An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices saw limited movement on Friday March 27, with market participant sentiment outside China decidedly bearish while those in China took a different view. Fastmarkets IndicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.44 per tonne, up $0.41 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $158.03 per tonne, down $0.22 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $139.89 per tonne, dow...Read More
Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall on Friday March 27 on thin trading. Exporters too reported thin trading amid the availability of cheaper cargoes from other countries such as India.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,330-3,350 yuan ($470-473) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,280 yuan per tonne, unchangedA Shanghai-based trader said sellers in th...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Friday March 27, with prices supported by a cancellation of 700 tonnes out of LME-registered warehouses in Port Klang, while zinc futures showed signs of improvement. Tin's underlying price on the LME was recently seen at $14,310 per tonne, up from a morning low of $13,970 per tonne. Turnover was moderate a...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange closed below the $4,800-per-tonne psychological threshold on Friday March 27, finishing at the day $4,790.50 per tonne with a turnover of just 11,475 lots.The underlying price hit an intraday high of $4,866.50 per tonne and a low of $4,768.50 per tonne on Friday.Copper's total LME on-warrant inventories remain high, at 177,025 tonnes o...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States dropped again in the week to Friday March 27, but not as much as buyers anticipated because material availability fell considerably due to heavy sales to China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $320-325 per tonne on Friday compared with $330-340 per tonne one week prior."Scrap is falling in April by $3...Read More
A summary of the full-year financial performance of Chilean copper producer Codelco in 2019, as stated in its earnings report on Friday March 27.In brief Heavy rainfall in northern Chile alongside a strike at the Chuquicamata division reduced output during the first half of 2019, but activities recovered during the last half of the year. Codelco produced 710,000 tonnes in copper content durin...Read More
The Zambian government will remove the 5% import duty on metal concentrates to ease the pressure on copper and cobalt producers during global lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus and and sharp declines in commodity prices. This is among a series of relief measures announced by the country's finance minister, Bwalya Ng'andu, on Friday March 27, in an official statement which a...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
En+ Group, the majority owner of Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal, may review its 2020 capital expenditure in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but still plans to spend more than $715 million at its smelters and alumina refineries over the next five years, it said.Company chairman Lord Gregory Barker said the capex would be focused on environmental programmes as it continues its dri...Read More
The alumina price on a fob Australia declined below $260 per tonne on Friday March 27 after the market continued to react to falling aluminium prices. Fastmarkets' alumina index, fob Australia fell to $258.83 per tonne on Friday, following a 25,000 tonne tender from producer Vinacomin concluding at $258 per tonne fob Go Dau, Vietnam. The index is now at its lowest level since October 6, 2016,...Read More
Brazilian polymetallic producer Nexa Resources suspended its full-year 2020 guidance after the Peruvian government extended its state of emergency declaration until April 12, forcing domestic mines to remain idled, the company said on Thursday March 26.Operations will remain halted at the Cerro Lindo, Atacocha and El Porvenir mines during that period, with activities at a minimum to guarantee main...Read More
Namzinc's Skorpion zinc refinery in Namibia, a subsidiary of India's Vedanta Resources, is set to go into care and maintenance just two weeks after resuming operations. According to a joint statement issued by both the mine and the Mine Workers Union of Namibia, cited by national newspaper the Namibian, several failures had compromised a significant portion of its open cast mine. The decision to c...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States dropped sharply despite production cuts by domestic flat-rolled mills, with market participants pessimistic about the future of the industry and doubtful that the supply cut would be enough to restore the virus-dampened demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.08 per hundredweight ($541.60 per shor...Read More
European flat steel producers have reduced output, and some of them have stopped operating certain equipment, in their attempts to balance supply and demand after multiple automotive producers suspended their operations because of the Covid-19 pandemic.All the major steel coil producers in Northern Europe - including ArcelorMittal, Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter and Tata Steel - have taken steps to cut...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States declined after automotive plants suspended production during the Covid-19 pandemic while most mills emphasized that their output continued unabated.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US weakened to $37 per hundredweight ($740 per short ton) on Thursday March 26, from $38 per cwt ($760 per...Read More
Prices for domestic and imported steel beams remained unchanged in the United States in March, even as demand faltered and new orders sagged.With precautions taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 creating delays in the supply chain in some areas, market participants expressed heightened uncertainty about the outlook for this market. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel beams 8 x 8-...Read More
Prices in the export billet market in the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to weaken in the week to Friday March 27 on declining scrap prices in Turkey and a lack of demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $340 per tonne, down by $1 from $341 per tonne on Thursday, and by $13 per tonne week on week.The majority of traditional outlets for CIS billet...Read More
European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have not changed despite the decline in import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 27.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was unchanged day on day at ?,?473.00 ($518.70) per tonne on March 27.Friday's index was calculated based on offer prices heard at ?,?470-480 per tonne ex-works as well as "work...Read More
The price of hot-rolled coil exported from India plunged by $60 per tonne in the week ended Friday March 27, with the country going into compete lockdown on the Wednesday to try to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel HRC, export, fob main port India, at $390-395 per tonne on Friday, down from last week's assessment at $450-455 per tonne."The domestic...Read More