China's hot-rolled coil prices weakened in the domestic market on Wednesday June 24 ahead of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 25-27, while importers started to worry about the delivery of goods from India after the border clash between the two countries last week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,750 yuan ($526-531) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneSell...Read More
Spot cobalt hydroxide payables edged higher in the first half of the week, supported by tight supply and firm bids.Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China rose to 65-67% of the standard-grade metal price (low-end) on Wednesday June 24, compared with 65-66.5% on June 19. Spot liquidity was thin ahead of China's Dragon Boat Festival holiday (June 25-27), though a numbe...Read More
Cobalt continued to trade around 10-month lows in the first half of the week, with sellers happy to take lower prices to keep material flowing through their books. Fastmarkets' price assessments for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, and cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, both held at $14.15-14.65 per on Wednesday June 24, stable from the previous day, but both down from $14.15-14.75 per...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt alloy grade,...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday June 24 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Cobalt metal price in China falls amid persistently weak spot demand, while sentiment was dented following sharp falls in local futures prices so far...Read More
Broader markets were consolidating this morning, Wednesday June 24, underpinned by better economic data, but conversely held back by concerns about how the spread of the Covid-19 is accelerating in some regions; the spread in some mining countries is now a potential threat to supply.Tuesday's flash June purchasing managers' index (PMI) data shows the global economy is recovering at a better rate t...Read More
Broader markets were generally weaker this morning, Thursday June 25, with those equity markets that were open in the Asian-Pacific region mainly weaker by between 1% and 2%.* Pre-market major western equity index futures were down this morning, following Wednesday’s weakness. * Gold prices hold up in high ground around $1,760 per oz.* International Monetary Fund (IMF) cuts world growth forec...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly higher following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 1,350,000 versus 1,508,000 last week. Actual was.1,480,000. Consensus for first quarter annualized real GDP was a drop of 5.0% versus a gain of 2.0% in the four...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 23 that are worth another look.A recent resurgence of Covid-19 infections in Beijing led to some jitters in China's steel sector in the initial stages of the outbreak, but market participants do not expect this second wave to leave much of an impact on the industry.The aluminium duty-paid market in Europe is set to come under...Read More
Hong Kong's Noble Group notched a $206 million loss in the first quarter of 2020, with the company citing the breaking of supply chains due to the Covid-19 outbreak as the key reason for the slump, the trading group announced on Tuesday June 23."Q1 was dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had far-reaching implications for every business and sector, including ours," Noble cha...Read More
The LME three-month copper price maintained slim gains made during the day, closing up 0.4% on Tuesday June 23, with high turnover buoyed by US financial stimulus optimism, while stock outflows added further price support. The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held above the $5,900 per tonne psychological level to close at $5,905 per tonne this afternoon, up from $5,880.50 per tonne o...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 23 that are worth another look.A recent resurgence of Covid-19 infections in Beijing led to some jitters in China's steel sector in the initial stages of the outbreak, but market participants do not expect this second wave to leave much of an impact on the industry.The aluminium duty-paid market in Europe is set to come under...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, consumption, trading and logistics have dominated the noble alloys markets in the first half of 2020.Among the complex, the molybdenum market fell the furthest in percentage terms, with ferro-molybdenum prices down by 14% and oxide prices down by 13% in both Rotterdam and Busan.Supply concerns in South Am...Read More
Hong Kong's Noble Group notched a $206 million loss in the first quarter of 2020, with the company citing the breaking of supply chains due to the Covid-19 outbreak as the key reason for the slump, the trading group announced on Tuesday June 23."Q1 was dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had far-reaching implications for every business and sector, including ours," Noble cha...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 23 that are worth another look.A recent resurgence of Covid-19 infections in Beijing led to some jitters in China's steel sector in the initial stages of the outbreak, but market participants do not expect this second wave to leave much of an impact on the industry.The aluminium duty-paid market in Europe is set to come under...Read More
Hong Kong's Noble Group notched a $206 million loss in the first quarter of 2020, with the company citing the breaking of supply chains due to the Covid-19 outbreak as the key reason for the slump, the trading group announced on Tuesday June 23."Q1 was dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had far-reaching implications for every business and sector, including ours," Noble cha...Read More
Turkish steel mills extended their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets, but are now pushing forlower prices, sources said on Tuesday June 23.Turkey's steelmakers have mostly stayed away from the deep-sea market since booking two US cargoes at the beginning of the last week.On Monday June 15, a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo at $265 per tonne cfr for HMS...Read More
Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on its pricing methodology for its Taiwan steel scrap price assessment as part of its annual methodology review process, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco) principles for price reporting agencies.This consultation, which will be open until July 24, 2020, seeks to ensure that our methodology continue...Read More