The arrival of lower-priced cargoes and weakening downstream demand weighed on the market for UG2 chrome ore in China in the week ended Tuesday October 20, although liquidity was light.Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index, basis 42%, cif China, fell by $4 per tonne (-2.9%) to $135 per tonne on Tuesday, from $139 per tonne a week earlier."More people are looking to sell than...Read More
Trafigura is preparing to table an offer for Brazilian miner Vale's embattled nickel and cobalt operations (VNC) in the French territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 20.Fastmarkets understands that the Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered trading house is part of a consortium with four French companies.A source said that current negotiations...Read More
The US nickel briquette premium continued to ascend in the week to Tuesday October 20 amid increased spot business at higher levels while lackluster appetites kept all other regional premiums stable over the period. Spot deals for US briquettes enlivened at higher levels, pushing the premium up from historic lows hit in September. Sustained lack of arbitrage opportunities in China kept premiu...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker this morning, Thursday October 22, this after a day of general strength on Wednesday that saw copper prices climb, intraday, back above $7,000 per tonne.* Concerns that an additional stimulus package in the United States may struggle to get agreed before the presidential election has weighed on sentiment.* Forecasts from the International...Read More
CSX Corp.(CSX), an S&P 100 stock moved above $81.40 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend following release of higher than consensus third quarter earnings. Pre-opening Comments for Thursday October 22nd 2020U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following relea...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday October 20.Please click...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to amend the settlement criteria for its MB-AL-0001 aluminium P1020A (MJP) quarterly premium, cif Japan, $ per tonne.This year, and in part due to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, market dynamics have shifted, and fewer participants engaged in the MJP quarterly contractual discussions, with some choosing not to take part at all.Fastmarkets believes that there may...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices except aluminium were trading up at the close on Tuesday October 20, buoyed by an upswing in United States equities markets. US stock markets opened higher today, bolstered by the looming deadline for a regional stimulus package to fight the fallout of Covid-19. So while talks in the US senate went down to the wire, LME buyers and sellers had th...Read More
An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets and their latest price moves.China UG2 chrome ore prices fell on subdued buying interest with buyers reportedly holding ample stocks while considerable port inventories and lower portside prices weighed on the market. ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 20 that are worth another look....Read More
Weak demand from the aerospace sector will maintain the pressure on the tantalum sector in the short term, Dharam Kotecha, director at minerals trader Halcyon, said during a virtual conference hosted by the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre last week."In terms of short-term demand, in what was a buoyant aerospace industry, [Covid-19] will create a big hole when the international travel i...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 20 that are worth another look....Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico stayed on an uptrend in the week ended October 16, with increases on all grades and in all regions, on high demand for the steelmaking raw material.Sources reported price increases of 100-300 pesos ($5-14) per tonne for both prime and obsolete scrap between late last week and early this week.In addition, some companies that had been quiet in Mexico's central Baj?-o r...Read More
Turkish steel mills have steered clear of the deep-sea scrap market for a second day this week, with no new bookings heard on Tuesday October 20.The day before, the market reported two bookings which had came to light from the previous week, at slightly higher prices, but no further cargoes were booked on Monday.One market participant was hopeful that prices would inch higher following a...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have crossed the $33.50-per-hundredweight ($670-per-short-ton) threshold, and most signs indicate that they will continue to march upward, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated $33.54 per cwt ($670.80 per ton) on Tuesday October 20, up by 0.4% from $33.39 per cwt on Monday October 19 and...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe were largely unchanged on Tuesday October 20, but buyers expect producers to increase their official offers soon, sources told Fastmarkets. The offer prices will rise, they added, based on the combination of reduced availability and solid demand.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Eur...Read More
Novolipietsk Steel (NLMK) - the largest steel producer in Russia - will start the rolling mill modernization at its Belgian subsidiary NLMK Clabecq, the company said on Tuesday October 20.A ?,?30 million ($35 million) plate rolling mill upgrade will include the installation of a new descaling system with two new descalers and the modernization of the four-stand finishing mill, NLMK said.Despite th...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 20 that are worth another look....Read More
The domestic United Arab Emirates rebar price fell again on Tuesday October 20 after deals concluded at lower levels, while the import price weakened amid a lack of construction demand. Domestic rebar The country's biggest steel producer, Emirates Steel, continued to offer rebar at 1,936 dirhams ($527) per tonne ex-works for orders to be produced in October, stable since September 15. Fellow steel...Read More
Rebar and wire rod producers from the Commonwealth of Independent States were in no hurry to make concessions to customers amid a number of positive factors in the market last week, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants cited higher raw materials costs, comparatively higher prices from Turkish wire rod suppliers and consistently strong domestic demand for finished long steel products in som...Read More