Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 19 that are worth another look.Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already...Read More
Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) has resumed operations on the No2 blast furnace at its Usina Presidente Vargas (UPV) unit in Brazil's southeastern Volta Redonda city, the steelmaker said on Thursday November 19.The Brazilian steelmaker decided to idle the equipment - which has capacity to produce 1.50 million tonnes per year of crude steel - in May, when demand for steel hit...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have shot above $37 per hundredweight ($740 per short ton) for the first time in nearly two years on a supply-chain squeeze potentially made worse by rising Covid-19 infections, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $37.25 per cwt ($745 per ton) on Thursday November 19, up by 1.7% from...Read More
Domestic European prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil increased over the week to Wednesday November 18, due to a combination of low availability, solid demand and a lack of imports, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?630-645 ($748-765) per tonne ex-works on Wednesday, up by ?,?15-20 per tonne from ?,?610-63...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 19 that are worth another look.Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already...Read More
Kyle Morris has been appointed marketing manager at Kalahari Trading, the exclusive marketing agent of South African manganese ore producer United Manganese of the Kalahari (UMK).Morris started at Kalahari Trading on Monday November 16,...Read More
Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already started to happen.Independent metals trading companies operating out of Shanghai and Singapore - many of which launched during the early 2000s, surfing the commodities "supercycle" to bountiful profits - have seen risks to bus...Read More
The world's largest trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), could result in India losing its share of the Asian steel market, sources told Fastmarkets this week."It is likely that steel mills in Southeast Asia will benefit from the RCEP trade deal, and India will lose market share in Asia," a Chinese trader told Fastmarkets.The RCEP was signed by China, the 10 member co...Read More
Chinese prices for nickel pig iron (NPI) fell for the first time since early July despite continued strength in the upstream nickel ore market, raising questions over whether the latter is still sufficient to prop up NPI prices in China.Activity in China's NPI market has been muted since early October, with the lack of spot trading resulting in liquidity issues for some participants, in turn causi...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
Lithium needs a transparent market where demand and supply meet to foster the growth of the sector, attendees heard during the annual Lithium in the South America conference organised by Panorama Minero on Wednesday November 18.The event that normally takes place in Buenos Aires was hosted virtually this year due to Covid-19 related restrictions. Interest around bringing price transparency to the...Read More
Iron ore futures price reached the yearly high on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on Thursday November 19 and physical prices also increased, sources told Fastmarkets, with the decrease in steel inventory supporting, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.89 per tonne, up $1.55 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.36 per tonne, up $1.78 per tonne58...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
Turkish domestic, export and import prices for steel billet have all gone up over the past week on increasing scrap costs and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 19.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) raised their billet offers to Turkish customers by around $30-45 per tonne to $465-480 per tonne cfr, with one deal being made around $460 per tonne cfr...Read More
Copper miner KAZ Minerals announced on Wednesday November 18 that the Baimskaya copper project in Russia will have a construction budget of $8 billion and a delayed production starting date of 2027.The news came ahead of a planned vote on the takeover of the company by its largest shareholders: the company's chairman, Oleg Novachuk, and Vladimir Kim, Kazakhstan's richest man.The takeover offer was...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were relatively flat on Thursday November 19, while fears of economic damage from a second-wave of Covid-19 lockdowns spread across the market. Tin's three-month price made the largest decline on Thursday morning, falling by 1.3% to $15,595 per tonne as of 9am. This follows a 0.9% decline from Tuesday as of 5pm on Wednesday, when the price w...Read More
Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already started to happen.Independent metals trading companies operating out of Shanghai and Singapore - many of which launched during the early 2000s, surfing the commodities "supercycle" to bountiful profits - have seen risks to bus...Read More
The base metals were consolidating recent gains but generally holding up near high ground this morning, Thursday November 19 - this despite some nervousness emerging in wider markets about the rapid spread of Covid-19.Asian Pacific equities were mixed this morning, but major European equity indices were down while they tracked Wednesday's weakness in US marketsGold prices also weakerBase metals Th...Read More
The US 99.97% lead ingot premium widened upward in the week to Tuesday November 17, supported by strong demand from automotive battery makers, while the Northern European zinc premium rose due to tightening availability of the galvanizing metal. US benchmark zinc premium may be rolled over or slightly lower next yearLong-term negotiations for zinc kick off in Italy, Southeast AsiaZinc premiums sta...Read More
Chinese prices for nickel pig iron (NPI) fell for the first time since early July despite continued strength in the upstream nickel ore market, raising questions over whether the latter is still sufficient to prop up NPI prices in China.Activity in China's NPI market has been muted since early October, with the lack of spot trading resulting in liquidity issues for some participants, in turn causi...Read More