The Ramu NiCo mine, which produced at record levels in the first quarter of the year, appears to be operating normally despite a 7.0 earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on Friday July 17.Neither the mine's operator, Metallurgical Corp of China ("MCC"), in Beijing, nor Ramu NiCo's minor stakeholder, Conic Metals Corp, in Toronto, responded to Fastmarkets' multiple requests for updates on the nicke...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices increased slightly over the past week on rising demand from manufacturers, but a slower recovery elsewhere saw sellers from China and East Asia dropping their export offers to encourage buying activity. DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 13,500-14,000 yuan ($1,926-1,998) per tonne, narrowing up by 100 yuan per tonne...Read More
Demand for copper scrap material in the United States remained lackluster this week; the market is not short on copper scrap, sources said, noting that pressured overseas markets have weighed further on already weak domestic demand."There's severe pressure on the consumer market overseas," a consumer said. "Our end markets aren't valuable enough."Fastmarkets' assessment of the discount for copper...Read More
The base metals were polarized this morning, Friday July 24, with prices on the London Metal Exchange down across the board, while the opposite was true for those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.* Asian-Pacific equities and major western pre-market equity futures indices were in negative territory this morning.* Haven assets like gold, US treasuries and the yen are all pointing to a pick-up in in...Read More
Intel (INTC), a Dow Jones Industrial stock moved below $56.76 setting an intermediate downtrend. The stock responded to lower than consensus third quarter guidance. Pre-opening Comments for Friday July 24thU.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 10 points in pre-opening trade. Intel dropped $8.16 to $52.24 after lowering third quarter guidance. Mizuho and S...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 22 that are worth another look.Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), has suspended rolling operations at its subsidiary in the Ural region due to a flood, the company said earlier this week.Rio Tinto has formally complained...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday July 22.Please click...Read More
Despite the worsening effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Western participants in the global nickel markets saw hopeful signs, while a lack of arbitrage kept Chinese trading at a low level.Some "desperate" selling in the United States was considered to be isolated.European market participants expected a post-summer pick-up, and a boost from nickel briquettes being listed on the Shanghai Futures Exch...Read More
Exports of manganese ore from South Africa are on track to almost quadruple from April to July, according to preliminary unofficial data seen by Fastmarkets, and the majority will head to China, where inventories are already rising and prices have fallen sharply.South Africa will export almost 2 million tonnes of manganese ore in July from around 500,000 tonnes in April when South Africa was under...Read More
United States aluminium producer Alcoa Corp will supply low-carbon aluminium rolling slab to Gr??nges AB as part of the Sweden-based rolled products producer's goal of cutting carbon emissions across its supply chain. Produced at hydroelectric-powered aluminium smelters, Ecolum slab is part of Alcoa's Sustana range of low-carbon products and guarantees no more than 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO...Read More
A summary of aluminium and alumina producer Hydro's second-quarter 2020 results.In brief Underlying earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) for the second quarter was 949 million Norwegian krone (US $104.29 million), compared with 875 million krone for the same quarter in 2019.Revenue was down to 30.9 billion krone from 39.1 billion krone in the second quarter of 20...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 22 that are worth another look.Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), has suspended rolling operations at its subsidiary in the Ural region due to a flood, the company said earlier this week.Rio Tinto has formally complained...Read More
First Cobalt is entering the second phase of financing discussions for the recommission and expansion of its currently idled cobalt refinery in Canada, with proposals under review with its financial advisor, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).The Canada-headquartered company is contemplating an initial recommissioning of the cobalt refinery in partnership with miner and marketer Glencore be...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for August shipments but at slightly higher prices, sources said on Wednesday July 22.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 13,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $273 per tonne cfr. The cargo was scheduled to be shipped before August 19.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked US cargo, compri...Read More
First Cobalt is entering the second phase of financing discussions for the recommission and expansion of its currently idled cobalt refinery in Canada, with proposals under review with its financial advisor, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).The Canada-headquartered company is contemplating an initial recommissioning of the cobalt refinery in partnership with miner and marketer Glencore be...Read More
Spot payables for cobalt hydroxide continued to rally in the first half of the week that began on Monday July 20, with consumers raising their bids in an effort to secure spot August cargoes, which remained in tight supply.The assessment of the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low end), rose to 70-71.5% on July 22. Th...Read More
Italian steel re-rollers have been targeting a price increase for heavy plate due to the rising cost of steel slab, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?430-440 ($493-505) per tonne on July 22, up by ?,?10 per tonne week on week from ?,?420-430 per tonne.The assessment was based on achievabl...Read More
Sentiment in the European hot-rolled coil market has been positive despite the seasonal slowdown in activity in the second half of the summer, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 22.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?407.68 ($467.82) per tonne on Wednesday, up by just ?,?0.01 per tonne from ?,?407.67 per tonne on July 21.Wedne...Read More
Iranian steelmakers produced 7.14 million tonnes of semi-finished products in the first three months of the current Iranian year - March 20 to June 20 - up by 3% annually, the latest Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA) report said on July 19.Higher steel slab output reached 3.02 million tonnes in the first quarter, up by 12% year on year, which drove a lot of the reported growth, while stee...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 22 that are worth another look.Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), has suspended rolling operations at its subsidiary in the Ural region due to a flood, the company said earlier this week.Rio Tinto has formally complained...Read More