-ash, low-sulfur materials. Tier-two cargoes were heard to have changed hands at around $182-185 per tonne fob Australia this week, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday January 17. "The pick-up in the trading of second-tier materials is along expected lines...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices retreated on Wednesday January 17, as end-users took a cautious approach to procurement amid narrowing marginsMetal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore IndexToday: $74.51 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: Down by $1.20 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $76.79 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium IndexToday: $61.47 per tonne...Read More

Prices for physical iron ore retreated further on Wednesday January 17 amid concerns of a weakening Chinese steel market, and along with them, margins.Key driversPrices for both seaborne iron ore and port materials declined, tracking the general downtrend in the paper market for most of the day, though the benchmark contract for iron ore picked up just before the close of the trading session.China...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed during morning trading on Wednesday January 17, with prices looking to consolidate after Tuesday's sell off. The three-month aluminium price came under pressure yesterday, closing down 2%. But they have edged $2 higher this morning. "Aluminium came under additional selling pressure after reports that the production hub of Xinjiang...Read More

Key data from Metal Bulletin's Wednesday January 17 pricing session in Europe.Gallium Metal MB free market $/kg Key drivers:- Escalating Chinese prices have driven European prices higher.- There is a lack of supply in the market.Key quotes:"Domestic Chinese prices...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Chinese cobalt sulfate consumers have reduced their procurement of material following the new year holiday and while waiting for clearance on the government's 2018 subsidy policy on electric vehicles (EVs).The final subsidy policy on EV sales for 2018 is expected at the end of January, which is when it has been announced in recent years. Speculation over the new policy, however, has meant buyers h...Read More

Stainless steel prices are expected to weaken in Asia on lower demand during the first quarter of this year, while prices in Europe and North America are likely to continue to be supported by strong demand.Asia to see price dropAsian stainless steel prices are expected to drop in the January-March quarter amid soft demand.In the first quarter, China and some other major Asian stainless steel marke...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday January 17:Aluminium scrap Group 1 pure 99% & litho: ?1,420-1,470 per tonne from...Read More

Taiwan's ferrous scrap imports tumbled 29% year on year in November, according to the territory's customs agency.The island imported 172,320 tonnes of ferrous scrap that month, 70,354 tonnes lower than the 242,674 tonnes it took in a year earlier, data...Read More

North Arrow Minerals Inc. (TSXV: NAR) is pushing toward a preliminary economic assessment at its 100% owned Naujaat diamond project in the Melville Peninsula, Nunavut, while carefully balancing five other diamond projects across Canada.The Naujaat project hosts the Q1-4 kimberlite which contains 48.8 million tonnes measuring 53.6 carats per hundred tonnes for 26.1 million carats. The kimberlite is...Read More

Nicaragua-focused Condor Gold (LON:CNR) (TSX:COG) expects to begin construction at its 100%-owned La India Project in the first half of the year, following the reception of final permits currently being processed by the country's government.The company, which just this week started trading in the Toronto Stock Exchange, knows that acquiring the pending licences would not only represent a signifi...Read More

Namibia's top diamond producer, Namdeb, a 50/50 joint venture company between the country's government and De Beers, has begun offering early and voluntary retirement to at least 130 of its 1,700 workers, Xinhua reports.According to the agency, the move seeks to ensure the sustainability of Namdeb land-based operations, which is facing potential sales, Mineworkers Union of Namibia Oranjemund branc...Read More

Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore producer, confirmed Wednesday it is in talks with BHP Billiton over the future of their Samarco joint venture, including the possibility of the Brazilian miner taking full ownership.During a meeting with investors and analysts in Sao Paulo, Vale's investor relations director, Andr?(C) Figueiredo, said it seemed "natural" for the company to become the...Read More

Presidential candidate for the conservative National Integration Party (PIN in Spanish), Diego Castro, caused controversy in Costa Rica after he called environmentalist groups "eco-terrorists."Castro, who has been compared by local media to Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte, as well as accused of right-wing populism, said that if he wins the election, he would not yield to ecologists' "petty demand...Read More

Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has discovered more large diamonds at its prolific Lulo project in Angola, including a 43-carat yellow stone, the largest coloured gem-quality rock ever recovered at the mine.The company also found a 116-carat low-quality diamond, the tenth +100 carat stone recovered from Lulo since mining operations began two years ago. It's also the second +100 carat rock re...Read More

Even though it sees only minor gains for gold in 2018, with average prices rounding $1358 an ounce, bullion trader Sharps Pixley says it is important to add the yellow metal to one's assets. "Why so?," the company's CEO Ross Norman writes in a press release. "2016 and 2017 saw gold higher on strong spec buying in Q1, taking the market above the level of most physical buyers, before retracing in Q4...Read More