The seaborne premium hard coking coal price on the fob market remained relatively stable on Wednesday October 28, while steel mills in China turned to countries such as Canada to source premium hard coking coal, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.35 per tonne, down $0.43 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $119.83 per tonne, unchangedHard coking...Read More
A summary of Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB's financial results for the third quarter of 2020 ended September 30. In brief LKAB's iron ore deliveries surge by almost 40% year on year. Despite record quarterly iron ore deliveries, LKAB recorded slightly weaker operating results for the third-quarter period due to lower prices for highly upgraded iron ore products and increase...Read More
Spodumene producer Pilbara Minerals has entered a conditional deal to acquire Altura Mining's lithium project in Western Australia, it said on Wednesday October 28.Pilbara's conditional agreement with Altura's senior secured loan noteholders provides a path for a potential purchase of the project through the acquisition of shares in Altura Lithium Mining Operations Pty Ltd (ALO) for about US$175 m...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price made significant gains in the morning session on Wednesday October 28, rising 2.5% from the previous day's close to hit an intraday high of $16,310 per tonne - a fresh year-to-date high. LME nickel futures bucked the complex's current sideways trading trend, in which most metals continue to wax and wane in line with the US equities markets, on Wed...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 28 pricing session in Shanghai. Tight supply of aluminium scrap - the raw material for aluminium alloy ADC12 ingot - did not ease much although China's newly released customs code for imported aluminum scrap does allow more scrap into China after November theoretically. The aluminium scrap price in the domestic market firmly supports the production cost of alumi...Read More
Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the main part firmer this morning, Wednesday October 28, this despite early weakness in major western equity index futures that were suffering because parts of Europe look set to escalate lockdown measures. France is reportedly contemplating a one-month nationwide lockdownNickel prices surge as a nickel min...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 28.Key driversThe ferro-titanium market in Europe climbed further over the week, adding to a steady run of gains since August 19 when the market was assessed at $3.30-3.85 per kg ddp. Steady demand and competition from overseas buyers in India and China have supported the rally in recent weeks, while persistent scrap tightne...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Read More
South Africa's proposal to impose an export tax on UG2 chrome ore has revived sentiment and halted a slump in prices, while ferro-chrome markets held steady ahead of the release of November tenders, sources said on this week.News of the proposed export tax saw Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index, basis 42%, cif China, settle at $136 per tonne on Tuesday, up by $1 per t...Read More
The United States' ferrous scrap export market is enjoying renewed activity and better prices on both the East and West Coast, which is also working to tighten supply in the domestic market ahead of November's trade.On the East Coast, two additional cargoes were sold to Turkey this week at $292 per tonne for an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap, $297 per tonne for shredded scrap an...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in south Europe dipped slightly due to slower buying amid lockdown fears, yet prices widened upward in the north on bullish offers from mills, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 28.Southern EuropeFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered southern Europe was ?,?445-450 ($526-532) per tonne on Wednesday, down by...Read More
Technical weakness in U.S equity markets continued in early trading. S&P 100 and NASDAQ 100 stocks that broke intermediate support by 10:00 AM included BKNG, MCD, ROST, CVS, KO, MNST, WBA, PFE, MMM, WLTW and VRSK. Selected ETFs that broke intermediate support included XOP, XLP, DIA, EWZ, GDXJ, UGA and USO.Pre-opening Comments for Thursday October 29thU.S. equity index futures were mixed this m...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 27 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets' Steel Success Strategies Online event started on Monday October 26. Here are four things that we learnt during the European Steel Panel on the first day of the forum.Aluminium producer...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday October 27.Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange lacked a clear direction at the close of trading on Tuesday October 27, with a weaker US dollar and a slew of positive data from the region failing to outweigh the uncertainty about the country's presidential election on November 3.Some analysts suggested that the market was merely "holding up" in the interim before the much-anticipated p...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 27 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets' Steel Success Strategies Online event started on Monday October 26. Here are four things that we learnt during the European Steel Panel on the first day of the forum.Aluminium producer...Read More
An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets and their latest price moves. China Weakening sentiment in the UG2 chrome ore market reversed after South Africa's cabinet proposed an export tax on chrome ore. However, most market participants took a watchful stance before details of the tax were announced.Some UG2 buyers looked to purchase spot cargoes on the portside market, leading to a slight u...Read More