The steel rebar and billet market in Egypt was slow during the week ending Thursday November 4, although some market participants expected rebar prices to increase because of increasing natural gas costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers increased their prices E ?15,000 ($952) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT on October 20.However, the natural gas price increased to $5....Read More
Sentiment was buoyed among most market participants at the annual Nickel & Cobalt conference held by Chinese information provider Antaike on November 1-3 in Ningbo, China, but the strong resurgence of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries has created uncertainty about consumption of the two metals.Fastmarkets summarizes below four key takeaways from the sidelines of the conference.LFP outperforms...Read More
Peru's copper output increased 17.9% in September compared with the same month in 2020, but other metals, such as zinc and lead, declined compared with 2020 levels, according to the Ministry of Energy & Mines (Minem).Higher production from Antamina, Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde and the Southern Per?? Copper Corp (owned by Minera Mexico), all contributed to the increased output of 202,681 tonnes...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close on Thursday November 4, with strength in the United States Dollar supporting price weakness across the complex.The US Dollar Index was most recently at $94.39 after hitting an intraday high of $94.47, the highest level since October 13, with base metals trading downward as a result. The three-month alu...Read More
Backwardations in the forward curves of most metals on the London Metal Exchange have constrained warrant trading for the past few weeks.Copper warrants, for example, have been "impossible" to trade since steep backwardations emerged in copper's forward curve in mid-October, traders widely agreed.Its cash/three-month spread was recently at a $190 per tonne backwardation on Thursday November 4, hav...Read More
Turkish billet prices feel in the week ended November 4 in line with lower imported scrap costs and poor demand, market participants told Fastmarkets.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have lowered their offers to $700-705 per tonne cfr, compared with $725-730 per tonne last week.However, the buyers bid only $660-670 per tonne for CIS-origin billet. A steel mill in the Isken...Read More
Elysis, a joint-venture project between Alcoa and Rio Tinto to eliminate the emission of greenhouse gases from the industrial aluminium smelting process, has moved to the next stage of production, the companies jointly announced on Thursday November 4.Elysis is led by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, with additional investment from the governments of Canada and Quebec.It is working to commercialize a new tech...Read More
The steel rebar and billet market in Egypt was slow during the week ending Thursday November 4, although some market participants expected rebar prices to increase because of increasing natural gas costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers increased their prices E ?15,000 ($952) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT on October 20.However, the natural gas price increased to $5....Read More
Backwardations in the forward curves of most metals on the London Metal Exchange have constrained warrant trading for the past few weeks.Copper warrants, for example, have been "impossible" to trade since steep backwardations emerged in copper's forward curve in mid-October, traders widely agreed.Its cash/three-month spread was recently at a $190 per tonne backwardation on Thursday November 4, hav...Read More
Hot-rolled coil spot prices in China retreated to eight-month lows on Thursday November 4 as part of a broad-based decline led by coal.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,980-5,000 yuan ($779-782) per tonne, down by 70-100 yuan per tonneSpot HRC prices in China's eastern market fell to their lowest since March 18, wiping out all of Wednesday's gains.Traders reported that the price decline has redu...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in Europe were stable to slightly higher on Thursday November 4 despite muted buying, while market sentiment remained optimistic, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,022.50 ($1,184.83) per tonne on November 4, up by ?,?8.21 per tonne from ?,?1,014.29 per tonne on November 3.The index was...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME and SHFE were mixed early on Thursday November 4, but neither the metals nor the broader markets have been rattled by the US Federal Reserve's announcement that it is to start tapering its monthly bond buying programme.The United States Federal Reserve to trim bond buying by $15 billion a month - it had been buying $120 billion a monthA pick-up in Covid-19 cases in Ch...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in Europe were stable to slightly higher on Thursday November 4 despite muted buying, while market sentiment remained optimistic, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,022.50 ($1,184.83) per tonne on November 4, up by ?,?8.21 per tonne from ?,?1,014.29 per tonne on November 3.The index was...Read More
Sentiment was buoyed among most market participants at the annual Nickel & Cobalt conference held by Chinese information provider Antaike on November 1-3 in Ningbo, China, but the strong resurgence of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries has created uncertainty about consumption of the two metals.Fastmarkets summarizes below four key takeaways from the sidelines of the conference.LFP outperforms...Read More
Mexican steel producer Deacero has opened an office in Washington to be closer to trade decisions affecting its business. It is a first for a Mexican company, according to a Thursday November 4 statement."This is where decisions are made that affect our company, its workers, and its customers - not only in the US, but also in Mexico, and in other international markets where we do...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 4 that are worth another look.The agreement reached between the United States and the European Union regarding the replacement of Section 232 tariffs will support domestic prices for flat steel in Europe but...Read More
A summary of Toronto, Canada-based Noranda Income Fund's production and financial report for the third quarter 2021.In brief: Earnings before income taxes totaled $5.9 million, compared to a loss of $4.1 million in third quarter of 2020. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciated and amortization was $5.7 million, compared to $14.3 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue was $204...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 4 that are worth another look.The agreement reached between the United States and the European Union regarding the replacement of Section 232 tariffs will support domestic prices for flat steel in Europe but...Read More
Major companies in logistics and heavy industry have come together as part of an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum at the the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP26 - in Glasgow to create a critical mass of demand for low carbon technologies aimed at decarbonising heavily polluting sectors.The First Movers Coalition, announced on November 4, is a partnership between th...Read More
A summary of operational results for Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest for the third quarter of 2021.In brief The group's output of coke totaled 1.09 million tonnes, down by 9% quarter on quarter due to a decrease in the number of coke ovens in use at Ukraine's Avdiivka Coke and a shortage of raw materials. Merchant slab production increased by 15% quarter on quarter...Read More