The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was steady in the week ended Friday January 24, but a drop in European export prices to traditional markets in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent may drag on British prices in the near term, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?95...Read More
The price of grade-316 stainless steel scrap rose in the UK domestic market this week on short supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 24. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 316 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,200-1,220 ($1,575-1,601) per tonne on Friday, up from ?1,170-1,200 per tonne a week ago.Supply of stainless steel scrap is typically low in...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India continued to fall this week, in line with the drop in international scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, was $296.51 per tonne on January 24, down from $313.61 per tonne on January 17. Deals for shredded material into India were heard at the beginning of the week...Read More
The Turkish steel mills ended the working week having purchased only one deep-sea cargo, because they were still struggling with sluggish rebar demand, sources said on Friday January 24.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region had booked a UK cargo, comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $277 per tonne cfr, late on January 22, which sent the daily scrap indices down by $6.45 per tonne on Thur...Read More
A summary of Anglo American's production results for iron ore in the fourth quarter and full-year 2019, as well as production guidance for 2020, following the company's report released on Thursday January 23. The South African Kumba unit increased production on both comparisons due to the Sishen mine improving operational performance and the Kolomela mine - both mines are part of the Kumba un...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Friday January 24 while the week-long Chinese New Year holiday starts, but market participants who were still working believe that the outlook is bearish with the ongoing fears of the coronavirus not being contained.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.71 per tonne, up $0.27 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.75...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were unchanged on Friday January 24 in the absence of transactions, with the largest buyer in the spot market, China, starting its week-long public holiday for the Chinese New Year.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.29 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $162.73 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal,...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Korea Zinc will stop refining selenium as a byproduct of copper ore now that market levels have made it unprofitable, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets."We are stopping selenium production temporarily due to poor market conditions. We have been losing money for a while with this metal," Kris Hans, assistant sales manager at Korea Zinc, said."We will resume production in a healthier market, but...Read More
The price of stainless steel flat products in the European domestic market was unchanged this week ahead of an expected, but moderate, rise in monthly surcharges for February, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 24. Finland's Outokumpu announced that it will raise the alloy surcharge for grade-304 stainless steel flat products for February by ?,?11 per tonne month on month to ?,?1,448...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday January 24. Europe The high-carbon ferro-chrome market rose strongly with some producers reporting increased demand from some end consumers. Production cuts have led to a shortage of lower-priced material to parts of the market, while an increase in offer prices for Indian material has c...Read More
Demand dipped in Asia's ferrous scrap markets in the lead-up to major holidays in Vietnam and Taiwan, with steel mills scaling back purchases in preparation for the Lunar New Year.The downward trend for global scrap prices also dampened buying sentiment. Buyers have withdrawn from the market to wait for prices to bottom out.VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scra...Read More
There was thin spot liquidity in the Singapore rebar import market this week due to the looming Lunar New Year holidays.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $455-465 per tonne for the week to Friday January 24, unchanged from a week earlier.There were n...Read More
LME three-month copper fell to its lowest price since December 5 on Thursday January 23, dipping belowthe $6,000-per-tonne support level at the close amid strong turnover, while tin led the complex in terms of losses. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,987 per tonne this afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $6,116 per tonne, while turnover was at its highest l...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit is in financing discussions with a syndicate of banks for its new $3 billion copper smelter and expects the project will be funded by a bank loan. The United States producer, one of the project's joint venture partners, said that the economics of PT-FI's share of the new smelter will be shared by its shareholders according to their respective share ownership perc...Read More
Alumina prices rose in an active week of trading ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holidays starting on January 24 in China, which market participants say will dampen liquidity through the rest of January. Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $277.92 per tonne on Thursday, up from 275.93 per tonne last Thursday. The index has been range-bound so far in 202...Read More
Samancor Chrome plans to reduce annual chrome ore and ferro-chrome production by 29% and 20% respectively due to poor market conditions, it said on Thursday January 23. South Africa's largest ferro-chrome producer provided the update days after confirming proposals to restructure and retrench staff at its mining and smelting operations. It had also warned in December that production cuts were...Read More
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is in the process of placing its Chambishi refinery in Zambia on care and maintenance, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets. "We have taken the difficult decision to suspend operations at Chambishi Metals due to the shortage of both copper and cobalt concentrate feedstock material. It was not possible to locate appropriate feedstock in Zambia. We are in the process o...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More