BHP is consulting with relevant stakeholders on options to increase its licensed iron ore export capacity to over 290 million tonnes per year from Hedland, the shipping hub in Western Australia, it told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.Tim Day, BHP acting asset president for Western Australia iron ore, said BHP's focus remains on reaching 290 million tonnes per year in the medium term, but improvem...Read More
Metals prices were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday April 28 after the promising start to the week faded on Monday, but talk that Chinese provincial governments are offering to subsidize inventory accumulation could well turn out to be a supportive factor. The mixed performance this morning is widespread with Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices on divergent paths, wh...Read More
Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More
The Indian silico-manganese export price and European domestic high-carbon ferro-manganese price rose in the past week amid tight alloy availability and hefty increases in the cost of ore. The silico-manganese 65% Mn min, min 16% Si, fob India price jumped by 13.5% to $1,000-1,100 per tonne in the week ended Friday April 24 from $900-950 per tonne on April 17. This is the assessment's highest...Read More
Swedish special steel producer Ovako has used hydrogen to heat steel before rolling for the first time, the company announced on Tuesday April 28.It claims to be the first company in the world to heat steel using hydrogen instead of liquefied petroleum gas before rolling, in a full-scale trial with its partner Linde Gas.Good results were achieved in the trial in one of the company's pit furnaces a...Read More
Metals prices generally seem to be consolidating this morning, Wednesday April 29, and for the most part look well placed to extend gains, but whether underlying confidence is strong enough in these uncertain times remains to be seen. * Asian-Pacific and pre-market major western equity indices are all positive, as are oil prices that are up around 3%.* Market participants likely to focus on US gro...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 44 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for news from the Federal Reserve at 2:00 PM EDT. Consensus is that the Fed Fund Rate will remain unchanged.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of first estimate of U.S. first quarter GDP at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 4.0% versus a gai...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 27 that are worth another look.The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of ferrous scrap in many key supply locations, provoking a 21% rise in international scrap prices in just 12 days from April 3 to April 15. But despite this, domestic prices in many areas were settled lower in April's monthly negotiations.The Itali...Read More
First Quantum has cut its 2020 copper production guidance by 75,000 tonnes to 755,000-805,000 tonnes as a result of a reduction in production expectations at Cobre Panama due to the Covid-19 pandemic.This guidance range is dependent upon the Toronto, Canada-listed company receiving approval from Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama (MINSA) to commence the restart of operations before or by...Read More
Peruvian copper mine Antamina is still uncertain when it will be able to resume operations following a workforce demobilization due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Monday April 27.The mine underwent a stoppage on April 13, under which most workers still on-site were removed. Up to that date, around 2,700 people were still working at Antamina - an already reduced figure from the 6,000...Read More
First Quantum has cut its 2020 copper production guidance by 75,000 tonnes to 755,000-805,000 tonnes as a result of a reduction in production expectations at Cobre Panama due to the Covid-19 pandemic.This guidance range is dependent upon the Toronto, Canada-listed company receiving approval from Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama (MINSA) to commence the restart of operations before or by...Read More
Brazilian base metals producer Nexa Resources will prepare to resume normal operations during the latest extension of Peru's quarantine measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the company said on Monday April 27.Metal concentrate production at the Atacocha, Cerro Lindo and El Porvenir mines will remain halted, while the Cajamarquilla zinc-copper smelter will continue to run at lower capacity u...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) for spot zinc concentrates nosedived in April amid prolonged shutdowns in major producing nations of Peru, Bolivia, Mexico and South Africa, leaving smelters scrambling for material. Fastmarkets assessed the zinc concentrate TC, cif China at $180-195 per tonne on Friday April 24, a steep 28.6% fall from $255-270 per tonne the previous month. The low end of the range ha...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 27 that are worth another look.The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of ferrous scrap in many key supply locations, provoking a 21% rise in international scrap prices in just 12 days from April 3 to April 15. But despite this, domestic prices in many areas were settled lower in April's monthly negotiations.The Itali...Read More
More provincial governments in China are offering incentives to companies to purchase base metal products, in a highly unusual move to avoid inventory piling up at a time of demand uncertainty, Fastmarkets understands from official documents and industry sources.The last time the Chinese government bought metal stocks to relieve inventory pressure was more than a decade ago following the financial...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of ferrous scrap in many key supply locations, provoking a 21% rise in international scrap prices in just 12 days from April 3 to April 15. But despite this, domestic prices in many areas were settled lower in April's monthly negotiations.Prices on the international market have been on a rollercoaster ride over recent weeks.The price of steel scrap,...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices dropped sharply at the start of the week on news of a fresh Baltic Sea cargo deal, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 27.A steel producer in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 26,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $242 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $252 per tonne cfr.This compares with previous Baltic Sea deals done at $255-256...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have increased over the past week amid limited supply, especially in the Marmara region, sources said on Monday April 27.At least two steel mills in the Marmara region have increased their buy prices for auto bundle scrap by 70-80 lira ($10-12) per tonne over the past week to be able to secure more material.Long and flat steel mill ??olakoglu increased its buy price f...Read More
First Quantum has cut its 2020 copper production guidance by 75,000 tonnes to 755,000-805,000 tonnes as a result of a reduction in production expectations at Cobre Panama due to the Covid-19 pandemic.This guidance range is dependent upon the Toronto, Canada-listed company receiving approval from Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama (MINSA) to commence the restart of operations before or by...Read More
The team from Commerzbank clinched the top spot on the base metals leaderboard for the first-quarter 2020 base metals predictions with 97.98% accuracy while Glyn Lawcock of UBS took the top spot for precious metals predictions over the period with a 93.58% accuracy rating. For steel raw materials, Chris LaFemina of Jefferies topped the leaderboard with a 98.86% accuracy score. Click on the image b...Read More