Consolidating its position in the battery materials supply chain amid fierce competition is the biggest challenge facing Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co, company president Dongqiang Cao told Fastmarkets in an interview.Previously, attracting investment and improving the ability to provide finance had proved to be a bottleneck in the early stages of Greatpower's development, when it expande...Read More
Labor shortages across the global scrap industry pose the biggest threat to growth, according to a panel discussion at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in Brussels on Tuesday October 26."We are having tremendous difficulties in hiring employees as we grow," George Adams, president of SA Recycling said as part of the discussion."There is going to be a massive shortage of scrap...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States were mostly at a standstill, with the London Metal Exchange's nickel cash average for October broadly sideways from September, even though the daily official price continues to hover above $9 per lb."LME nickel has recovered nicely, but it seems to have leveled off for now, which has prevented prices from moving significantly higher," one dealer sa...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 27.Please click...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Wednesday October 27, following a further drop in coal prices and widespread selling."Today's news that [China's] National Development & Reform Commission has set the price of thermal and coking coal at levels [that will reduce] key input prices for energy-intensive metals - pertinent to alumi...Read More
A summary of production results and earnings figures for Southern Copper Corp (SCC) in the third quarter of 2021, as stated in the company's latest quarterly report released on Tuesday October 26.In brief Lower copper grades and recovery rates at open-pit mines offset a significant 10% output increase reported at SCC's Cuajone mine in the Peruvian Andes region, resulting in an overall slight produ...Read More
Aluminium producer Rusal's sales dipped by nearly 12% quarter-on-quarter to 915,000 tonnes in July-September 2021, according to its latest statement of operating results."Aluminium sales dynamics can largely be explained by an increase of goods in transit that are recognized as inventory, which was caused - among other factors - by transport capacity restrictions in supply chains globally," the co...Read More
Prices for aluminium P1020A cargoes offered into China have come down from multi-year highs because of a marked decline in demand, an uncertain near-term outlook and the closure of the London-Shanghai arbitrage window, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday October 27.Fastmarkets' latest monthly assessment of the aluminium P1020A premium, cif Shanghai, was $130-140 per tonne on Tuesday, down from a six-ye...Read More
Domestic steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States were sideways on Wednesday October 27, but import tags went up for the first time in nearly two months.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on October 27, unchanged since August 11 at its highest level since late 2008. This marks the 11th week of that the a...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rebounded for a second consecutive day after hitting their lowest price since early August on Monday October 25, but participants were still divided on the market direction.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $95.87 per hundredweight ($1,917.40 per ton) on Wednesday October 27, up by 0.46% from $95.43 per cwt on...Read More
The United States' imports of finished steel products increased moderately month on month but ballooned year on year in September, with most tracked commodities showing gains.A total of 2.94 million tonnes of steel imports arrived in September, up by 16.70% from the final tally of 2.52 million tonnes in August and up by 156.45% from 1.15 million tonnes in September 2020, according to prelimin...Read More
Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brazil-based company said on Wednesday October 27.Brazilian steel consumption was likely to rise by 4-6% next year from 2021 levels, chief executive officer Gustavo Werneck said in conference...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Turkey's largest steelmaking group, Erdemir, for January-September 2021.In brief?EUR? Erdemir Group produced 6.815 million tonnes of crude steel over the first nine months of 2021, equivalent to 23% of the national total.?EUR? The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased year-on-year by 291.98% in January-Septe...Read More
Mexican integrated steelmaker Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) has been affected by a fire at its hot-rolling mill which caused several injuries to employees and minor damage to equipment, the company has said.Around 11 workers were injured by the accident, which was caused by an oil leakage, the company said on Wednesday October 26. The fire was immediately brought under control, Ahmsa added.Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market was slow on Wednesday October 27, but mills are likely to seek price rise due to increasing production costs, sources told Fastmarkets. Buyers and sellers have been holding back from trading until a trend becomes clear, they added. Demand, however, has started to gradually improve due to distributors re-stocking for the first quarter of next...Read More
Turkish steel mills were quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets ahead of an upcoming Republic Day holiday on Thursday and Friday, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 27.The most recent cargo was recorded on Tuesday, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a cargo from the United States, consisting of 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) and 10,000 tonnes of shredded at an average price o...Read More
Steel scrap buyers in South Korea have continued to chase bulk bookings from Japan in recent days at increasingly high prices, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 27.?EUR?South Korea books more scrap?EUR?Tokyo Steel Utsunomiya raises buy price again?EUR?China prices continue downtrend amid bearish sentiment in finished steel markets?EUR?Taiwan prices retreat on weakening sentiment...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in both the fob and cfr markets were relatively flat on Wednesday October 27. And China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) intervened in the coal market to curb thermal coal prices, which led to a sharp drop in the coal and coke futures market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $614.46 per tonne, up by $0.09 per tonneHard coking...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices inched downward on Wednesday October 27 because most market participants were cautious about procurement amid the generally weak demand outlooks for the rest of 2021, market sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.86 per tonne, down by $2.44 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $122.15 per tonne, down by $1.96 per tonne58% Fe fin...Read More
A summary of Canadian metal producer Teck Resources' unaudited third-quarter results, as announced by the company on Wednesday October 27.In brief Teck's adjusted earnings before income, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the third quarter was C$2.1 billion ($1.69 billion), more than triple the Ebitda of the year-earlier period at C$638 million. The Canadian company's gross prof...Read More