Import prices for ferrous scrap in China were steady on Wednesday April 28 amid approaching holidays in the country as well as its major supplier, Japan.Demand from Chinese buyers is expected to weaken during the Labor Day break, however. China is observing a public holiday over May 1-5 to mark the occasion.Bids for imported heavy scrap were heard at $500 per tonne cfr northern China on Wednesday....Read More
China is planning sweeping changes to its tax regimes for ferrous raw materials from May 1, its Ministry of Finance said on April 27.The changes are designed to guarantee the supply of steel making raw materials and continue to drive the steel industry toward high-quality growth, the ministry said.There will be no import tariffs for pig iron, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials, ferro-c...Read More
There may be significant swings in the prices and trade flows in the steelmaking raw materials market if the Covid-19 situation in India continues to worsen, sources told Fastmarkets.India has had a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks - breaching the 300,000 mark several times over the week to April 27 - while vaccinations fail to stem the tide of infections.Higher pellet pric...Read More
The Malaysian Smelting Corp (MSC) will only return to pre-pandemic smelting levels at the end of the year and will restrict its ore intake "both in respect of quantity and quality" in the coming months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told suppliers this week.In a note to suppliers sent on Monday April 26, MSC said that the pandemic had "severely affected" its smelting capacity and that i...Read More
Chinese copper smelters with tolling licenses have begun to export copper cathodes due to the emergence of an export arbitrage window between London and Shanghai, sources told Fastmarkets.The arbitrage window started to become viable in the latter part of last week, with the copper price on the London Metal Exchange strongly outperforming its counterpart on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The LME t...Read More
Nickel's three-month price was at $17,265 per tonne at 9am, making it the only base metal to register a gain of over 1% in the morning of Wednesday April 28 on the London Metal Exchange, while the rest of the complex eased from their highs achieved on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the United States' Federal Reserve statements to be made on Wednesday. the nickel price was up by 1.8% on Wednesday morn...Read More
Most aluminium premiums were stable in the week to Tuesday April 27, apart from the US Midwest premium, which surged to an all-time high on sturdy demand and short supply. US premium at all-time high but still not attracting overseas unitsRotterdam premium rises $5 per tonne at the top end of the range week on week; market stabilizingMJP premium stays unchanged on short covering, South Korea deman...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday April 28.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market is stabilizing after losses in the week prior amid renewed consumer demand while a steelmaker in Asia looks to settle a tender for several hundred tonnes of alloy, trade sources said. A persistent acute shortage of titanium scrap turnings underpins both scrap and...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) 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 hydroxide p...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...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...Read More
A recent downturn in the spot price for cobalt was not causing alarm among sellers because they were still seeing plenty of demand from customers with long-term contracts, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' latest price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $20.50-22.00 per lb on Monday April 26. This compared with $15.40-16.00 per lb a year earlier.Prices have risen...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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.Read More
China will reduce the export rebate rates for some steel products from May 1, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday April 28.Steel products with HS codes 7205-7307 will be affected, which includes hot-rolled coil, rebar, wire rod, hot rolled and cold-rolled sheet, plate, H beams and stainless steel, the ministry said.Market chatter about the cancellation of steel export rebate rates have...Read More
Shanghai copper premiums dropped further in the week to Tuesday April 27 to their lowest since September 2020, while premiums widened upward in both Southeast Asia and the United States. Chinese smelters are starting to export copper cathodes because the LME price is outperforming that of the SHFE. Copper price rally sees best grade scrap "sold above its intrinsic value" to China, while spot...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday May 3. After that, because of the UK's Early May bank holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Wednesday May 5.Read More
With the exception of lead on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, base metals prices were stronger this morning, Thursday April 29, reassured that Federal Reserve would keep policy loose and because United States President Joe Biden pumped up the outlook for the US by saying the country is “ready for takeoff".Tin leapt higher on the LME on Wednesday, with the SHFE contract catching up today. ...Read More
Bank of America (BAC), an S&P 100 stock moved above $40.38 extending an intermediate uptrend.Facebook (FB), an S&P 100 stock moved above $315.88 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. QUALCOMM (QCOM), an S&P 100 stock moved above $140.68 extending an intermediate uptrend.U.S. Broker iShares (IAI) moved above $97.84 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.A...Read More
Cobre Panama, the copper industry's most recent major greenfield project, reported record production in the first quarter after it put disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic behind it, First Quantum Minerals said. The mine in Colon Province, 120km west of Panama City, achieved copper output of 82,042 tonnes in the three months ended March 31, an increase of 46% from the year-earlier period....Read More