The price of antimony in China's domestic market fell for a fourth consecutive week on Wednesday March 25, with suppliers lowering their offer prices amid weakening market sentiment in response to a significant reduction in overseas demand.Fastmarkets' price assessment for antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China was 37,000-38,000 yuan ($5,214-5,355) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 1,000 yuan p...Read More
The 21-day lockdown in South Africa and resulting disruption to shipping cobalt raw materials from Durban to Chinese ports have managed to slow the cobalt sulfate price downturn in China, with producers who were eager to destock pausing midweek, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co base is, exw China was 45,000-47,000 yuan ($6,341- 6,623) per tonne on Wednesday Ma...Read More
Stainless steel prices in China fell over the past week amid lower raw material costs and a worsening novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic. A slump in the London Metal Exchange's nickel price was a major factor that led steelmakers to reduce their asking prices, sources said. The three-month nickel contract on the LME ended Wednesday March 25's trading session at $11,251 per tonne, down by $254-...Read More
China's electric-arc furnace (EAF) mills have gradually raised their production rates in the past three weeks following stronger demand for steel products.But this higher output is unlikely to lower billet imports into the country, according to market sources. They expect this trade flow to persist as long as the arbitrage window stays open.Production rates for EAFs - which largely produce long st...Read More
The hot metal cost for blast furnace-based steel production in Asia reached almost $320 per tonne in February, supported by high iron ore and coking coal prices despite the onset of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic in China.The high raw materials costs caused hot metal-steel spreads to reach a low of $137.98 per tonne and $110.39 per tonne for hot-rolled coil and rebar respectively even...Read More
Markets are looking quite mixed this morning, Friday March 27, with most Asian-Pacific equity indices up, the pre-market Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down by 1.1%, while base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange are up and gold is down from recent highs.It is not surprising the markets are mixed as it is confusing that the DJIA rallied by 6.4% on Thursday...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 62 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for February Personal Income was an increase of 0.4% versus a gain of 0.6% in January. Actual was a gain of 0.6%. Consensus for February Personal Spending was an increase of 0.2% versus a...Read More
LeadMini Tips – SELL LeadMini April at CMP 132.80 for Target tomorrow 131.40 – 130.40 with SL Above price 134.05. Risk Taker trade 2 lots Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
Europe's third largest lead smelter Recylex will stop all lead production due to weak demand, the company said in an exchange release after market trading on Wednesday March 25."To adapt to the strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive industry, in a context of sharply lower metal prices, [Recylex subsidiary] Weser-Metall GmbH has decided to discontinue production from Thursday March 26,...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
Europe's third largest lead smelter Recylex will stop all lead production due to weak demand, the company said in an exchange release after market trading on Wednesday March 25."To adapt to the strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive industry, in a context of sharply lower metal prices, [Recylex subsidiary] Weser-Metall GmbH has decided to discontinue production from Thursday March 26,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Spot market prices for standard-grade and alloy-grade cobalt stabilized on Wednesday March 25 after weakening downstream demand continued to provide pressure earlier in the week.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $16.15-16.55 per lb midweek, unchanged from Tuesday March 24 and down from $16.30-16.70 per lb on March 20. Fastmarkets' assessment fo...Read More
Europe's third largest lead smelter Recylex will stop all lead production due to weak demand, the company said in an exchange release after market trading on Wednesday March 25."To adapt to the strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive industry, in a context of sharply lower metal prices, [Recylex subsidiary] Weser-Metall GmbH has decided to discontinue production from Thursday March 26,...Read More
The global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seriously limiting deep-sea scrap trading in Turkey, with market players also struggling with mill closures, sources said on Wednesday March 25.A number of steel mills in Turkey have stopped or reduced production because of the pandemic. "I heard a steel mill in the Iskenderun region halted production and two steel mills in the Izmir region...Read More
Export prices for Japanese ferrous scrap continued to fall over the week to Wednesday March 25, but tighter supply offered some support to prices for Shindachi busheling, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Japanese scrap traders expected difficulties in procuring Shindachi material in the short term after carmaker Toyota closed several production lines for 3-9 days from Wednesday. And fellow car...Read More