Cobalt prices consolidated at higher levels in the second half of the week ended Friday January 17, with traders continuing to restock and consumers looking for inventory top-ups.The price for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, rose by 1.55% to $16.00-16.70 per lb on Friday, up from $15.70-16.50 per lb midweek, when it was unchanged from the end of last week.Fastmarkets' corresponding price...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will on February 1 introduce a reporting process that will increase transparency into levels of off-warrant stocks. The exchange announced the plans in November 2019 and aims to attract more metal back in LME sheds. It is controversial, but its passage into the LME rulebook on February 1 follows a consultation last year. Some market participants are now saying the LME sho...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday January 17, with price action settling comfortably above the $2,400-per-tonne support level despite moderately low turnover across the complex, while a steady incline in LME tin saw prices breach nearby resistance. Zinc's outright price on the LME settled at $2,429.50 per tonne on Friday afternoon,...Read More
Liquidity was high for alumina on an fob Australia basis during the week ending January 17, but prices failed to find any long-term support above $275 per tonne.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $275.18 per tonne on Friday January 17, down only slightly from $275.93 per tonne on Thursday. The index has traded between $275 and $278 per tonne since December...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices inched down on Friday January 17 because some participants in China have begun their Lunar New Year break early while others were holding off to consider the impact of import restrictions at the country's ports, talks of which surfaced this week. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.07 per tonne, down $2.19 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Glencore plans to restructure its Rustenburg ferro-chrome smelter in South Africa due to deteriorating conditions in the ferro-chrome market and high power costs, the trader-miner announced on Friday January 17. The company has issued a Section 189 notice- a South African legal requirement representing an intention to retrench staff. Ferro-chrome prices in various global regions have been tra...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday January 17, with price action settling comfortably above the $2,400-per-tonne support level despite moderately low turnover across the complex, while a steady incline in LME tin saw prices breach nearby resistance. Zinc's outright price on the LME settled at $2,429.50 per tonne on Friday afternoon,...Read More
Rio Tinto's fourth-quarter copper production sank due to lower ore grades, especially at its Kennecott copper mine, while aluminium production took a hit due to unexpected outages in Iceland and Canada during the second half of 2019.Rio Tinto's 2019 mined copper production of 577,400 tonnes was 5% lower than in 2018, reflecting lower copper grades, which impacted the fourth quarter production at t...Read More
Most aluminium scrap prices rose in the United States this past week, and one of the biggest movers was aluminium-copper radiators, which found support from increased buying interest and higher Comex copper prices.Fastmarkets' assessment of the aluminium-copper radiators buying price, delivered to Midwest secondary smelters, jumped to $1.24-1.28 per lb on Thursday January 16, up by 5 cents from $1...Read More
Liquidity was high for alumina on an fob Australia basis during the week ending January 17, but prices failed to find any long-term support above $275 per tonne.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $275.18 per tonne on Friday January 17, down only slightly from $275.93 per tonne on Thursday. The index has traded between $275 and $278 per tonne since December...Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged this week, with sources expecting this stability to persist into February on a relatively flat price development in the nickel market, Fastmarkets learned on Friday January 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?2,050-...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) continued to increase this week, with smelters and traders now largely squared for the first quarter. The index on a cif Asia Pacific basis stood at $56.2 per tonne/5.62 cents per lb, up slightly from $56.1/5.61 cents a week ago. Traders are looking to pick up mined tonnages at or around $50 per tonne/5 cents pe...Read More
European zinc premiums for 2020 annual contracts have declined by as much as $15 per tonne compared with last year, multiple sources informed Fastmarkets, with market participants citing lackluster demand and persistent backwardations as a key headwind to negotiations. For 2020 contracts, various deals have been concluded at premiums of $115-120 per tonne on a duty-paid fca basis via Rotterdam and...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and galvanized steel sheet in the United States rose after buyers perceived enough demand to accept a portion of the latest producer hikes. Phasing in a series of five price increase announcements, some sheet mills raised their offers as of January 10 or thereafter, generally by $1-2 per hundredweight ($20-40 per short ton), according to market participants. The higher...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe are expected to rise next week on a lack of competitive import offers and an improvement in demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 17.Fastmarkets' daily steel HRC index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?443.78 ($494.67) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?0.68 per tonne from ?,?443.10 per tonne the previous day. Over the past week,...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet fell by 700 rupees ($10) per tonne in the week ended Friday January 17, with makers of finished steel products reducing their purchases of semi-finished steel in the wake of falling demand for long products such as rebar.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, assessed by Fastmarkets on January 17, fell by 700 rupees per tonne to 29,70...Read More