Aluminium and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange remained firm during morning trading on Friday July 2 amid low-volume trading. The three-month aluminium price was most recently at $2,527 per tonne, up by $15 per tonne from $2,512 per tonne at the close of trading on Thursday. The contract has trading in a tight range of $2,506-2,527 per tonne on Friday morning. LME aluminium stock levels...Read More
The United States' pig iron import market was muted during the week to Friday July 2 because buyers preferred to wait to see the effects on the market of the announcement of an export duty by Russia.Russia is the largest global pig iron supplier. It intends to impose a temporary export duty on pig iron at the level of 15% but no less than $115 per tonne, to be effective from August 1 until Decembe...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe slipped further on Friday July 2 following a slowdown in trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers opted to limit purchases while assessing the market trend. Long lead times from domestic producers, sufficient stocks among buyers for the next couple of months, and exhausted credit lines as a result of high prices for finished steel, have all co...Read More
Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week ending Friday July 2 before the long holiday starts in the country on July 15, sources told Fastmarkets.July 15 is Democracy Day in Turkey and July 19-24 will be the Ei al-Adha holiday, so market participants expect reduced activity in the second half of July.Low priced sales from Russia to several destinations during the w...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in China, the United States and Europe on Friday July 2.China The China ferro-silicon price edged up due to the tighter availability following the news that producers in Shanxi and Ningxia might face another round of production cuts so the provinces can meet their dual energy consumption targets, with supplier offers broadly unchanged.In addition, the ne...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices dipped on Friday July 2 on retreating futures, with sentiment being subdued by a lifting of production and logistical curbs in northern China that were imposed in the past week. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,430-5,480 yuan ($838-846) per tonne, down by 20-30 yuan from 5,460-5,500 yuan per tonne. Northern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 5,320-5,380...Read More
The export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States was muted during the week to Thursday July 1 because both buyers and suppliers preferred to wait for the result of Russia's export duties on supply to become clearer. Fastmarkets assessed the price of high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $610-630 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing downward fro...Read More
The Argentinian government's decision to extend a discount on electricity costs to the second half of 2021 is insufficient to increase aluminium production capacity to full utilization, local producer Aluar said on Thursday July 1 in a filing to the country's securities and exchange commission, CNV.Aluar's Puerto Madryn plant, located in Argentina's Patagonian region, was running at 70% capacity a...Read More
Indian domestic hot-rolled coil prices have corrected by about 1,500 rupees ($20) per tonne after incentives were offered by steel mills to distributors in the face of poor demand for HRC.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, domestic ex-warehouse India was 67,000-69,000 rupees ($899-926)per tonne on July 2, down from last week's 68,500-70,500 rupees per tonne. "Price support has been offer...Read More
The pig iron export market in Brazil remained calm in the week to Friday July 2, waiting to see how the global market will react to Russia's plan to impose export duties on a range of metal products.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $620-625 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $620 per tonne a week before.Offers from the south...Read More
The United Kingdom has extended safeguard measures against imported steel for three years - until June 30, 2024 - the UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) said on June 30."The tariff-rate quota is an extension of the tariff-rate quota imposed by the European Union on behalf of the United Kingdom and other countries or territories that had effect in the United...Read More
Turkish steel mills have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases at fairly stable prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 1.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $504.50 per tonne cfr. This was the third deep-sea deal heard so far this week, with another two...Read More
Chinese battery materials producer GEM's subsidiary company will invest in a battery-grade high-purity nickel and cobalt salts project with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes in Jinmen, Hubei province, the company announced on Wednesday June 30.Jinmen GEM High-purity Chemical Material, subsidiary of GEM, will invest 310 million yuan ($48 million) into the project to form production lines using r...Read More
China's tungsten market is experiencing a tight supply of concentrate and ammonium paratungstate (APT), pushing prices for both products upward and leading some participants to expect the market to begin a new uptrend.The supply shortage has forced Chinese APT exporters to either raise their offer prices or suspend trading entirely.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for tungsten APT 88.5% WO3 mi...Read More
The German subsidiary of Blackstone Resources AG is to increase its lithium-ion battery production capacity tenfold, the company said.According to the Switzerland-based holding company, Blackstone Technology will increase its lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity to 500 MWh per year at its D??beln site in Saxony by 2022. The batteries are made using the company's own 3D-printing...Read More
Japanese carmaker Nissan and Envision AESC, the battery arm of Shanghai-based green tech company Envision Group, will invest ?1 billion ($1.38 billion) to create a new energy hub in the north-east of England.Automotive giant Nissan and Envision plan to expand facilities at their carmaking plant at Sunderland, in north-east England, into a new energy hub, they announced on Thursday July 1.The proj...Read More
Japanese scrap export prices continued to increase over the past week on strengthening demand for high-grade material in Japan and South Korea, sources told Fastmarkets."Korean and Japanese mills want the premier grades so the gap between H2 and Shindachi and heavy scrap (HS) keeps rising," a Japanese scrap trader said on Wednesday June 30.Offers for Shindachi busheling were heard at ?62,200-62,3...Read More
Aqua Metals has signed a letter of intent with ACME Metal Enterprise to deploy and license the US company's lead recycling equipment at its facility in Keelung, Taiwan, the companies said.The agreement gives the two companies 60 days to finalize the deal and includes terms for licensing and a phased deployment of Aqua Metals' AquaRefining technology, which is a room temperature, water-based proces...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 1 that are worth another look.Brazilian exports of iron ore rose by 12.19% in June this year compared with the corresponding month of 2020, despite Vale closing down part of a large complex in southeastern Brazil, according to...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 1 that are worth another look.Brazilian exports of iron ore rose by 12.19% in June this year compared with the corresponding month of 2020, despite Vale closing down part of a large complex in southeastern Brazil, according to...Read More