Brazilian aluminium smelter Albras expects to double its output of primary foundry alloy (PFA) in 2021 over the volume in 2020, and to reach 10,000 tonnes by the end of the year, the company said on Wednesday September 15.Albras launched PFA products in 2019, and has invested in technology and workforce skill qualification to increase output in each year since then.One of the newest examples, it s...Read More
Base metals price movements on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on Friday September 17 following a week marked by volatility, with copper, nickel and lead down, the last-named having been under selling pressure for most of the past five days.Nickel's three-month price reached $20,245 per tonne on Friday, while its volumes were at their highest since the start of the week, with more than 11,400...Read More
Senior executives from 17 companies and industry association European Aluminium have called on the European Commission (EC) to move forward with anti-dumping duties on aluminium flat-rolled products (FRP) imports from China. In a letter sent on Wednesday September 15, the signatories said that planned definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese FRP are balanced, fair and critical to the survival of...Read More
China's nickel pig iron (NPI) prices held steady in the week to Friday September 17 amid nationwide production cuts while those for nickel ore surged amid increased freight and tight supply.Fastmarkets price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China was 1,430-1,450 yuan ($222-225) per nickel unit on Friday, unchanged from a week earlier.Prices have been unchang...Read More
Brazil-based metals producer Nexa Resources will shift its chain of command next year, with Ignacio Rosado to take the role of chief executive officer, it said on Thursday September 17.Rosado, former CEO at Peruvian miner Volcan, will join the company on November 1 and start the transition to substitute Tito Martins as Nexa's top executive on January 1, 2022.According to the company, Rosado has mo...Read More
Most futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange were slightly higher in the morning of Friday September 17, with the exception of nickel, following a Thursday session in which most metals declined. "After a volatile day [on Thursday], which saw prices lose ground, the metals were a somewhat dull affair [to start with] this morning. There was some end-of-week short covering early on, which was...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME and SHFE were mixed on the morning of Friday September 17, with most remaining listless despite being buffeted by a firmer US dollar, generally weaker economic data and disruption to both production and supply.Broader markets were quiet but firmer heading into the weekend and China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday takes place on Monday and TuesdayBase metalsThree-month b...Read More
South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) has agreed to buy a 4.8% stake in China's Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co for 35 billion Won ($29.72 million), the Chinese battery materials producer said on Friday September 17. In addition, two parties have signed a supply contract for six years, which entails Greatpower supplying a total of 20,000 tonnes of nickel sulfate to th...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose above $98 per hundredweight ($1,960 per short ton) to a new record, with buyers projecting that an upcoming spate of mill shutdowns for maintenance will further tighten steel supplies.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $98.11 per cwt ($1,962.20 per ton) on Friday September 17, up by 0.57% from $97.55 per cw...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil were stable in the week ended Friday September 17 amid slow negotiations and diverging trends in raw materials costs.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was unchanged at $870-880 per tonne on Friday.The flat steel market in the United States, which is the main buyer of Brazilian slab, continued to be strong. Hot-rolled...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States strengthened to new all-time highs again after market participants judged the upcoming maintenance outages at domestic mills as problematic for short-term spot availability.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US jumped to $109.50 per hundredweight ($2,190 per short ton) on Thursday September 16 f...Read More
Russia's Primorskiy Metallurgical Plant intends to build a steelmaking facility in the country's Far Eastern Primorsky Krai region, with capacity for 1.5 million tonnes per year of heavy steel plate and 250,000 tpy of large diameter pipe (LDP), Fastmarkets has learned.The new facility, scheduled to begin production in 2025, will be built in the territory of Bolshoy Kamen in the south of Primorsky...Read More
Coated steel coil prices continued to decline in Turkey in the week to Friday September 17, mainly due to sustained weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Producers in the country reduced their offer prices in the domestic and export markets following a drop in the price of hot-rolled coil - the coated steel substrate.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Tur...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 17.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Trading activity in the import pig iron market in the United States slowed in the week ended Friday September 17, while the market remains firm, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $530-540 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week."I have not seen any activity...Read More
Global scrap prices diverged in the week to Friday September 17, with the Asian and US scrap markets reporting gains, while Turkey tried to recover the previous weeks' losses in its most recent purchases.Turkish mills book handful of cargoesRecent cargoes see higher export prices on US marketVietnam prices jump on higher export ordersChinese scrap prices dip on winter pollution controlsTaiwan scra...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imports into Pakistan erased gains made in the previous week on Friday September 17, while Indian scrap remained rangebound, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $526.91 per tonne on Friday September 17, down from$530.42 per tonne on September 10, erasing the gains m...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to replenish their scrap stocks at the end of the week with another deep-sea booking, taking the total to six, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday September 17.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo late on Thursday September 16, consisting of 25,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $439 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bon...Read More
Sentiment in the export pig iron market in the Commonwealth of Independent States improved during the week to Thursday September 16, with higher prices expected after suppliers sold large tonnages in late August and early September.Fastmarkets assessed the price of high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $490-505 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing upward by $15 from $475-505...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped further on Friday September 17 after more cities in northern China said that they would implement production restrictions in winter, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $101.95 per tonne, down by $5.26 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $103.95 per tonne, down by $4.21 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade pr...Read More