Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia climbed over the past week amid China's continued absence from the steel markets which led to uncertainty about price trends. Multiple provinces and regions in China, including major cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Guangdong, have delayed the resumption of business activities by another week amid the coronavirus outbreak in the count...Read More
Glencore's ferro-chrome production dropped by 9% in 2019 due to maintenance taken during periods of high costs and low prices, the trader-miner announced on Tuesday February 4.Glencore, which operates a chrome joint venture with South Africa's Merafe Resources, produced 1.44 million tonnes of ferro-chrome in 2019, down from 1.58 million tonnes in 2018."Attributable ferrochrome production of 1,438,...Read More
Steel and aluminium market participants were disappointed with the outcome of their efforts to convince President Donald Trump's administration to extend the Section 232 tariffs to downstream product imports, which have surged into the United States in the past year."I try to maintain a positive outlook at all times, and it's clear we have convinced the Department of Commerce that 232 has created...Read More
Steel and aluminium market participants were disappointed with the outcome of their efforts to convince President Donald Trump's administration to extend the Section 232 tariffs to downstream product imports, which have surged into the United States in the past year."I try to maintain a positive outlook at all times, and it's clear we have convinced the Department of Commerce that 232 has created...Read More
Participants in the Mexican ferrous scrap market have started to see the first price cuts due to uncertainty in global scrap prices, which led some steelmakers to reverse their earlier increases in bid prices.Some steelmakers have lowered their offers for ferrous scrap due to the global downturn, putting Mexican prices, which were previously believed to be at a peak, under pressure.The downtrend w...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday February 4.Click on...Read More
London Metal Exhchange three-month base metals prices absorbed any residual optimism from the People's Bank of China's 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) boost to liquidity to close the day little-changed on Tuesday February 4. "Much of the dip-buying interest seen in the early Asian trading session on Tuesday February 4 appears to be a false dawn," Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida said. "The LM...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 4 that are worth another look.As international exchanges continue to encourage trade in their ferrous contracts, Fastmarkets asks market experts for their views on progress in steel price risk management over the past year and the outlook for 2020.Port of Shanghai, the world's biggest port by container throughput, and o...Read More
Frederic Sese has joined Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) as its commercial director. Sese was previously in the raw materials and buying team at ArcelorMittal, and later Aperam. He also...Read More
Aluminium market participants remain wary of reduced consumption, logistical backlog and bearish macroeconomics as a result of the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan city in Hubei province, China.The outbreak has pressured futures prices on exchange for primary aluminium and have stoked growing bearish sentiment in the secondary aluminium and scrap market. The effect of the coronavirus on global alum...Read More
London Metal Exhchange three-month base metals prices absorbed any residual optimism from the People's Bank of China's 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) boost to liquidity to close the day little-changed on Tuesday February 4. "Much of the dip-buying interest seen in the early Asian trading session on Tuesday February 4 appears to be a false dawn," Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida said. "The LM...Read More
As international exchanges continue to encourage trade in their ferrous contracts, Fastmarkets asks market experts for their views on progress in steel price risk management over the past year and the outlook for 2020.Speaking with Fastmarkets a year ago, Phillip Price, steel derivatives expert, and since then founder of Pool, said that he had seen a sea change in the steel sector's attitude towar...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were down on Tuesday February 4, with spot trading activity resuming after over a week. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $147.89 per tonne, down $2.90 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.13 per tonne, down $2.60 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.01 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $140.82 p...Read More
Haven asset gold should perform better in 2020 if you take a bearish position on the global economy, ED&F Man Capital Market's independent senior commodity consultant Edward Meir said after topping the 2019 Apex precious metals leaderboard with 97.73% accuracy. Fastmarkets published its Apex full-year 2019 competition results last week."My general feeling on gold is that putting numbers out r...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were fairly stable on Tuesday February 4 but were expected to rise further, sources have told Fastmarkets.Despite bullish sentiment in the market, buyers have avoided booking big volumes, preferring to make deals only for sufficient volumes to maintain their stocks at balanced levels, according to market sources.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-ro...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 4 that are worth another look.As international exchanges continue to encourage trade in their ferrous contracts, Fastmarkets asks market experts for their views on progress in steel price risk management over the past year and the outlook for 2020.Port of Shanghai, the world's biggest port by container throughput, and o...Read More
Port of Shanghai, the world's biggest port by container throughput, and other major ports in China will waive the extra storage fees incurred during the logistics lockdown imposed in relation to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Shanghai International Port Co, the operator of Port of Shanghai, said on February 1 that cargo holders do not have to pay for their use of container storage space from Janu...Read More
Swiss miner-trader Glencore produced 46,300 tonnes of cobalt in 2019, up 10% from 42,200 tonnes in 2018, mainly due to the ramp up in operations at Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt production at Glencore's African copper assets, which includes Katanga and Mutanda, totaled 42,200 tonnes - contained in hydroxide - in 2019, up 10% from 38,400 tonnes a year earlier. The scale down a...Read More
Frederic Sese has joined Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) as its commercial director. Sese was previously in the raw materials and buying team at ArcelorMittal, and later Aperam. He also...Read More
Aluminium market participants remain wary of reduced consumption, logistical backlog and bearish macroeconomics as a result of the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan city in Hubei province, China.The outbreak has pressured futures prices on exchange for primary aluminium and have stoked growing bearish sentiment in the secondary aluminium and scrap market. The effect of the coronavirus on global alum...Read More