Domestic iron ore supply in China has limited capacity to ramp up after smaller and higher cost miners exited the market over the past few years, a local miner said.China's domestic run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore production was estimated at 763 million tonnes in 2018, down 37.9% from a year earlier, chief executive officer and vice chairman Greg Pan of Hanking Industrial Group said in his keynote spee...Read More
The seaborne coking coal spot market was largely stable on Tuesday March 5 with little change seen for bids and offers.There is little optimism among market participants for regional steel demand to strengthen significantly in the next few months, though prices for steel products are expected to pick up in Asia during the April-June quarter."Our steel prices will mostly likely increase by around 5...Read More
Fastmarkets will host a free web seminar on Monday March 18 at 10am London time, to introduce the new Fastmarkets-settled London Metal Exchange cash-settled alumina and aluminium premiums contracts. The webinar will cover how Fastmarkets assesses daily alumina indices and aluminium premium assessments and how you can manage your risk with the new LME cash-settled contracts, launching on March 11,...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its uptrend during morning trading on Tuesday March 5, nearing $13,500 per tonne amid strong demand while the rest of the complex trails marginally higher. Continued trade optimism in US-China trade talks has improved risk-sentiment across global commodities markets and prompted upward movement in prices, however a stronger US dolla...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Tuesday March 5*Copper -$140.93 (-946.49 yuan) Aluminium -$299.65 (-2,012.51 yuan) Zinc -$147.92 (-993.49 yuan) Nickel -$183.85 (-1,234.79 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board by an average of 0.8% this morning, Tuesday March 5. Volume was well above average with 12,645 lots having changed hands on Select as at 06.30am London time, compared with 6,685 lots at a similar time on Monday.Nickel led on the upside once again with a 2.2% gain to $13,575 per tonne, having closed on Monday at $1...Read More
Trade log for cobalt sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are yuan per tonne on an ex-works basis.The cobalt sulfate, Co 20.5% min, China ex-works, adjustment to the low-grade cobalt low-end price at Co 20.5% basis is on a $ per lb basis.Fastmarkets MB prices Click here for...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February ADP Private Employment report at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was a drop to 190,000 from 213,000 in January. Actual was a drop to 183,000.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the December U.S. Trade...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was down by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday March 4, with the broad strength in the US dollar deterring commodity investment.Volumes in both aluminium and copper futures were high over the day's trading, with more than 22,000 lots traded in both by the close. While open interest in aluminium has fallen by over 48,000 positio...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the frequency of publication of its copper concentrates treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RC) Asia Pacific index and make small adjustments to the index' specifications.Under the proposals, Fastmarkets will publish the index weekly instead of twice-monthly. The chemical specification of what Fastmarkets considers to be clean standard-grade concentrates wou...Read More
The Indonesia Commodities & Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) has ended the suspension of key smelter inspector PT Surveyor Indonesia in connection with the launch of its new physical tin contract, which is set to transfer tin exports to bonded warehouses for the first time in the exchange's history, ICDX chief executive officer Lamon Rutten said on Monday March 4. PT Surveyor was ordered to suspend ope...Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices rose in China last week in active trading amid strong demand, while global manganese alloys prices were largely stable - barring China, where prices weakened on muted buying. Low-grade ore prices gain up to 22 cents per dmtuAlloy prices keep sliding in ChinaIndian silica-manganese prices edge upEuropean alloy prices stabilize Low-grade manganese ore prices jumped by...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the frequency of publication of its copper concentrates treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RC) Asia Pacific index and make small adjustments to the index' specifications.Under the proposals, Fastmarkets will publish the index weekly instead of twice-monthly. The chemical specification of what Fastmarkets considers to be clean standard-grade concentrates wou...Read More
Jiangxi Copper plans to buy a controlling stake in major copper, silver and lead smelter Yantai Humon Group, the Chinese copper giant said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) on Monday March 4. If finalized, the purchase will see Jiangxi Copper regain its top position as the Chinese largest copper producer in terms of capacity - approximately 1.73 million tonnes of annual copper...Read More
The benchmark standard-grade cobalt price slumped to two-year lows in February amid a surplus of metal, leaving the market to shrug off longer-term bull signs on the supply and demand side. Price moves Cobalt metal prices continued to tumble in February, with concerns of further declines deterring consumers from making large spot purchases. Where possible, buyers have opted to procure cobalt hydro...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai on Friday March 1.China Key drivers Most Chinese traders insisted offering at higher prices due to increased material costs and the quick appreciation of the yuan, but no spot deals were concluded. The final prices for some Japanese tenders were heard to have closed in range of $1,480-1,520 per tonne fob. Yet market participants downplayed...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap at a slow pace at the end of last week and prices remained largely steady at the start of this week, sources said on Monday March 4.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 17,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) and 17,500 tonnes of bonus at an average price of $314.50 per tonne cfr on late Friday or Saturday.The cargo...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have remained largely stable over the past week on moderate demand, sources said on Monday March 4.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Monday for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) scrap in Turkey was TRY1,650-1,820 ($307-338) per tonne delivered, narrowing upward from the TRY1,630-1,820 per tonne of last week.This...Read More
The US copper market began the week on weak footing on Monday March 4 despite progress between the United States and China on the trade dispute. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 1.05 cents to $2.9215 per lb. In trade talks, discussions between the US and China could be indicating resolution on the two countries' continued trade...Read More
Canadian multi-metal producer Rathdowny Resources has appointed the former Farallon Mining president Dick Whittington to his new role, as announced in a press release from March 1.Whittington has over 40 years' experience in the mining sector and has worked on global projects across Canada, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Mexico.It was in Mexico that he founded and chaired the Canadian Min...Read More