A summary of the third-quarter iron ore production results from 2021 from Anglo American, published on Thursday October 21.In brief ?EUR?Iron ore production increased by 15%, driven primarily by a 22% increase at Minas Rio and partially by a 11% increase at Kumba. ?EUR?Total production at Kumba increased, reflecting the improved processing plant availability and reliability. ?EUR?Production at...Read More
Seaborne coking coal cfr prices increased following a trade on Thursday, while despite a fall in the futures market, coking coal prices in the physical market stayed reasonably strong, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $615.52 per tonne, up $3.40 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, up $1.69 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $...Read More
Fastmarkets has modified the name of one of its Japan steel scrap export prices to clarify the exact grade being assessed in the market.In Japan, prime scrap is referred to as Shindachi, which comprises Shindachi Bara, an unpressed new production busheling scrap that is the most commonly traded prime scrap in the Japan's export market, and Shindachi press bundle, which is more commonly traded in t...Read More
Buyers in Taiwan continued to purchase containerized scrap cargoes at higher prices on Thursday October 21 amid bullishness in the spot market, sources said. Taiwan continues to book containerized cargoes at higher prices Spot prices in China edge down amid losses in finished steel futures Tokyo Steel announces another rise in domestic scrap purchase priceTaiwanTaiwanese buyers continued to secur...Read More
Market participants were aloof following the London Metal Exchange's recent measures imposed to rein in the spike in copper spreads, but backwardations have eased, as the Exchange intended.The LME imposed a series of temporary rules on copper trading on Tuesday October 19. The measures included a limit on tomorrow/next spread orders of higher than 0.5% of the previous day's cash price and a requir...Read More
Spot trading for hot-rolled coil in China stagnated in the afternoon of Thursday October 21 after the continued tumble in futures prices kept market participants cautious.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,710-5,750 yuan ($892-898) per tonne, narrowing by 10-30 yuan per tonneSpot HRC was traded at 5,710-5,750 yuan per tonne in Shanghai on Thursday morning, when the most-traded HRC contract on the...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was trading below $10,000 per tonne during morning trading on Thursday October 21, while the backwardation in the metal's cash/three-month spread had narrowed to below $300 per tonne.This comes after the exchange imposed a series of temporary measures designed to cool the market.The three-month copper price was at $9,990 per tonne at 10am, down by...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices decreased on Thursday October 21 on weaker demand amid plunging futures. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,630-5,680 yuan ($881-888) per tonne, down by 60-70 yuan per tonneChina's biggest thermal coal producer, China Energy Investment Corp (China Energy), said during the day that it would raise production and lower prices. This led to thermal coal futures falling t...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices were unchanged over the week ended Wednesday October 20, but market participants are expecting them to drop on increased supply.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 21,000-21,200 ($3,284-3,316) per tonne, unchanged from a week earlier. Demand for stainless steel was persistently week during the week, resulting in no change...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 transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt...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 transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt...Read More
Cobalt sulfate prices have trended upward since early September this year due to continuously higher raw materials costs and the rising cost of chemical auxiliary materials despite thin downstream demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China price was assessed at 89,000-93,000 yuan ($13,914-14,539) per tonne on Wednesday October 20,...Read More
Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shot up to an all-time high during morning trading on Thursday October 21 amid a possible export ban on raw materials by Indonesia, among other bullish market dynamics.SHFE nickel was trading at 160,300 yuan ($25,071) per tonne at 11.30am Shanghai time, up by 10,720 yuan per tonne (7.17%) from a closing price of 149,580 yuan per tonne on Wednesday.Ind...Read More
Steelmakers in China will likely keep their production rates low in the fourth quarter of 2021 amid pollution controls and tight electricity supply even though they still seem to have a lot of "quota" left for the year, market participants say.In the first nine months of this year, China produced 805.89 million tonnes of crude steel, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)....Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly stronger during morning trading on Friday October 22, but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were largely down – this follows significant losses on the LME on Thursday.* Chinese property giant Evergrande Group makes a dollar bond interest payment.* US treasury yields up sharply following better-than-expected US initial jobless cl...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 20 that are worth another look.Workers at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's plant in Ghent, Belgium, might go on strike from Thursday next week in a dispute over salaries, Fastmarkets heard on October 20.Trafigura has been drawing...Read More
Lead's three-month price set a new year-to-date peak of $2,427 per tonne on the afternoon of Wednesday October 20, together with nickel, which rose by almost 6% to more than $21,000 per tonne, with sentiment on the London Metal Exchange still bullish.Lead's three-month price closed at $2,417 per tonne on Wednesday, a 1.7% increase from its Tuesday closing price of $2,376 per tonne. "We envisage a...Read More
Nickel premiums were stable globally on Tuesday October 19, supported by tight inventories.Strong fundamentals continue to keep US premiums firm.Supply remains supportive of Asia premiums, but there is low liquidity with the arbitrage window closed.Europe premium is flat with liquidity still low post-LME Week.US premiums braced against headwinds, tailwindsNickel premiums were unchanged in the Unit...Read More
Suppliers in China's domestic spot ferro-chrome market lowered their offer prices during the week to Tuesday October 19, while trading remained light due to very limited supply, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' assessment of ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China fell by 4.8% to 10,700-11,300 yuan ($1,673-1,767) per tonne on Tuesday, from 11,100-12,000 yuan per tonne one week earlier.Th...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's base metals production results for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Tuesday October 19. Vale's nickel production declined in the third quarter from the prior quarter due to a labor disruption at its Sudbury mine in Canada, which halted operations for 70 days, of which 40 days were in third quarter, with an impact of 11,0...Read More