Trading activity in the seaborne manganese ore market continued to berelatively active due to the lower offer prices in the week ended on Friday December 21. China's manganese market was mostly stable this week, with prices somewhat rangebound on active trading activity, due to producers' lower offers two weeks prior.Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth, rose by 6 cents to $5.5...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market started to decline in the week ended Friday December 21, with market participants holding a bearish outlook due to slow demand, while the European price begins to slide, tracking the Chinese market down. Domestic Chinese ferro-silicon trading started to slide this week on weak demand, market participants said. Fastmarkets MB Chinese ferro-silicon ex-works price, ba...Read More
Prices for grade-II antimony softened in Europe in the pricing week ended Friday December 21 amid a lack of buying appetite, while those for trioxide material were unchanged. In China, grade-II antimony prices were unchanged despite limited trading activity.Chinese market flat amid thin trading activityFastmarkets assessed the price for MMTA standard grade-II antimony, delivered duty-paid, in Chin...Read More
The European Union Council of Ministers has approved 2019 duty-free quotas for a range of aluminium imports whose production within the EU is insufficient to meet demand.These quotas will come into force on January 1, 2019, and will remain in place until December 31 of the same year. They include imports of 2,000 tonnes...Read More
Steel billet prices retreated further or remained unchanged in most regions during the week to Friday December 21 amid the year-end trading lull and persistent weakness in finished long steel markets.China was the exception, with its domestic prices continuing to edge up on lower supplies.AsiaSoutheast Asia's import prices for steel billet declined slightly amid low bids and minimal deals aft...Read More
Steel billet prices retreated further or remained unchanged in most regions during the week to Friday December 21 amid the year-end trading lull and persistent weakness in finished long steel markets.China was the exception, with its domestic prices continuing to edge up on lower supplies.AsiaSoutheast Asia's import prices for steel billet declined slightly amid low bids and minimal deals aft...Read More
Steel billet prices retreated further or remained unchanged in most regions during the week to Friday December 21 amid the year-end trading lull and persistent weakness in finished long steel markets.China was the exception, with its domestic prices continuing to edge up on lower supplies.AsiaSoutheast Asia's import prices for steel billet declined slightly amid low bids and minimal deals aft...Read More
Brazil's apparent steel consumption increased by 6.90% year on year in November, to 1.70 million tonnes, mostly due to an improved performance in the flat steel sector, according to the national steel association A??o Brasil.Apparent consumption of flat steel products grew by 11.70% in the same comparison, to 1.10 million tonnes, while long steel use declined by 0.80% year-on-year, to 606,000 tonn...Read More
Fastmarkets MB hosted the 22nd Middle East Iron & Steel conference in Dubai last week. Here are five things we learned...1 High-grade iron ore derivative will be an important tool for Middle East DRI industry A world-first 65% iron ore derivative launched by the Singapore Exchange in early December was hailed as an important hedging tool for the Middle East direct-reduced ironmaking (DRI) industry...Read More
Steel billet prices retreated further or remained unchanged in most regions during the week to Friday December 21 amid the year-end trading lull and persistent weakness in finished long steel markets.China was the exception, with its domestic prices continuing to edge up on lower supplies.AsiaSoutheast Asia's import prices for steel billet declined slightly amid low bids and minimal deals aft...Read More
Years ago, the idea that machines would replace humans on the trading floor seemed far-fetched and the suggestion that algorithms might replace humans entirely ridiculous.But both have happened in some shape or form, making the advent of blockchain - now being vaunted as the next game-changer in technology - a lot more realistic than naysayers might initially think.Dozens of trials and projec...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
Next report is released on Wednesday. Pre-opening Comments for Monday December 24thU.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 15 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are responding to partial shutdown of U.S. government services over the weekend. Volumes on equity markets are expected to be low today. U.S. equity markets close at 1:00 PM EST for the Christma...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums in Europe and Thailand moved lower on Friday December 21 on weaker demand and bearishness due to news that the US Treasury Department intends to remove sanctions against UC Rusal in January, while the US and Brazilian premiums were flat amid a seasonal pause in trading. European premiums tick lower on bearish view. Weak demand pressures premium in Thailand. US and Brazil...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower at the close of trading on Friday December 21, pressured by a broad sell-off in global stock indices amid fears of a potential US government shutdown. Despite decreasing over 1% this morning, the S&P 500 index is trading 0.50% lower over the afternoon, while a modest recovery in the Dow Jones Industrial Average did little to...Read More
Comex copper prices slipped on Friday morning in the US amid the continued trade war between the US and China and Federal Reserve worries, which are weighing on the equity and commodity markets.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.45 cents to $2.6820 per lb.Yesterday, the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates once again and issued...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Rio Tinto has concluded the sale of its entire 40% stake in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia for $3.5 billion, as part of a series of transactions involving state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (PT Inalum) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. PT Inalum previously held a 9.35% stake in Grasberg, the world's second largest copper mine. Fastmarkets MB previously reported on the sale of Rio Tinto's stake earl...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More