Rio Tinto expects to ship 338-350 million tonnes of iron ore this year, up from 338.2 million tonnes in 2018, despite disruption to its Robe Valley lump and fines shipments from Cape Lambert in Western Australia earlier this month. A screening facility at the miner's Cape Lambert A port facility, which ships its lower-grade iron ore products, was affected by a fire last week.For the four...Read More
China's ferrous futures experienced a slight uptick on Thursday January 17 across the board, with steel contracts maintaining their strength from a day earlier.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,557 yuan ($526) per tonne, up 5 yuan per tonneMay hot rolled coil: 3,464 yuan per tonne, up 16 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 513 yuan p...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices moved in varying directions during the working week from Monday January 14 to Friday January 18, with Turkish and Asian import prices going opposite ways.Turkish scrap import prices inched upward due to higher offer prices, while prices in Vietnam continued to weaken due to limited interest and trading. Taiwanese and Indian import prices were stable over the week.Turkey...Read More
Sentiment in the export billet market in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) started to improve through the week ended Friday January 18, with mills turning more bullish amid reduced availability of February-rolling material.Some producers had sold significant volumes of billet in the preceding weeks, while some others were not officially offering any material.With less material available...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices fell in the week ended Friday January 18, mainly on account of weakness in the prices of finished products such as rebar.The Indian domestic secondary billet price was assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday at 30,900-31,100 rupees ($435-437) per tonne ex-mill. This was down by 200 rupees ($3) per tonne compared with 31,100-31,300 rupees per tonne last weekend."Bi...Read More
Prices in the base metals complex consolidated higher at the close of trade on Friday January 18 amid continued optimism about trade talks between the United States and China, and increased bullish sentiment overall.The London Metal Exchange 3-month nickel contract closed in Friday trading at $11,820 per tonne, and was the day's biggest mover, up by 1.9% from Thursday's closing price.Nickel was tr...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in Asia appear to have stabilized after a six-month slump thanks to an uptick in demand, a recovery in the nickel market and a potential drop in Indonesian supply. These seem to have put an end to the region's heated price war, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Wednesday January 16.Prices for 304 stainless cold-rolled coil and hot-rolled coil began to decline in earl...Read More
Prices in the base metals complex consolidated higher at the close of trade on Friday January 18 amid continued optimism about trade talks between the United States and China, and increased bullish sentiment overall.The London Metal Exchange 3-month nickel contract closed in Friday trading at $11,820 per tonne, and was the day's biggest mover, up by 1.9% from Thursday's closing price.Nickel was tr...Read More
The Comex copper price continued to move higher on Friday January 18 ahead of the US public holiday amid a short-covering rally. There is a public holiday in the United States for Martin Luther King Jr day on Monday. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.60 cents to $2.6960 per lb on Friday. "A short-covering rally in LME copper se...Read More
Copper, zinc and lead stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up week on week on Friday January 18 in a quiet trading week in China, while aluminum, nickel and tin stocks fell. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses rose by 9.25% or 2,492 tonnes to 29,434 tonnes in the week to Friday. Shanggang Logistic had 3,495 tonnes of zinc delivered into its warehouse, an increase of 300% or...Read More
The pricing outlook for stainless steel in Europe remained negative despite recent good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 18.One distributor has sold the tonnages it forecast so far in January, but that amount of demand was looking surprisingly positive.But this was in the context of recent better months. Compared with earlier, more economically buoyant times, demand is underwhelm...Read More
Pig iron buyers in the United States have resumed their purchases of material but at lower prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 18.Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US fell to $345-350 per tonne cfr on Friday, from $350-360 per tonne cfr a week earlier.Ukraine-origin pig iron was bought at $345-350 per tonne cfr. That was a drop from $365 per tonne cfr, the pri...Read More
China Molybdenum has raised its stake in the Tenke copper-cobalt mine in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) despite the policy uncertainties arising from the recent political turmoil.Already the major owner of Tenke, the Chinese miner has agreed to purchase a 24% stake at $1.1 billion in Tenke from BHR, according to its regulatory filing on Friday January 18. Upon completion, China Molybdenum...Read More
Pressure is mounting in the non-ferrous auto shred (twitch) market in the United States, with suppliers and consumers in strong negotiations for material next month.Fastmarkets AMM's assessment of twitch remained unchanged at 53-55 cents per lb delivered to the Midwest on Thursday January 17, but sources in negotiations suggested that prices could bump upward in the coming weeks.Cur...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Canadian zinc miner Trevali is set for broad leadership changes after Mark Cruise stepped down as president and chief executive officer, it said on Thursday January 17. Chairman and director Mike Hoffman will also stand down from the board of directors, with both continuing in their roles until their successors are appointed. The company has rapidly expanded its zinc interests since acquiring a ma...Read More
The Comex copper price continued to move higher on Friday January 18 ahead of the US public holiday amid a short-covering rally. There is a public holiday in the United States for Martin Luther King Jr day on Monday. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.60 cents to $2.6960 per lb on Friday. "A short-covering rally in LME copper se...Read More
Jiangxi Copper has appointed Zheng Gaoqing as its new general manager after the key leadership position had been left vacant for six months, the major Chinese copper producer said on Friday January 18. Zheng is also the deputy director with Jiangxi province's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and senior management of several provincial electronics companies. He has no pr...Read More
United States-based Alcoa, the world's eighth-largest aluminium producer, has forecast a surplus of alumina in 2019 while it increases aluminium metal shipments.There was a 600,000-tonne deficit of alumina at the end of 2018, the company said, rounding off a year of record market tightness.Fastmarkets' alumina index rocketed upward to $707.75 per tonne on April 24, 2018, the highest since the inde...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin steel slab declined this past week, with sellers willing to accept lower bids in order to secure deals.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian export slab was $410-460 per tonne fob on Friday January 18, down by $5 from $415-465 per tonne fob a week earlier."[Slab] prices continue to slide and we don't see [them reaching]...Read More