Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Friday January 5. SHFE copper prices retreated in Asian morning trading on Friday January 5 after surging in the previous afternoon's session, as the market awaits US payroll numbers due out tonight.Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 0232 London timeLatest 3M  LME Pric...Read More

Hernic Ferrochrome has suffered a tailings dam collapse as it prepares to start hosting site visits for prospective buyers, market sources told Metal Bulletin. "The tailings dam collapse happened on Friday December 29, and the surroundings environment has been inspected by experts. Luckily so far the impact on the surrounding environment appears to be very limited," a Mitsubishi...Read More

Prices in the United Kingdom light iron scrap market have rallied this week, picking up where they left off late in 2017, with tight availability encouraging higher offer prices.The current trend toward higher prices started on November 10 last year.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap was ?110-135 ($149-183) per tonne on Friday January 5.The market is now at its highes...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap market has remained quiet this week, with mills were seeking rebar sales, while suppliers were struggling with the heavy winter conditions especially in the United States, Metal Bulletin was told on Friday January 5.Turkish steel mills were expected to book more scrap for February, but the supply remained tight and the country's...Read More

Export prices for Brazilian pig iron were unchanged at the beginning of January, amid an inactive market, Metal Bulletin has heard.Buying activity will only resume next week, a local source said on Thursday January 4.As a result of the lack of trading, Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for Caraj??s-origin pig iron was stable week-on-week on Friday...Read More

Iron ore prices edged up and remained above $76 per tonne cfr China on Friday January 5 despite a further retreat in Chinese steel prices.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $76.80 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $0.26 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $75.76 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $62.32...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices fell on Friday January 5 following weakness in the paper market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,250-4,280 yuan ($654-658) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Tianjin): 4,110-4,140 yuan per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneTrading activity thinned in both the eastern and northern regions after the futures market weakened during the day, according to m...Read More

Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines released its most recent statistical report, which highlights that November was one of the best months in 2016 when it comes to investments in the mining sector. According to the deputy minister Ricardo Lab??, investments grew by 54.8% compared to the same month of 2016 and reached $515 million.The overall growth in investments from January to November 2017 was...Read More

Iron ore prices gained further ground on Friday January 5 despite the Chinese steel market retreating again.Key driversChina's spot prices for hot-rolled coil shed 20-30 yuan per tonne during the day while those for rebar tumbled 30-130 yuan per tonne.The country's ferrous futures market was rangebound in the morning, and then experienced a V-shaped trend in the afternoon, falling sharply before r...Read More

Following a $54 million impairment charge in its Nzema mine, located approximately 70km from Takoradi in southwestern Ghana, Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) announced it has sold its 90% stake in the project to African contracting group BCM International. The remaining 10% is held by the Ghanaian government.The transaction was originally disclosed in August last year and it was completed in late Decemb...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly stepped slightly lower during morning trading on Friday January 5 but are generally consolidating at higher levels. Aluminium fell $12.50 but is still in a strong position, with supply-side reforms in China continuing to burnish its underlying fundamentals. The three-month price reached a fresh five-year high at $2,290.50 per tonne on December...Read More

A new report by BMI Research states that based on project pipelines, Chile and Argentina will lead lithium production in coming years, with the bulk of new capacity coming online in 2019."We have updated our lithium production forecasts for Chile and Argentina to reflect a relatively slower-moving project pipeline due to regulatory hurdles in the former and growing exploration efforts boosting lon...Read More

Mercury prices continue to jump due to the lack of availability of the minor metal.Prices climbed to $1,700-2,000 per flask on an in-warehouse basis on Friday January 5, up from $1600-1700 per flask on Wednesday and $1,350-1,450 per flask on November 24.Mercury prices last year were $1,050-1,275 per flask and were largely stable until the Minamata Convention - a treaty to curb exposure to the meta...Read More

Roxgold Inc. (TSX:ROXG) announced that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Burkina Faso has granted the company permitting approval to develop the Bagassi South project, located within its high-grade Yaramoko gold mine in the Hound?(C) greenstone region of the West African country."The approval of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Bagassi South allows us to...Read More

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

Manganese flake prices rose sharply this week following reports of production stoppages at the world's biggest producer amid ongoing environmental inspections in China. Metal Bulletin's manganese flake in-warehouse Rotterdam price increased to $1,895-2,000 per tonne on Friday January 5, up 3.9% from Wednesday's pricing session when prices had climbed 5.3%. The world's largest manganese flake...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Friday January 5:Minor metals Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 69,000-70,500 yuan per tonne from 69,000-71,000 yuan Cobalt MB free market high grade, $/lb: $36.75-37.50 per lb from $36.00-37.40 Cobalt MB free market low grade, $/lb: $35.50-37.00 per lb from $35.00-37.00 Cobalt...Read More

Brazil's silicon metal exports fell 16% in 2017 from a year earlier, affected by the dumping and countervailing duty investigations in the United States. The country shipped abroad 155,429 tonnes of silicon metal last year, down from 184,730 tonnes in 2016, according to figures from Brazil's foreign trade ministry, MDIC. Shipments to the...Read More

An overview of China's minor metals markets in the week of January 2-5 and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices rebounded slightly over the past week on gains in the nickel market.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,200-15,500 yuan ($2,339-2,385) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday January 4, narrowing upward from 15,000-15,500 yuan per tonne a week earlier. Market partic...Read More