Italian steelmaker Ilva is set to continue production in January after local politicians suspended a precautionary request that the company's plant in Taranto, southern Italy, be closed because of opposition to proposed environmental reforms.In late November, Michele Emiliano, the governor of the southern Italian region of Puglia, and Rinaldo Melucci, the mayor of Taranto, appealed against the Ita...Read More

Prices for imported steel billet and rebar in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increased, while domestic rebar prices in the UAE have remained stable, sources told Metal Bulletin this week. Demand for locally produced rebar, meanwhile, was strong in and market participants expect prices to increase. Billet Iranian mills were offering billet at $535-540 per tonne cfr to the UAE, while billet from Gulf...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, steel slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billetBilletIran, export, billet, traded at $509-510 per tonne cfr,...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transactions: rebarRebarTurkey, export, rebar, offered at $565-570 per tonne cfr, theoretical weight, to the UAE.Turkey,...Read More

High-grade manganese ore prices edged lower on Friday December 29 as fresh customs data showed rising imports to China and silico-manganese futures prices looked weaker. Metal Bulletin's 44% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin dropped 5 cents to $6.88 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu). Metal Bulletin's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth rolled over at $5.79 per dmtu, equivalent to $...Read More

GFG Alliance, the owner of international metals group Liberty House, has signed a binding agreement to acquire Glencore's 2 million-tpy Tahmoor metallurgical coking coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, it said on Tuesday January 2.The acquisition is expected to be concluded during the first quarter of 2018, following the completion of "customary conditions".Liberty House declined to disclose t...Read More

The Indian imported ferrous scrap market spent much of 2017 under pressure from new government regulations and the ability of Pakistani counterparts to pay higher prices.The Indian import ferrous scrap market spent much of 2017 under pressure from new government regulations and the ability of Pakistani counterparts to pay higher prices.The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July,&...Read More

Iron ore prices jumped to almost $75 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday January 2 amid higher billet and port prices.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $74.71 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $2.10 per tonne Month-to-date average: $74.71 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58%...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market received some bolstering on the first working day of 2018, with prices for port materials as well as billet rising as well. Key drivers In China's Tangshan, the price of billet rose 40 yuan ($6) per tonne over the weekend to 3,710 yuan per tonne. The price rose a further 20 yuan per tonne on Tuesday to 3,730 yuan per tonne.Premiums for index-linked January-delivery Cap...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:Global Ore, Vale, 170,000 tonnes of 62%...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market is off to a sluggish start for 2018 with no new firm offers or bids heard while participants continued to sit on the sidelines. "The same offers have been lying there for over a month now but they are unable to spark any interest due to high prices. They will have to be lowered by $10-20 per tonne in order to get the trades done," a northern Chinese mill source told...Read More

The European Union has taken over the chairmanship of the Kimberley Process for 2018, a decade after it last directed the initiative. Federica Mogherini, who is an Italian politician and the High Representative of the bloc for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be heading the operation. Kimberley is a process started in 2003 following the United Nations General Assembly's Resolution 55/56....Read More

China's ferrous futures rose during morning trading on Tuesday January 2 as sentiment improved in the new year, leading to the recovery of trading appetite. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,871 yuan ($594) per tonne, up 70 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,920 yuan per tonne, up 69 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 543.50 yuan...Read More

Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, said in a securities filing on Tuesday that on January 8, 2018, it will conclude the sale of a fertilizer unit to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS) with adjustments. The changes will reduce the price tag of the sale by $1.35 billion. The South American miner revealed that it wants to retain control of the TIPLAM port terminal,...Read More

International diamond trading network Rapaport Group released a report that states that, following a better-than-expected holiday season, polished diamond prices stabilized in December 2017.Even though the company's RapNet Diamond Index, known as RAPI, slid 1.7% for 3-carat diamonds in the last month of the year, it edged up 0.3% for 1-carat diamonds, 1.2% for 0.30-carat diamonds, and 0.6% for 0.5...Read More

Two underground mine workers succumbed to smoke inhalation sickness following exposure to blasting gasses at Golden Star's Prestea underground gold mine in Ghana on December 29.In a statement, Golden Star said it suspended operations at Prestea to allow for the initial investigation of the incident. The mine has now resumed full operation. Mine management and the Inspector of Mines are conducting...Read More

Prices in China for hot-rolled coil narrowed upward in Shanghai on Tuesday January 2 following the rising paper market, but dipped in Tianjin on poor demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,290-4,310 yuan ($658-661) per tonne, narrowed upward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,150-4,180 yuan per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneThe northern Chinese market remained weak amid poor dem...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices rose on Tuesday January 2 amid gains in the billet and futures markets. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,280-4,330 yuan ($657-665) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 4,020-4,050 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Billet prices rose during the New Year weekend, which returned some bullishness to the rebar market. The increases in the paper...Read More

The Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) has appointed Martin Huxley, managing director of INTL Asia, as its chairman effective December 14, 2017, the association said on Tuesday January 2.INTL Asia is a subsidiary of INTL FCStone. Huxley succeeds Sunil Kashyap from the Bank of Nova Scotia who has ended his two-year chairman tenure. Huxley joined INTL FCStone in...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part consolidating this morning, Tuesday January 2, with lead the exception where prices are up 0.6% at $2,514 per tonne. The rest are little changed with copper prices at $7,254 per tonne, but trading volume has been high at 11,821 lots as of 7.30am London time. This comes after an overall positive close to the year on Friday Decemb...Read More