Deliverable lead stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses plunged by 32.3% in the week to Friday January 17 after restocking demand from downstream plants ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays (January 24-30) continued over the period.At 28,306 tonnes on Friday, SHFE lead stocks are down by 13,494 tonnes from the 41,800 tonnes recorded a week earlier.Zhejiang Tianchuan in eastern C...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Hoshine Silicon, the largest industrial silicon manufacturer in China, will build an 800,000-tpy organosilicon monomer and siloxane deep processing project in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, with a total investment of 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion), the Zhaotong Municipal Government said in late December.The company signed a strategic cooperation frame agreement with Yunnan provincial government on Dec...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday January 17. China Spot domestic ferro-chrome held amid low spot market activity prior to the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-30). The charge chrome market was stable with no activity expected before...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday January 16, falling by more than 3.5% to settle below nearby resistance, while a steady upswing in tin's outright price saw it close at a six-month high.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,775 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, losing more than $650 per tonne from an intraday high of...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday January 16, with price action breaking past the $2,000-per-tonne resistance level against strong volumes, while zinc futures followed higher. Lead's outright price on the LME was recently at $2,026.50 per tonne, while morning trading volumes were high with over 2,100 lots exchanged as of 9:30am Lo...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
South32 has maintained its production guidance for its Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters for its 2020 financial year, despite the first half being affected by South African power outages. Aluminium At Hillside, aluminium saleable production increased by 1% to 362,000 tonnes in the first half of South32's financial year ended December 31, 2019, attributed to the smelter continuing to test...Read More
A preliminary trade agreement between the United States and China has done little to change the outlook for industrial minerals and minor metals, with no sign of a reversal for tariffs on Chinese material and no firm commitments on Chinese purchases. The US has agreed to pause new tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for China signing a deal containing a number of commitments, including $200 billi...Read More
Copper production at the Deziwa copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially come online in January 2020, following successful trial operations in December 2019, sources told Fastmarkets this week. And the project is expected to start production of cobalt in late first quarter, they added. Deziwa is operated by Soci?(C)t?(C) Minere de Deziwa (Somdez), a j...Read More
UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers have added a further round of price increases for the latest monthly settlements to be delivered in January, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 16.January contracts were up by ?10 ($13) per tonne, the latest step in a climb of ?35 per tonne over three months, after increasing by a similar amount last month and by ?15 per tonne in Novem...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have tumbled with news of a fresh sale heard after negative signs emerged in the United States' export markets, sources said on Thursday January 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo of 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $295 per tonne cfr, which would put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $288 per tonne.The previous US cargo sold into Turkey was boo...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
Copper production at the Deziwa copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially come online in January 2020, following successful trial operations in December 2019, sources told Fastmarkets this week. And the project is expected to start production of cobalt in late first quarter, they added. Deziwa is operated by Soci?(C)t?(C) Minere de Deziwa (Somdez), a j...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday January 15 pricing session in Shanghai.Key driversThe cobalt sulfate price in China continued to edge higher despite slow trades, with some producers holding back from sales of cargoes to be delivered after the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-30).Other...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) in Europe increased over the past seven days, driven up by rising hot-rolled coil feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was fairly stable at ?,?443.10 ($493.66) per tonne on Wednesday January 16, up by ?,?3.10 per tonne week on week.And Fastmarkets'...Read More
Domestic prices in Europe are almost unchanged day on day, but the mood in the market has remained positive, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 16.European steelmakers have moved offers up and are reluctant to give discounts, according to market sources. A lack of competitive import offers and some seasonal demand recovery are supporting the positive market sentiment.Fastmarkets' daily s...Read More
Market participants in China say they are not worried by the expected increase in steel imports from the United States, even after the two major economic powers signed the phase one economic and trade agreement on Wednesday January 15. While the agreement does not set out the increase in quantity of US-origin steel exports China will accept, Chinese market participants do not expected the increase...Read More