Dip buying and the resumption of trading in Asia gave a boost to most metals on the LME on the morning of Wednesday September 22, with tin rising the most while lead was the only metal still trending to the downside. Tin's futures contract was up 5% on Wednesday at 9am to $35,500 per tonne, compared with Tuesday's $33,820 per tonne, with the metal also hitting $35,680 per tonne during early tradin...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up sharply on Wednesday September 22 on market participants' expectation of supply cuts in the remaining months of 2021. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,800-5,840 yuan ($897-903) per tonne, up by 220 yuan per tonne China produced 20.12 million tonnes of rebar in August, down by 16.1% from a year earlier and 4.26% lower than in July, according to data...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME were mainly rebounding on Wednesday September 22, after dip buyers took advantage of Tuesday's price weakness, while metals in Shanghai were mixed but mainly down in response to the downturn in London this week.Risk-off sentiment eased slightly as Chinese property giant Evergrande said it would pay some of the interest on its bonds, due Thursday, but the market is als...Read More
Antimony prices have been forced up to a fresh twelve-month high after water contamination concerns sparked mine closures in China, exacerbating logistics-related supply constraints.Fastmarkets' latest price assessment for antimony, max 100 ppm Bi, in-whs Rotterdam rose to $12,700-13,150 per tonne on Wednesday September 22, compared with $12,500-13,100 in the previous session and $11,700-12,100 on...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Jon Stibss,...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 alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) 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 hydroxide p...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 standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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....Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday September 22.Key driversFerro-titanium and titanium scrap markets held steady for the third consecutive week in the seven days to Wednesday September 22, with suppliers expecting new tenders from steelmakers around the end of the month and into October. A few deals were reported at around $7 per kg, although they contained more alum...Read More
Stainless steel scrap 304 prices hit a wall on Tuesday September 21, due to the London Metal Exchange cash nickel price plummeting 52 cents per lb since September 17 when it was $9.10 per lb."Quite a drop [in the LME cash nickel price], and market prices for stainless steel scrap are already too high relative to mill pricing, so we are pulling back," one processor said.Stainless processors are alr...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed on both the LME and SHFE on Thursday September 23, with the broader markets welcoming the news that Chinese property giant Evergrande has avoided imploding, for now, and not spooked by the US Federal Reserve's more hawkish outlook.* Chairman Jerome Powell says the United States Federal Reserve could “easily move ahead” with its decision about when to taper*...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 23 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was quiet at US78.93 cents prior to release of the July Canadian Retail Sales Report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus is an increase of 4.4% versus a gain of 4.2% in June.BlackBerry added $0.89 to US$10.45 after reporting higher than consensus second quarter revenues.KB Homes...Read More
En+ Group is eyeing a partnership with the manufacturer of an electric vehicle to produce aluminium with low-carbon greenhouse gas emissions, its executive chairman told Fastmarkets.Speaking in an interview on Tuesday September 21, Lord Gregory Barker said that partnerships of this kind would "absolutely" become more common as the group scaled up its inert anode technology, which generates direct...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board on Tuesday September 21 with uncertainty related to Chinese construction company Evergrande continuing to cast a shadow over the market."This week's sell-off was triggered by a sharp negative turn in global risk sentiment, with the world keeping a close eye on the collapse of Chinese property developer Evergrande and trader...Read More
The Malaysia Smelting Corporation, one of the largest tin producers in the world, is currently operating its main smelter with 80% of its staff present, one company representative confirmed to Fastmarkets on September 21. MSC declared force majeure in early June after the third wave of Covid-19 cases began to rapidly affect the country. The spokesperson for the company noted that the force ma...Read More
Manganese semi-carbonate prices have risen in the past week on renewed liquidity, although inventories continued to weigh heavily on the market, limiting any potential gains.Fastmarkets' latest calculation of the manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, was $4.56 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday September 17, up by 8 cents per dmtu (1.79%) from $4.48 per dmtu the previous week.Fresh liq...Read More
An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets in Asia, Europe and the United States on Tuesday September 21 and their latest price moves.China The imported charge chrome market rose strongly on supply tightness in China, due to falling domestic production following electricity restrictions. The UG2 chrome ore market stayed stable, with cost support holding prices in balance against falling consu...Read More
Teck Resources has trimmed its 2021 production guidance figures for refined zinc and concentrate and said that its copper concentrate shipment timing had been affected by wildfires and logistics disruptions in its home region of British Columbia, Canada.The company now expects its Trail operations to produce 285,000-290,000 tonnes of refined zinc in 2021, down from 290,000-300,000 tonnes previousl...Read More
The world's largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which leaves a growing market dependent on a region that poses challenges, among them the risk of human rights abuses.Cobalt is a key ingredient in batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), and its use is expected to grow exponentially as the world shifts to a greener economy. As a result, in recent years, market s...Read More