Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning of Thursday May 27, as were broader markets - are these pauses, or early signs of a stall?More US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members seem to be getting off the fence about talking about tapering Chinese yuan continues to strengthen, is China using the yuan to reduce inflationary pr...Read More
Four key takeaways from the 6th China International LiCoNi Summit in Changsha, China, on May 20-21, 2021.1. Weak nickel market sentiment now but long-term positive Sentiment remained weak among domestic market participants at the conference because they think both the mild hawkish stance evident in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and the statement from China's State Council that...Read More
Battery manufacturers in China have aggressively cut their orders for lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) cathode materials in the second quarter, with the move weighing on lithium and cobalt prices, market sources told Fastmarkets.LCO batteries are widely used in consumer electronics, including smart phones, laptops, and tablets among others.A leading electronics battery manufacturer in China will cut its...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 27 that are worth another look.Energy majors Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron received landmark rebukes - in court or from investors - on Wednesday May 26 in attempts to force the companies into...Read More
Lack of support on the customer side led to a further slide in CIS steel billet export prices in the week to Thursday May 27, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS dropped to $659 per tonne on Thursday, down by $11 per tonne day on day.Interest in import billet from the part of China, which had been the main outlet for CIS-origin material remain...Read More
Rio Tinto is partnering with Swedish research and development firm Comptech AB to bring a new generation of aluminium alloys to the market for use in advanced technologies, such as electric vehicles (EV) and 5G antennas, the UK-listed mining company said.The company said the products are currently undergoing qualification with automakers in Europe, who are stepping up efforts to increase their sha...Read More
Copper's price is trading at all-time highs - and now the countries where it is mined the most want a piece of the action.The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract recently hit an all-time high of $10,747 per tonne - industrial commodities have broadly rallied on the expectation that government investments in green energy schemes and infrastructure projects after the Covid-19 pandemi...Read More
Four key takeaways from the 6th China International LiCoNi Summit in Changsha, China, on May 20-21, 2021.1. Weak nickel market sentiment now but long-term positive Sentiment remained weak among domestic market participants at the conference because they think both the mild hawkish stance evident in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and the statement from China's State Council that...Read More
Canada will seek to work with its allies and partners to develop supply chains that will help them to meet global climate goals, according to the associate deputy minister at the Department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).Shawn Tupper said that this will include building mineral value chains and downstream processing, products and technologies, and leveraging mining practices, to position Cana...Read More
Rio Tinto is partnering with Swedish research and development firm Comptech AB to bring a new generation of aluminium alloys to the market for use in advanced technologies, such as electric vehicles (EV) and 5G antennas, the UK-listed mining company said.The company said the products are currently undergoing qualification with automakers in Europe, who are stepping up efforts to increase their sha...Read More
Copper's price is trading at all-time highs - and now the countries where it is mined the most want a piece of the action.The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract recently hit an all-time high of $10,747 per tonne - industrial commodities have broadly rallied on the expectation that government investments in green energy schemes and infrastructure projects after the Covid-19 pandemi...Read More
Experts from the battery value chain shared their understanding and insights into lithium price evolution and the new lithium futures contract during a Fastmarkets' webinar on Tuesday May 25.CME Group in the United States launched a cash-settled lithium futures contract on May 3. The contract is settled against Fastmarkets' assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, batte...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were broadly flat day on day, reflecting a lack of trading activity in the spot market while supply is tight, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 27.Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,138.33 ($1,391.57) per tonne on May 27, down by ?,?2.67 per tonne from ?,?1,141 per tonne on May 26. The i...Read More
Copper's 2.4% price rise at the close of trading on Thursday May 27, supported by the start of a strike at BHP's operations center in Chile, led the rest of the London Metals Exchange base-metals complex higher, making it the first day of strong rises following a week of lower prices.The three-month price of copper was $10,221 per tonne on Thursday at the close, up from Wednesday's $9,979 per tonn...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices climbed up in both the cfr and fob markets on Thursday May 27, with the supply of north American premium hard coking coal to China still limited and more buying activity in the fob market, source told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.76 per tonne, up $12.16 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $262.29 per t...Read More
German copper producer Aurubis has started tests for the use of hydrogen and nitrogen to replace natural gas in its copper anode production processes, advancing the company's goal of achieving carbon-neutrality by 2050, it announced on Thursday May 27.The tests started on Thursday and were intended to investigate hydrogen use in continuous operation until the late summer. The long-term goal was to...Read More
Trade union members employed at BHP's operations center in Santiago de Chile were set to begin an indefinite strike on Thursday May 27, Fastmarkets has heard.Around 200 employees represented by the union were to stop working at BHP's Center of Integrated Operations, which manages the concentrates and cathode machinery at the company's Escondida and Spence copper mines.The strike was called after u...Read More
Prices for steel billet imported into Egypt fell in the week to Thursday May 27, largely due to a lack of demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Global billet prices have been decreasing recently and there was hardly any demand for imports into Egypt, they added.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, was $659 per tonne on May 27, down from $691 per tonne on May 20.Demand for rebar...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices made a downward correction in the week to Thursday May 27, having risen steadily since the end of April, market participants told Fastmarkets this week.Turkish steelmakers lowered their rebar export offers to $750-780 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, down from last week's $780-790 per tonne. The downward movement followed a downturn in Asian steel p...Read More
Turkish prices for steel billet have gone down over the past week in line with the falling prices in China, while scrap import values supported the decrease, market sources said on Thursday May 27.Steel billet prices in China have made a downward correction in the past week, which consequently brought a decline in Turkish scrap import prices, because Turkey's billet and finished steel prices had b...Read More