ArcelorMittal has moved forward scheduled maintenance of its galvanizing lines at its Florange site in northeastern France due to reduced demand from the automotive industry, a company representative told Fastmarkets.The company revealed the decision earlier this week, citing in part, the decreased demand from the automotive industry due to an ongoing global semiconductor shortage.The maintenance...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
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 28 that are worth another look.The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019. Brazilian miner Vale will resume activities...Read More
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019.The SEC staff made a preliminary determination to recommend the beginning of proceedings against Vale, alleging that the company's disclosures about dam safety management and the Brumadinho dam could have...Read More
A healthy price arbitrage for Japanese hot-rolled coil producers to export into steel markets in the Americas has enabled these mills to keep raising their steel scrap buying prices in recent months, sources told Fastmarkets.Japanese HRC exports to the Americas totaled 1.36 million tonnes in January-August 2021 under HS codes 7208 and 722530, up by 37.6% year on year, according to statistics from...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday October 28, continuing to rebound following a recent period of widespread selling."Given the [recent] price action, this Friday's week- and month-end closes should be important to determine whether we see some longer-term length liquidate," Alastair Munro, LME desk analyst at Marex, sai...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 28 that are worth another look.The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a notice to Brazil-based miner Vale regarding a possible investigation surrounding the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019. Brazilian miner Vale will resume activities...Read More
A healthy price arbitrage for Japanese hot-rolled coil producers to export into steel markets in the Americas has enabled these mills to keep raising their steel scrap buying prices in recent months, sources told Fastmarkets.Japanese HRC exports to the Americas totaled 1.36 million tonnes in January-August 2021 under HS codes 7208 and 722530, up by 37.6% year on year, according to statistics from...Read More
For anyone purely judging manganese ore supply in China by looking at port stocks, he or she could misread the market supply picture due to rising "invisible stocks" in the past one to two months, sources told Fastmarkets. Typically, ore stocks are either stored at ports or held by producers at their warehouses or local storage sites. While port stocks are visible and measurable, the latter can be...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday October 28, continuing to rebound following a recent period of widespread selling."Given the [recent] price action, this Friday's week- and month-end closes should be important to determine whether we see some longer-term length liquidate," Alastair Munro, LME desk analyst at Marex, sai...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
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
ArcelorMittal has moved forward scheduled maintenance of its galvanizing lines at its Florange site in northeastern France due to reduced demand from the automotive industry, a company representative told Fastmarkets.The company revealed the decision earlier this week, citing in part, the decreased demand from the automotive industry due to an ongoing global semiconductor shortage.The maintenance...Read More
Prices for steel billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States region continued to soften in the week to Thursday October 28 amid an unfavorable environment in the global market.Lack of demand was one of the main reasons for the downtrend. China has been one of the main global consumers of billet imports, from the CIS in particular, but it suddenly lost interest in imported material d...Read More
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