If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
The collapse of the iron ore market and market turbulence over Chinese property developer Evergrande Group are adding to the economic woes caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 for much of this year.It is hard to find bright sparks in the months ahead for the ferrous supply chain, which has been buffeted repeatedly in a short span of few months, starting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's comment...Read More
Rising demand led to higher ferrous scrap prices for material imported into Turkey in the week to Friday October 1, while prices in most other markets were comparatively lackluster. Turkish mills were increasingly active in the market over the week, leading to an uptick in regional import prices United States sellers were able to sell at higher levels amid an increased appetite for scrap in Turkey...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
The inter-merchant market for light-iron steel scrap in the UK was steady for the second week in a row in the week to Friday October 1, with major processors holding their offer prices stable to ensure a steady stream of supply into their yards, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant UK was ?170-190 ($229-256) p...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Five key global lithium producers SQM, Ganfeng Lithium, AMG Brazil, Orocobre and Pilbara Minerals have announced the setup of the International Lithium Association (ILiA), which aims to provide a central voice for lithium producers and to promote the sustainable development of a global battery value chain.The founding members account for over half of current global lithium production, according to...Read More
Fastmarkets rounds up the key discussion points on lithium battery chemistries, sustainability and ESG from its Lithium 2021 conference that took place over September 20-22.Lithium price spikes key to chemistriesThe price of lithium will be key in determining battery chemistries, according to market participants. Sustained high prices would cause use to shrink, although few expect lithium to be re...Read More
Base metals prices were down on the morning of Friday October 1, extending the weakness that started to accelerate on Thursday, when the LME base metals closed down by an average of 2.3%, with tin dropping by 6.2%. The weakness was broad based with equities retreating, too. Asia-Pacific equities weaker this morning.Gold and the yen rallied on Thursday, and US treasury yields are weaker this mornin...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
Turkish steel mills ended the working week with additional deep-sea cargo deals for November shipments, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $443 per tonne and shredded and bonus at $458 per tonne cfr. Although, the cargo composition was not yet confirmed, the seller source said. And a steel mill...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 1.ChinaHebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) hiked its October tender price for silico-manganese to 12,800 yuan ($1,979) per tonne, up by 4,150 yuan per tonne (48%) from that for September-delivery.The sharp increase was attributed to lingering production restrictions among smelters caused by the...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 1.China The ferro-silicon price in China went very bullish following the news that Qinghai, a major ferro-silicon production hub in the country, may start power cuts to meet the dual control targets of energy consumption. This has made spot availability even tighter, with many producers holding off...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were fairly stable on Friday October 1 because buyers held back from making new deals, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers have paused purchases because they anticipate that domestic mills will soon accept lower prices. In addition, the stocks of European distributors were sufficient so they felt no pressure to get additional volumes in the short run, sour...Read More
The rally in Chinese lithium prices paused in the week to Thursday September 30, with sentiment turning slightly more cautious owing to power restrictions being implemented in some battery materials production hubs.Chinese lithium prices stabilize; hydroxide trades still active ahead of week-long National Day holiday (October 1-7).Seaborne Asian lithium market also stable, but spot activity thins....Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More