All three-month prices for base metals on the London Metal Exchange rose by about 1% for the second day in a row on Tuesday June 22, continuing their recovery from the weakness of the previous seven days.Nickel's three-month price rose by the greatest margin on Tuesday, by 1.6% to $17,750 per tonne, following Monday's 1.7% increase to $17,450 per tonne.The metal suffered a 7.2% decline last week t...Read More
Aluminium premiums diverged again on Tuesday June 22, with Rotterdam premiums increasing, while the Japanese premium fell and the US premium was unchanged.Rotterdam premiums boosted by demand, logisticsMJP ticks down, South Korea unchangedUS Midwest premium steady for three weeksStrong demand, high freight rates boost Rotterdam premiumsPremiums in Rotterdam continued to climb, due to strong demand...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 22 that are worth another look.Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe remained in a wide range on June 22, with some buyers ready to accept high prices for material with shorter lead times,...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for May 2021.In brief Imports of cobalt intermediates declined from April amid logistical disruptions while buying appetite thinned compared with the first quarter due to falling downstream cobalt salts prices.Imports of cobalt metal slightly decreased on a month-on-month basis but almost doubled year on year, with cargoes booked via short-term co...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for May 2021.In brief Exports of cobalt tetroxide fell in May amid falling downstream demand for batteries used in consumer electronics outside of China as a result of a lack of semi-conductor chips and a resurgence...Read More
Glencore will restart operations at its Mutanda copper-cobalt facility toward the end of 2021, and plans to return the asset to normal production in 2022, the global miner said on Tuesday June 22.Glencore placed the facility, which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on care and maintenance in late 2019 following a slump in cobalt prices.Mutanda can produce around 25,000 tonnes per year....Read More
Nickel continued to experience the strongest rebound on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Tuesday June 22, while most metals also trended upward following last week's slumps. Nickel was up by 1.6% at 9am on Tuesday, at $17,730 per tonne. This adds to a 1.7% gain at the end of Monday, when the contract closed at $17,450 per tonne. The stainless steel additive was back to levels seen a wee...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 20.85-21.50 on Tuesday June 22,...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices tumbled further on Tuesday June 22 on weakening demand caused by falling futures.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,800-4,840 yuan ($743-749) per tonne, down by 80 yuan per tonne The October rebar futures contract traded below Monday's settlement price of 4,991 yuan per tonne throughout Tuesday, which kept the spot market bearish.Buyers booked limited quantities and...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices across China's domestic market continued to move lower on Tuesday June 22, while futures prices extended their decline, sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,270-5,310 yuan ($815-821) per tonne, down by 90-120 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped in morning trade, approaching a four-week low of 5,070 yuan per tonne i...Read More
Join Fastmarkets and the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday June 29 for a webinar about European aluminium premiums ahead of the launch of the LME's new cash-settled futures contract.The LME will launch its new European duty-paid aluminium premium cash-settled contract on July 19, which is settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam.The LME previously la...Read More
China imported 111,432 tonnes of steel scrap in May, surpassing the total of 109,978 tonnes of its imports of the steelmaking raw material in the first four months of 2021, according to the latest Chinese customs data.Last month's imports are also 56% higher than those imported in April.Of the total, 79,327 tonnes - or 71.2% - originated in Japan. South Korea remained China's second-largest scrap...Read More
Mr Xu Kuangdi, the former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at a symposium on Monday June 21 that using scrap in steelmaking would be an "effective and realistic" way for China to achieve carbon neutrality in the steel sector and it should be "strongly encouraged" nationwide, sources said.The symposium was organized by the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) for the national...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Tuesday June 22, and there was market chatter about the potential resumption of blast furnace operations and the easing of emissions restrictions in Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.32 per tonne, up $6.17 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.00 per tonne, up $6 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade pr...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices continued to rise in the cfr market due to tight supplies, while prices were largely stable in the fob market, with market participants adopting a wait-and-see attitude, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $177.87 per tonne, up $0.59 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $290.19 per t...Read More
Rebounds were under way in the base metals in London and Shanghai this morning, Wednesday June 23, but we will have to wait to see how the metals react to today’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) data.* To reassure the markets, United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said: “We will not raise interest rates pre-emptively because we think employment is too high [o...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have been staying away from deep-sea scrap purchases because of weak rebar sales and a sufficiency of scrap stocks, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.The most recent deals were heard on June 15, when two United States-origin cargoes were sold.A mill in the Marmara region bought those cargoes, which comprised HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 and $501 per tonne,...Read More
The export market for hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has softened in the week to Tuesday June 22 because suppliers have been cutting offers to attract buyers.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $980-995 per tonne on June 22, down from $995-1,020 per tonne one week previously.HRC offers from Ukraine were r...Read More
Miners China Moly and IX Metal have joined Glencore and Huayou's Fair Cobalt Alliance (FCA), a body whose aim is to professionalize the artisanal mining sector in the global heartland of cobalt production - the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)."[Because we are] a large industrial miner that maintains strict product control and custody procedures, artisanal and small-scale mining [ASM] sits outsi...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 20.80-21.50 on Tuesday June 22,...Read More