After market feedback, Fastmarkets MB is extending the consultation period for its proposal to launch a weekly price assessment for tantalum concentrate.The initial consultation, which ends on June 15, has confirmed an appetite for third-party price assessments for tantalum, but the extension will allow time for market feedback on the specifications that have been revised in line with initial...Read More
Markets were mixed this morning, Wednesday June 17, while bullish sentiment continues to be fueled by government liquidity and stimulus but Covid-19 concerns and economic reality remain headwinds.* Asian-Pacific equity markets were mixed this morning, but pre-market major western equity index futures were weaker. * Passenger car registrations in the European Union fall by 52.3% year on year in May...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 15 points in pre-opening trade.U.S. equity index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the May Housing Starts report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was 1.095 million units versus 934,000 units in April. Actual was an increase to 974,000 units.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at 73.84 following rel...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
Aluminium producer Hydro has reported a 42% drop in sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit and a 21% drop in rolled product sales for April-May, due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.The Norwegian company announced that its sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit were down 42% in April and May of this year, compared with the same months in 2019, due to weaker market demand fo...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were lower during morning trading on Monday June 15, pressured lower by weaker-than-expected industrial data out of China, while a fresh inflow of 16,175 tonnes was an added headwind for copper futures prices. Weighing on prices across the complex was economic data out of China released this morning , which showed industrial production year on year fo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week ended June 15, 2020.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ending Friday June 12China Seaborne manganese ore prices continued to fall after miners lowered their offers over the session in response to sluggish buying interest. Portside ore traders slashed their offer prices to secure business amid bearish sentiment and thin buying interest. Alloy futures prices rose at...Read More
The UG2 chrome ore price retreated for the first time since March 20 due to reduced buying interest in contrast to the consistent liquidity over the past few weeks. Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China fell to $169 per tonne on Friday June 12, from $170 per tonne a week earlier, putting an end to a five-week uptrend. The market was described as quie...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
Aluminium producer Hydro has reported a 42% drop in sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit and a 21% drop in rolled product sales for April-May, due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.The Norwegian company announced that its sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit were down 42% in April and May of this year, compared with the same months in 2019, due to weaker market demand fo...Read More
Equity markets started to show some weakness last week, although dips were being bought, but this morning, Monday June 15, the mood seems to have become more concerned about the rise in second waves of Covid-19 in many countries and the socio-economic implications of these. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker, as were most on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Asian-Pacific equ...Read More
Nornickel's estimated $150-million cost to clean a company oil leak is "hugely preliminary", the Russian miner said in a press conference two weeks after the biggest oil spill in the Arctic Circle since the Exxon Valdez.And the company expects by June 26 a government assessment of penalties, from the Environment Supervision Agency (Rosprirodnadzor), Nornickel said during the teleconference on June...Read More
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a ?,?125 million ($140 million) loan to Belgium-based global material technologies and recycling group Umicore to partially finance the construction of a battery cathode material manufacturing facility in Poland.The EIB loan will cover approximately half of the project costs in the initial phase, with cathode materials produced supplying battery manuf...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
Workers at Tata Steel IJmuiden in the Netherlands will continue industrial action after negotiations with the company's management fell through, the trade union FNV Metaal said on Sunday June 14.A strike on the night shift started on Sunday June 14 at 22:00 local time and affected pickling, cold rolling, an annealing furnace, continuous annealing lines 11 & 12 and tinning lines."The entire pr...Read More
Exporters of hot-rolled coil in Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States have been redirecting volumes to Asia from their traditional markets such as Europe.Steel demand and prices in Asia, notably China, started to recover in April after a slump in consumption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This revival happened earlier than in the other regions, where sellers in both Turkey and the CI...Read More
Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States have again risen due to increased raw material costs, but demand remains weak, industry participants told Fastmarkets. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US rose to $33.25 per hundredweight ($665 per shor...Read More
Egypt's ministry of trade and industry plans to raise import duties on steel billet and rebar, Egyptian sources told Fastmarkets on Monday June 15.Officials from the ministry will meet steel producers this week to discuss the duty changes, the sources said.In April this year, the Egyptian ministry of trade and industry postponed...Read More