An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The copper concentrate market continued to be active this past week although treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) were unchanged after a marked drop two weeks ago. What you need to know High swells in Chile causing disruptions to January shipments there. Smelters in China continue to buy at lower levels, especially for March. Traders continue sharp bets on small tonnages tendered...Read More
Statistics released by the International Aluminium Institute on Thursday January 21 showed that global monthly aluminium production in December 2020 rose by 4.22% year on year.The total global production of primary aluminium in December was estimated to be 5.67 million tonnes, at a daily rate of 182,900 tonnes. The daily average production rate slipped by 0.33% month-on-month from November.Estimat...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for December 2020.In brief Exports of cobalt tetroxide rose amid the continuous recovery of manufacturing activities and demand for batteries used in consumer electronics outside China. Lithium carbonate exports decreased both on a monthly and yearly basis due to no improvement in overseas demand. Lithium hydroxide exports increased on a monthly a...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for December 2020.In brief Imports of cobalt metal rose amid a surge in import profits when the price in China started to rally in mid-December and the price in Europe was stable due to slow activities during the Christmas and New Year Day holidays. Lithium carbonate imports continued to grow year on year amid strong demand from China, driven by c...Read More
Base metals producer Vedanta Resources is seeking a sales partner in Europe to sell the copper rods produced at its Fujairah Gold venture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said.Fujairah Gold produces 100,000 tonnes per year of continuous cast copper rod, a company announcement on social networking site LinkedIn said on Thursday January 21. The move is part of Vedanta's effort to diversify...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States climbed again - extending their historic highs - after buyers reported further challenges in competing for what little spot tonnage is offered by mills.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US rose to $64 per hundredweight ($1,280 per short ton) on Thursday January 21 from $63 per cwt on Janu...Read More
Hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil prices decreased in Turkey's export and domestic markets in the week to Friday January 22, amid slow to moderate buying, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers were cautious because prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil, have decreased recently and they want to see if that would affect coated coil prices.Fastmarkets assessed steel hot-rolled coil, d...Read More
Poland's rebar producers closed their February rebar sales at increased prices and are now trying to push through new increases but buyers are resisting, claiming that demand is not enough to support it, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was set at 2,950-3,000 zloty ($790-803) per tonne on Frida...Read More
Buyers of steel scrap in global markets were holding back from purchasing new cargoes in the week to Friday January 22, amid a sharp decline in prices and with more material being offered, and were hoping to re-enter the markets only after they have hit a bottom.Turkish import prices slump following fresh dealsUS sales to Turkey, Bangladesh show weaker pricesLower offers from Japan keep Vietnam bu...Read More
The price range for UK-origin light iron has widened downward in the week ending Friday January 22, with the lower end of the range falling because weaker export prices into traditional markets have put pressure on domestic prices in Britain, trade sources said.This downward pressure was mitigated, however, by relatively tight supplies coming into yards, as a result of reduced arisings from the au...Read More
The export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States softened during the week to Thursday January 21 on buyers' pessimism amid a falling scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $540-555 per tonne on Thursday, widening downward from $550-555 per tonne fob previously."The s...Read More
The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan plunged by more than $50 per tonne on Friday January 22, following a sharp correction in the international scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $430.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $480.38 per tonne a week earlier.There wer...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases at the end of the week, due to poor sales of finished long steel and billet, sources said on Friday January 22.After the most recent deep-sea transaction heard on January 20, at $440 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis, Turkish steel producers stepped back from the markets.The transaction on Wednesday pushed the da...Read More
The first delivery of imported scrap to arrive in China since last month's relaxation of import restrictions has been held up by delays at the port, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 22.The bulk vessel of Japan-origin heavy scrap was sold to a Chinese steelmaker early in January.The vessel was originally expected to arrive at port in Shanghai this week, according to a loc...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal price in the cfr market edged up on Friday January 22, on higher offers for Canada-origin coal, but fob prices remained relatively flat, with no transactions heard during the day.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.99 per tonne, down $0.48 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $212.95 per tonne, up $1.13 per tonneHard c...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Friday January 22 due to a negative near-term outlook following the introduction of stronger measures to control the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $169.97 per tonne, down $1.54 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $170.90 per tonne, down $1.36 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More
Latest analysis from recent activity on the CME's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam. Key data Jan 20, 2021, 30 tonnes (10 tonnes each for March ($17.95 per lb), April ($18.00 per lb), May ($18.05 per lb)) Jan 11, 2021, 15 tonnes (5 tonnes each for February, March and April, all at $17.45 per lb)&n...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up slightly on Friday January 22, but they remain lower than a week earlier on softening demand ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,260-4,290 yuan ($659-663) per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,060-4,110 yuan per tonne, up by 40-50 yuan per tonnePrices in eastern Chin...Read More
The London Metal Exchange complex traded downward on Friday January 22 morning, with nickel down the most with a 1.5% drop and metals relenting on their recent rises due to the 'Biden bounce', even as the dollar continued to weaken. LME tin's three-month price was at $21,935 per tonne, for example, shortly after 9am, a slight move sideways from its Thursday closing price of $22,000 per tonne. ...Read More