A summary of Newmont Corp's production report for the three months ended September 30.In brief: Newmont's operations were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and several of the company's mines - Musselwhite and ??l?(C)onore in Canada, Pe??asquito in Mexico, Yanacocha in Peru and Cerro Negro in Argentina - were temporarily placed on care and maintenance during a portion of the three and nine months...Read More
The Ramu Nickel-Cobalt integrated operation in Papua New Guinea has been suspended due to increasing numbers of Covid-19 infections among staff, Canadian stakeholder Nickel 28 Capital has said."Nickel 28 Capital has been notified by Metallurgical Corporation of China [MCC], our operating partner at the Ramu mine, that the mine site has paused production and operations for the next two weeks to pro...Read More
Demand and prices for alumina in China were in limbo this week because market participants have become cautious after a steep decline in downstream aluminium prices, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday October 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina, metallurgical grade, exw China, was 3,900-4,150 yuan ($610-650) per tonne on Thursday, flat from a week earlier.Domestic demand for alumina in...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale will resume activities at its On??a Puma nickel mine in the country's northern state of Par?? following a favorable decision from a superior court in the country, the company said on Thursday October 28.The Superior Court of Justice (STJ), which is Brazil's federal court of appeals, on October 26 suspended a previous injunction given out by the Par?? state court that had revok...Read More
Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro is looking at ways to use less-clean scrap in low-carbon ingot production, according to chief executive officer Hilde Merete Aasheim.Aasheim was speaking to Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday October 26, after the company announced record third-quarter results for its aluminium business."For us, profitability and sustainabi...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange rebounded during morning trading on Thursday October 28, with nickel and copper leading the pack higher.The three-month nickel price was recently at $19,735 per tonne, up by 1.7% from $19,412 per tonne at Wednesday's 5pm close. "Copper and nickel rebounded on Thursday as bargain hunters were attracted to the metals with possibly the tightest fundamen...Read More
India-based Essar Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia's industry minister for the construction of a hot-rolled coil manufacturing unit, the Middle Eastern country's National Development Center (NDC) said on Wednesday October 27.Bandar Bin lbrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia's minister for industry and mineral resources, and Rewant Ruia, representing Essar Steel, signed t...Read More
European prices for steel hot-rolled coil were broadly stable on Thursday October 28, with buyers and mills continuing to hold back from the market although sentiment was upbeat, sources told Fastmarkets.European producers were busy negotiating long-term contracts for 2022 with end-users and therefore were not providing firm offers to the spot market, sources said.Buyers expected producers to retu...Read More
Liberty Steel UK (LSUK) has restarted crude steel production at its Rotherham electric-arc furnace in north-east England, the company announced on Thursday October 28.The company will operate at night to maximize efficiency and mitigate the high energy costs that have become a key issue for the industry, it said. Some other producers have cut their output in response to the rising costs.LSUK claim...Read More
The price assessment for imported billet into Egypt decreased in the week to Thursday October 27, but local rebar prices widened upward on higher offers, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers increased their prices, effectiveOctober 20.Current offer prices for rebar range from E ?14,900 to15,350 ($946-975) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT.Demand failed to improve in the country, howev...Read More
Prices for pig iron originating from the Black Sea basin continued to grow in late October, supported by limited availability of the material.Most producers continued to stay away from the market to better assess the situation. Some of their facilities were on maintenance.A supplier from Eastern Ukraine was said to have increased offers for its material to $550-560 per tonne fob, following last we...Read More
Prices for imports of basic pig iron into China have inched upward over the past fortnight, after transactions for Brazilian cargoes completed on October 15, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 28.Following those deals, however, buying activity started to slow down because sellers were offering cargoes at higher prices due to tight supply, market participants said.Around 120,000 tonnes of...Read More
Buy-side sentiment in key Asian steel scrap markets has been hurt by news that Chinese trading firms were offering Southeast Asian buyers steel billet which was already imported into China, together with recent falls in the scrap price in Turkey, sources said on Thursday October 28.?EUR?Easing bulk freight costs reduce Bangladesh deep-sea bulk scrap prices?EUR?China import demand muted after steel...Read More
A summary of Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB's financial results for the third quarter of 2021, ending September 30In brief LKAB continued to deliver historically high operating profits in July-September 2021 amid strong demand from steelmakers and high iron ore prices. Fastmarkets' iron ore index for 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao averaged at $163.39 per tonne in the third quarter of...Read More
The cfr-basis price for premium hard coking coal softened on news that China allowed stranded Australia-origin coal to clear customs on Thursday October 28, but prices in the seaborne fob market were strong on new trade.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $608.12 per tonne, down by $6.34 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $568.59 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking...Read More
Iron ore prices were largely down on Thursday October 28, after a dip in demand following the introduction of stricter emissions restrictions in China's steelmaking hub of Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.65 per tonne, down $7.21 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.25 per tonne, down $6.90 per tonne58% Fe fines high-gr...Read More
Australian coal cargoes that have completed their customs declarations in China before October 2020 but ended up being stranded as a result of a ban imposed by the Chinese government that month are being allowed into the country.Buyers consisting of power plants and steel mills were informed by local customs authorities on Wednesday October 27 that their cargoes could clear customs once the necess...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices fell further on Thursday October 28, but market participants expect the decline to slow down after the Tangshan steelmaking hub introduced stricter production restrictions.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,290-5,300 yuan ($827-828) per tonne, down by 100-180 yuan per tonneSellers cut prices on Thursday morning to encourage higher sales volumes, but buyers...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to fall on Thursday October 28, but demand picked up following gains in the futures market during the afternoon trading session.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,100-5,150 yuan ($798-806) per tonne, down by 80-100 yuan per tonneThe most-traded January rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped to 4,464 yuan per tonne on Thursday morni...Read More
Chinese stainless steel exporters received more inquiries over the past week, which pushed prices upward, though the domestic market softened due to losses at the end of last week.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 20,700-21,000 ($3,284-3,316) per tonne, down by 200-300 yuan per tonne from a week earlier Stainless CRC prices dropped to 20,700-20,900 yuan per to...Read More