The premium on copper cathodes imported into China shot up on Thursday August 19 to its highest level since May 2020, buoyed by the opening of an arbitrage window between London and Shanghai.Fastmarkets assessed the benchmark copper grade A cathode premium, cif Shanghai, at $75-100 per tonne on Thursday, up by $10-20 per tonne from $65-80 per tonne on Wednesday, and the highest since late May last...Read More
Iron ore prices continued to fall on Thursday August 19, with sentiment turning negative due to the bearish demand outlook, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $132.66 per tonne,down $20.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $133.30 per tonne,down $20.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $103.46 per tonne,down $20.02 per tonne65% F...Read More
Domestic long steel prices in Turkey have continued to go down over the past week, in line with the falling deep-sea scrap import costs, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 19.Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have been falling over the week while the country's producers were limiting their purchases.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, c...Read More
Chinese battery materials producer GEM Co has signed a five-year strategic cooperation framework agreement with Shanghai-listed battery manufacturer Farasis Energy to recycle spent electric vehicle batteries and battery scrap in China. Under the framework agreement, GEM will recycle, dismantle and re-use spent batteries and battery scrap from Farasis Energy, with prices to be led by market conditi...Read More
German industrial group Thyssenkrupp has resumed steelmaking operations at its largest mill in Duisburg after scheduled maintenance, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday August 19.The company put blast-oxygen furnace No2 at the Duisburg steelworks, with capacity for 5.4 million tonnes per year of pig iron, back into operation on August 17, according to a press release seen by Fastmarkets.The meltshop...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 23.85% year on year in July following the resumption of capacity that was idled early in the Covid-19 pandemic, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday August 19.Steel demand climbed to 2.36 million tonnes in July, up from 1.91 million tonnes a year before, data from A??o Brasil showed. Volumes, however, were down by 5.11%...Read More
Chinese battery materials producer GEM Co has signed a five-year strategic cooperation framework agreement with Shanghai-listed battery manufacturer Farasis Energy to recycle spent electric vehicle batteries and battery scrap in China. Under the framework agreement, GEM will recycle, dismantle and re-use spent batteries and battery scrap from Farasis Energy, with prices to be led by market conditi...Read More
Commodity trading company Traxys has expanded its metal concentrates business with the appointment of a team that previously handled tin, tungsten, tantalum and niobium concentrates trading for commodity trading Noble Group.Theteam will be headed by Ioannis Kallinikos, previously head of industrial minerals and metals at Noble Group for more than six years. From 2010 to 2014, he was general manage...Read More
Tin was the most affected metal on Thursday's sell-off on the London Metal Exchange, while all metals fell further with risk-off sentiment spreading across commodities and exchanges while Covid-19 continues to dent demand expectations. Tin's three-month price fell 6.4% at the 5pm close to $33,118 per tonne, despite falling by as much as 11% during early trading to $31,500 per tonne on Thursday for...Read More
Iron ore prices continued to fall on Thursday August 19, with sentiment turning negative due to the bearish demand outlook, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $132.66 per tonne,down $20.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $133.30 per tonne,down $20.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $103.46 per tonne,down $20.02 per tonne65% F...Read More
Selling prevailed on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Thursday August 19, with copper at its lowest levels in four months; tin's price decreased by as much as $4,000 during morning trade.Over 15,000 lots of copper had been traded by 9am on Thursday, more than half of the total 28,100 lots that were traded by the end of the day on Wednesday August 18, when the sell-off of the red metal w...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt fell in the week to Thursday, August 19, but demand failed to improve, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for billet imports, however, was weak because of limited demand for the end product, rebar.The Egyptian government ended the ban on construction on July 1.However, rebar demand remained low in Egypt during the week because of decreasing global...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 19 that are worth another look.Brazil's Vale and Luxembourg-based steel producer Ternium signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to seek low-carbon steelmaking solutions in an attempt to cut emissions, the Brazilian mining company said on...Read More
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for secondary aluminium, via an open consultation process which lasted from July 22 to August 18.The secondary aluminium prices included in this consultation were MB-AL-0005 aluminium pressure diecasting ingot DIN226/A380, delivered Europe, and MB-AL-0040 aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest.No feedback was received dur...Read More
Antofagasta recorded a 68% rise in its revenues for the first half of 2021 compared with last year's earnings, despite lower copper sales. It cut its copper production guidance, however, due to a lack of rainfall in central Chile, the company said on Wednesday August 18.Financial results - in brief: Antofagasta's revenue rose by 67.9% to $3.6 billion in the first half of this year, compared with e...Read More
Commodity trading company Traxys has expanded its metal concentrates business with the appointment of a team that previously handled tin, tungsten, tantalum and niobium concentrates trading for commodity trading Noble Group.Theteam will be headed by Ioannis Kallinikos, previously head of industrial minerals and metals at Noble Group for more than six years. From 2010 to 2014, he was general manage...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Wednesday August 18. Key drivers The spot cobalt metal price in China narrowed up after local futures prices strengthened. And reducing stocks brought further support, with most sellers pushing up offer prices in response.The cobalt tetroxide price widened down with...Read More
Russian steelmaker Metalloinvest and another, unnamed, non-European steel company, are in discussions about acquiring Hungarian flat steel producer Dunaferr, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The Hungarian steelmaker's owners have been in negotiations with both parties and a decision is imminent, sources said, because Dunaferr is about to go through the liquidation process. Metalloinv...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China extended their losses, falling to their lowest in about six weeks on Thursday August 19; futures prices continued their decline on demand concerns and waning cost supports.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,600-5,620 yuan ($863-866) per tonne, down by 90 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened for a second stra...Read More
The United States' domestic steel reinforcing bar prices were steady over the past week, with sources trying to absorb the mixed market signals of increased rebar demand and dropping prices for shredded scrap - rebar's key feedstock material.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on Wednesday August 18, unchanged from the previou...Read More