Mogale Alloys has issued a Section 189 notice - a South African legal requirement representing an intention to retrench staff - amid low chrome ore and ferro-chrome prices. Ilitha Mining, another subsidiary of Afarak, has also issued a Section 189 notice, the company said. Helsinki and London-listed mining and metallurgical group Afarak said on Monday December 9 it has been forced to scale down op...Read More
Major Chinese steelmakers' daily crude steel output dropped in late November, according to data released by the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) on Tuesday December 10.Daily crude steel output November 21-30:...Read More
Sellers in the United States' ferrous scrap market will likely enjoy a third consecutive price increase in January, with domestic steel mills continuing to strike post-market deals above December levels in order to secure enough material to cover their programs."Fundamentally, business isn't really that much better but the mills beat the prices down so hard that scrap just dried up. They basically...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have continued to bounce around the $28-per-hundredweight ($560-per-short-ton) level in a quiet pre-holiday spot market.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.96 per cwt ($559.20 per ton) on Tuesday December 10, down by 0.6% from $28.14 per cwt on December 9 but...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday December 10.Please click...Read More
Copper ended the Tuesday December 10 trading session on the London Metal Exchange at an intraday high and seven-month peak of $6,100 per tonne.And the three-month nickel price recovered some lost ground after falling by 3.5% this morning.The three-month copper price closed at its highest since May, climbing from an intraday low of $6,057 per tonne. Total volumes at the close were some 15,600 lots....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 10 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil were mostly stable during the week to December 10 amid continued gains in the Chinese domestic market.Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Code...Read More
Despite lingering oversupply and high levels of ore inventories at major Chinese ports, the low-grade seaborne manganese ore price in China registered a weekly rise of 12.1% on Friday December 6 after many Chinese buyers placed orders at higher-than-expected prices. Fastmarkets' manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin climbed by 40 cents week on week to $3.70 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu)...Read More
Copper ended the Tuesday December 10 trading session on the London Metal Exchange at an intraday high and seven-month peak of $6,100 per tonne.And the three-month nickel price recovered some lost ground after falling by 3.5% this morning.The three-month copper price closed at its highest since May, climbing from an intraday low of $6,057 per tonne. Total volumes at the close were some 15,600 lots....Read More
Iron ore seaborne prices eased a little on Tuesday December 10, but some market participants remained optimistic that steel mills' restocking will likely lend some support.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.57 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.66 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.48 per tonn...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices edged up on Tuesday December 10 amid a strengthening market for the steelmaking raw material as well as that for coke in China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.25 per tonne, up $0.04 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $150.34 per tonne, up $1.34 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, up $1 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe edged higher on Tuesday December 10, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?433.08 ($479.14) per tonne on December 10, compared with ?,?432.75 per tonne on Monday.The index is based on deals for the material heard at ?,?430-435 per tonne ex-works, and workable prices...Read More
The approval of ?,?3.2 billion in subsidies by seven European Union members could generate a major mineral supply and processing chain to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in Europe. The decision, announced on Monday December 9 by the European Commission, effectively greenlights a major collaborative project designed to strengthen European battery production.This "Important Project of Common Europ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 10 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil were mostly stable during the week to December 10 amid continued gains in the Chinese domestic market.Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Code...Read More
The price for secondary aluminium alloy A380.1 rose on Monday December 9 following a month-long stasis, boosted by gains in the London Metal Exchange's North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) and firming scrap prices.Fastmarkets assessed the price for aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest, at 62-64 cents per lb on December 9, up from 61-63 cents per lb previously - a range tha...Read More
Certain smelter-grade aluminium scrap prices continued to see upward momentum at the start of the week amid spot buying activity - possibly driven by the upcoming holiday period - and supply-side tightness, but some sources said the increases may be short-lived."We continue to buy various items - not huge quantities, but loads from our regular suppliers... I heard there was a tightness in the scra...Read More
Fastmarkets MB has corrected its bi-weekly premium assessment for its Aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp premium, which was published incorrectly on Tuesday December 10 due to an input error.Fastmarkets' bi-weekly premium assessment for the Rotterdam duty-paid premium was originally published at $120-130 per tonne - it has now been corrected to $120-140 per tonne. The premium was correctly descri...Read More
Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Codelco, Escondida and Colluahasi almost enough to offset output drops at Antofagasta and Anglo American. Copper mines in the country produced 490,000 tonnes of copper content in October, from 490,400 tonnes a year before, Chilean copper commission Cochilco said on Friday December 6. This...Read More
Mercuria, one of the world's largest energy and commodities traders, has let go of over 10 employees in its Shanghai base metals team, market sources familiar with the situation told Fastmarkets on Tuesday December 10. "So far more than 10 employees from the base metals team have left the Shanghai office since the middle of November, including two traders from aluminium...Read More
CIS billet offers for foreign customers surged on Tuesday December 10, following the increase in scrap prices in the global market.Offers for CIS-origin billet, particularly from Russia, were within the range of $405-415 per tonne fob Black Sea, depending on the producer, up from $400 per tonne fob last week. Some steelmakers were offering material at $410 per tonne fob even last week,...Read More