Members of Union No2 representing supervisors at the Chilean Escondida copper mine, operated by BHP, voted to strike following unsuccessful labor negotiations with the company, Union No1 said on Wednesday September 30. The latest offer from Escondida's management was rejected by 98.36% of votes from members of Union No2. According to Union No1, the largest union representing workers on the mine, n...Read More
Canada-headquartered Lundin Mining expects to partially resume operations at its Chapada copper-gold mine in the Midwestern Brazilian state of Goi??s within a week and return to full capacity usage in two months, the company said on Tuesday September 29.Lundin had to halt activities on Sunday September 27 after a power outage damaged four motors used for its semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and...Read More
Alvance, the aluminium division of GFG Alliance, has completed the acquisition of Aleris' Duffel rolling mill in Duffel, Belgium, Alvance said on Thursday October 1. The ?,?310 million ($364.1 million) acquisition, which helped pave the way for the Aleris-Novelis merger earlier this year, took around 10 months to complete after the initial announcement last December. Alvance said on Thursday...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price rose during morning trading on Thursday October 1, with a large fresh cancelation of some 15,075 tonnes supporting the incline while LME nickel futures similarly traded in positive territory despite thin volumes.LME lead's outright price was recently trading at $1,835.50 per tonne, climbing by 0.5% from a morning low of $1,811.50 per tonne, while tu...Read More
The refining charge (RC) for blister copper brought into China rose by 1.7% on Wednesday September 30 to its highest since June 2019, due to reported higher availability of domestic units and lackluster buying from smelters. Fastmarkets assessed the copper blister 98-99% RC spot, cif China at $140-160 per tonne on Wednesday, compared with $135-160 per tonne a month earlier. Offers for importe...Read More
Domestic reinforcing bar prices and demand in the United States were stable week over week, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US held at $29.75 per hundredweight ($595 per short ton) on Wednesday September 30, down by 0.8% from $29.50-30.50 per cwt at the beginning of the year.US marketOverall market dynamics held steady heading int...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have climbed to their highest point in more than eight months on a supply squeeze and a wave of mill price increases.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $30.59 per hundredweight ($611.80 per short ton) on Thursday October 1, up by 1% from $30.29 per cwt on Wednesday September 20 and up by 2.4% from $29.87 per cwt...Read More
Prices for imported flat-rolled steel are mixed as the international market appears to show signs of leveling off - or at least is not shooting up as dramatically as domestic flat-rolled steel prices, market participants said.Hot-rolled coilFastmarkets' assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Houston, stands at $540-600 per ton, unchanged from the prior assessment two weeks ago on Septem...Read More
The fast steel market recovery seen in Brazil in the past few months has led the country's steelmaker association, Instituto A??o Brasil, to revise its forecasts for 2020 up significantly from previous expectations set in July.Full-year apparent steel consumption is now expected at 20 million tonnes, a 4.7% drop from 20.98 million tonnes in 2019. The previous estimate was for 17.96 million tonnes,...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Egypt's biggest steelmaking group, Ezz Steel, for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2020.In briefEzz Steel said that its net sales were down because of, "the suspension of new building permits in particular and the drop-in construction activity in general."Egypt imposed a domestic construction ban on May 25, however, the...Read More
Fastmarkets MB is inviting feedback on its audited non-ferrous price assessments and indices, as part of its annual methodology review, in compliance with IOSCO principles for price reporting agencies (PRAs). The consultation, which is open until October 31, seeks to ensure that our audited methodologies and price specifications continue to reflect the physical markets for the alumina, a...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell after news of a Baltic Sea cargo being sold into Turkey came to light on Thursday October 1.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked the Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $292 per tonne, 12,000 tonnes of shredded at $297 per tonne and 10,000 tonnes of bonus at $302 per tonne cfr.The date of the transaction, however, was...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The spread between the seaborne 62% and 65% Fe fines iron ore prices widened again in September reflecting a decision by Chinese steel mills to use a more cost-efficient blend of high grades with low grades. The average of Fastmarkets' daily 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore index rose by 3.8% to $136.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao in September, while the daily 62% Fe index was up by 0.5% to $123....Read More
Rising steel prices over the coming months are likely to prop up prices for ferrous scrap in Japan, the Japan Iron and Steel Recycling Institute (Jisri) said on Thursday October 1."Japan is entering the 'autumn of price increases' in which product prices at both blast furnaces (BFs) and electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) are being raised one after another," Jisri said."The domestic steel scrap market is...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were flat on Thursday October 1 due to the start of the one-week Golden Week holiday in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.47 per tonne, unchanged62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.49 per tonne, unchanged58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $111.76 per tonne, unchanged65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $134.40 per to...Read More
Seaborne hard coking coal prices in the cfr China and fob Australia market were unchanged on Thursday October 1 amid a quiet market now that the Chinese Golden Week national holiday is underway.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.55 per tonne, unchanged. Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $145.10 per...Read More
Export prices for Japanese steel scrap dipped again over the past week amid low demand from Taiwan and South Korea, market sources told Fastmarkets.They said that although prices continued to fall over the week, they were of the opinion that the market had bottomed out, at least for the short term."Prices are stable and the market will not weaken anymore. Supplier offers are very limited because t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and pre-market western equity index futures were for the most part firmer this morning, Thursday October 1, albeit in quiet conditions with China, Hong Kong and South Korea closed for holidays and technical problems meaning the Tokyo Stock Exchange could not open.Japan's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) climbed to 47.7 in September from...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Thursday October 1. Key drivers Traders realizing prices toward $16 per lb, having held offers at this level for some weeks. Demand bright spots are appearing in economies that continue to reopen; foundry, automotive, medical sectors...Read More