China ended steel production in all of the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year, it ha claimed.Most operators in China are primarily small private mills that use low-quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. This is mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors.For a long period, the government had neither a record of nor cont...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...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
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
The closure of some induction furnaces in China in 2016 followed by the government's crackdown on all unlicensed IFs in mid-2017 freed up some scrap volumes, albeit arguably of low-quality material. Chinese domestic scrap prices came under pressure from the increased supply, which prevented them from keeping pace with the rise in steel and other raw material markets in the fourth quarter of 2016;...Read More
Manganese miners have reported a sharp drop in demand from manganese alloy smelters in China due to their preference for buying ore from Chinese ports in a bid to keep costs and inventories low ahead of the end of the year. Seaborne low grade manganese ore prices slid on November 30 due to sellers dropping prices amid weaker demand and a drop in silico-manganese futures prices on the Zhengzhou Com...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Open interest in the CME's aluminium European duty-paid premium contract hit an all-time high the end of November, boosted by efforts to lock in premiums given wide forward spreads.The contract logged total open interest through December 2019 at 11,400 tonnes as of Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets MB assessed the spot P1020 Rotterdam duty-paid aluminium premium at $125-140 per tonne on November 30...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed higher on Friday November 30, with zinc, lead and nickel the best performers of the day.Zinc was the strongest performer on Friday, with its three-month price rising 2.9% from Thursday to close at $2,542 per tonne. After consistently dipping since January, LME zinc stocks settled at a fresh 2018-low of 117,550 tonnes on Friday.W...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Comex copper prices experienced further weakness ahead of world leaders converging in Argentina for the Group of Twenty (G20) meeting this weekend.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.80 cents to $2.7735 per lb.Price movement is expected to be muted today with investors focusing on the weekend's G20 summit, where finance ministers.....Read More
Australian-Chinese miner MMG Ltd has completed the sale of its Sepon copper gold mine to China's Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining for $275 million, the company said on Friday November 30. The deal was first announced in June, when MMG agreed to sell its 90% stake in Lane Zang Minerals, owner of Sepon mine, to the Chinese mining company. Sepon is a Laotian open pit copper mine...Read More
Codelco's copper production and earnings fell in the first nine months of 2018, the Chilean state-owned copper producer said.Codelco produced 1.3 million tonnes of refined copper in the first nine months of the year, a drop of 2% from 1.32 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2017, it said.Including output from its stake in Anglo American Sur and El Abra, it produced 421,000 tonnes of refine...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday November 30.Most base metals prices ticked higher in morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday November 30, with lead the best performer of the morning.Lead led the complex gains, with the three-month...Read More
Most base metals prices ticked higher in morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday November 30, with lead the best performer of the morning. Lead led the complex gains, with the three-month price rising by 1.65% from the previous day's close to $1,963 per tonne. LME lead stocks have consistently declined since September and was recently at 105,200 tonnes, a fresh 2018-low. Nickel and...Read More
Brazil's steel slab export price fell this past week due to continued weakness in flat steel pricing in the United States and Europe.Fastmarkets MB's weekly assessment of Brazil's steel slab export price was at $435-495 per tonne fob on Friday November 30, down from $450-505 per tonne cfr one week earlier.Semi-finished material prices offered to the United States also declined...Read More
Demand for steel in the Middle East is expected to increase marginally over the next five years, mainly because of big construction projects, professionals from across the sector told Fastmarkets in a survey before the 22nd Middle East Iron & Steel Conference to be held in Dubai this December.Infrastructure construction is going on in the United Arab Emirates related to the Dubai Expo 2020 exhibit...Read More
Domestic prices for coated-steel coil products in Turkey have increased slightly in the week ended Friday November 30 after producers ceased offering discounts, with local Turkish demand remaining limited.The local Turkish market has been slow for a long time. The initial reason was the weakening of the Turkish lira, which fell to a low of 10TRY to $1.44 on August 13, before staging a steady recov...Read More
Domestic and import prices for steel coil products in Turkey have shown different trends this week with demand being affected by a variety of factors, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 30."I believe prices have reached bottom. We may see slight rises or falls in the next few months, but no sharp falls are expected," a source said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic...Read More