Key data from the Friday May 22 pricing session in London. Key Drivers There were fewer producer offers and more demand from participants looking to secure duty-paid units.The London Metal Exchange aluminium cash/three-month spread recently traded at a $25.50 per tonne contango on Friday, narrower from as wide as wide as $37 at the beginning of the week.Concerns remain about a narrowing contango...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves. Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ending Friday May 22.China The domestic market experienced a small recovery on tight supply following the wave of production cuts among ferro-silicon producers in April. Export...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 22.China Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices rose on bullish sentiment after Tsingshan raised its June tender price by 500 yuan ($70) per tonne. The UG2 chrome ore price was underpinned by continuing disruptions in South Africa, with deals reported at higher prices. Market sentiment strengthened...Read More
Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index rose on Friday May 22 for first time since the beginning of April after more smelters returned to the spot market this week. The index rose to $51.6 per tonne/ 5.16 cents per lb, from $49.6 per tonne/ 4.96 cents per lb a week ago, when it hit the lowest level in eight months. Most Chinese smelters spoken to by F...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves. Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Turkish producers returned the market late in the week ended Friday May 22, paying higher prices, while Asian buyers were in no hurry to purchase imported cargoes.Turkish mills purchase at higher pricesUS export market silentVietnam halts purchases after offers jumpTaiwanese prices peaking, sources sayIndian market remains steady.TurkeyTurkish producers were out of the spot market for most of this...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases at the end of the week at steady prices, sources said on Friday May 22.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 13,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $250 per tonne, 9,000 tonnes of shredded at $255 per tonne and 6,500 tonnes of a mixture of bonus and busheling at $260 per tonne cfr.The same mill booked a...Read More
The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap prices in Europe moved slightly higher in the week to Friday May 22 on scarce availability despite demand remaining at low levels, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK assessment was ?750-800 ($916-977) per tonne on Friday, up by ?20 per tonne on the low end from ?730-800 pe...Read More
Miners and processors considering production cuts cannot ignore safety or care and maintenance, including of associated asset infrastructure, the former chief executive officer of Anglo American said.Cynthia Carroll told Fastmarkets during a webinar interview that taking the decision to curtail output in deteriorating demand and pricing environments such as those being seen during the Covid-19 pan...Read More
The metals and mining industry will need to make permanent, fundamental changes to the way it operates as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the former chief executive of Anglo American told Fastmarkets.Speaking during a webinar interview this week, Cynthia Carroll, who led Anglo American from 2007 until 2013, said this is in stark contrast to the way the sector got back to business in the afterma...Read More
Broad markets were weaker this morning, Friday May 22, led by a 4.8% fall in the Hang Seng; base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down across the board. Given the dire economic situation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the last thing the global economy needs is an escalation in the United States-China trade war that the latter's plans to...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves. Read More
After market feedback, Fastmarkets is extending the consultation period for proposed amendments to its battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide price specifications, to better reflect the emerging norms in battery-grade chemistry.The original consultation, which started on April 22 and can be found here, was originally scheduled to end on May 22, but will now end seven days from the date of t...Read More
Indian mills have achieved a $30 per tonne increase in export prices for hot-rolled coil in the week ended Friday May 22, with international pricing becoming firmer, particularly for Chinese exports.The price of steel HRC (commodity), export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $420-425 per tonne on May 22, up by $30 per tonne from last week's assessment at $390-395 per tonne."Ther...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe decreased day on day on Friday May 22 due to limited trading activity, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?407.50 ($446.75) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?1.67 per tonne from ?,?409.17 per tonne on Thursday.Friday's index was calculated based on deals and "workabl...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil increased again in the week to Friday May 22, and buying improved, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand was better compared with previous weeks in both the local and export markets.Some coated coil producers were expecting further price increases because of rising production costs.Scrap prices also went up during the wee...Read More
Trading activity in Poland's domestic rebar markets remained slow this week with buyers pushing for lower prices while producers were reluctant to agree because of increased scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 22.Buyers were not very active and were postponing their purchases."Demand slowed down a lot this week. Customers expect prices to fall and want to keep stock levels low," on...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Friday May 22 due to mixed news emerging from a meeting of policymakers in Beijing.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,590 yuan ($500-503) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) - weekly assessment: 3,550-3,600 yuan per tonne, up by 130-140 yuan per tonne Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in the morning that there would not be a gross...Read More