Zambia is highly unlikely to impose restrictions on the mining sector during the Covid-19 pandemic because current practices are working very well, a senior executive at First Quantum said. Hannes Meyer, the company's chief financial officer, said Zambia's population demographics have also aided the limited spread of the virus in the copper-rich country. "I don't think for one minute that we will...Read More
Over the past month, Chinese importers have been keen to buy overseas copper scrap at more competitive prices, with scrap production shrunk by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as disruptions in the supply of substitute copper products from Africa."Buy, buy, buy whatever copper scrap, ingots, blister you see on the market. This is what I have been told," a major Chinese copper smelter...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Tuesday April 28, characterized by thin volumes and sideways trading, while a 7,300-tonne fresh cancellation from Asian locations bolstered copper's price incline. The LME three-month copper price was recently at $5,188 per tonne, inching up by 0.1% from an intra-morning low of $5,170 per tonne. Trading turnover...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices have crashed below $23 per hundredweight ($460 per short ton) despite some mills trying to lift prices in tandem with an expected increase in scrap costs in May.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.63 per cwt ($452.60 per ton) on Tuesday April 28, down by 1.7% from $23.03 per cwt on Monday April 27 and down by 4.8% from $2...Read More
The prices for steel billet and rebar in the United Arab Emirates fell over the past week due to weak demand during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as well as the continued effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday April 28. Authorities in the UAE announced a curfew from 10pm to 6am for the month of Ramadan, which started on April 23. Traditionally consumption of steel pr...Read More
Some flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased this week, with the markets very slow because of concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the start of Ramadan, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.No deals were heard during the week, with steel consumption reduced because the Islamic holy month of Ramadan started on April 23, when a...Read More
Prices in the market for steel billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to soften in late April, with some cargoes heard sold to customers in the Middle East with discounts.A large cargo of Ukraine-origin billet was reported sold to Saudi Arabia for around $360 per tonne cfr. According to various sources, the cost of freight would vary within the range of $20-25 p...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices weakened on Tuesday April 28, with sentiment dampened by futures losses amid a drop in raw materials costs. Exporters, meanwhile, expect sellers globally to cut their offer prices amid bid drops, especially when mills remain in pressure to reduce inventories.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,260-3,280 yuan ($460-463) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan pe...Read More
The impact of Covid-19 is undeniably huge. It continues to make its presence felt across all commodity markets, including the ferrous supply chain, from raw materials down to finished steel products. One significant impact that can be tracked closely through spot pricing is the increasing disarray in price correlations between various segments of the ferrous supply chain after the Covid-19 pandemi...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico largely decreased in the week ended Friday April 24, with steelmakers applying reductionsfollowing lower monthly settlements in the United States' domestic scrap market.Three major scrap buyers were said to have cut prices by 200 pesos (about $8) per tonne last week. This follows a previous round of price cuts a week earlier. At the same time, two Mexican scrap...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have again gone quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets despite the sharp decrease in prices seen at the beginning of this week, sources said on Tuesday April 28.After around 10 days of silence, a Turkish steel mill booked a Baltic Sea cargo on April 27 at $242 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and $252 per tonne cfr for bonus, which sent the daily scrap indices down by mor...Read More
Seaborne iron ore market prices fell on Tuesday April 28, following the momentum in the iron ore futures curve on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.20 per tonne, down $1.28 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.60 per tonne, down $0.90 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $71.97 per tonne, down $0.50 per t...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Tuesday April 28, with muted trading activity outside of China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.53 per tonne, unchanged.Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $120.18 per tonne, down by $0.88 per tonne.Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.01 per tonne, unchanged.Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $105.94 per tonne, down by $3.50 per tonne...Read More
BHP is consulting with relevant stakeholders on options to increase its licensed iron ore export capacity to over 290 million tonnes per year from Hedland, the shipping hub in Western Australia, it told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.Tim Day, BHP acting asset president for Western Australia iron ore, said BHP's focus remains on reaching 290 million tonnes per year in the medium term, but improvem...Read More
Metals prices were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday April 28 after the promising start to the week faded on Monday, but talk that Chinese provincial governments are offering to subsidize inventory accumulation could well turn out to be a supportive factor. The mixed performance this morning is widespread with Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices on divergent paths, wh...Read More
Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More
The Indian silico-manganese export price and European domestic high-carbon ferro-manganese price rose in the past week amid tight alloy availability and hefty increases in the cost of ore. The silico-manganese 65% Mn min, min 16% Si, fob India price jumped by 13.5% to $1,000-1,100 per tonne in the week ended Friday April 24 from $900-950 per tonne on April 17. This is the assessment's highest...Read More
Swedish special steel producer Ovako has used hydrogen to heat steel before rolling for the first time, the company announced on Tuesday April 28.It claims to be the first company in the world to heat steel using hydrogen instead of liquefied petroleum gas before rolling, in a full-scale trial with its partner Linde Gas.Good results were achieved in the trial in one of the company's pit furnaces a...Read More
Metals prices generally seem to be consolidating this morning, Wednesday April 29, and for the most part look well placed to extend gains, but whether underlying confidence is strong enough in these uncertain times remains to be seen. * Asian-Pacific and pre-market major western equity indices are all positive, as are oil prices that are up around 3%.* Market participants likely to focus on US gro...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 44 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for news from the Federal Reserve at 2:00 PM EDT. Consensus is that the Fed Fund Rate will remain unchanged.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of first estimate of U.S. first quarter GDP at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 4.0% versus a gai...Read More