The continued unpredictability of trade relations between China and the United States has made long-term planning harder for businesses, including mining companies.But what would happen to the mining sector if the trade wars were to end overnight?According to the heads of the world's largest miners, the impact would be smaller than one might expect.For starters, there would not be a sudden rush to...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More
The global economy has been transfixed by the China-United States trade war that came to the fore in the second quarter of 2018. When the trade war started, market participants hoped that an agreement would be reached by the time of the US mid-term elections in November 2018. But that date came and went without a deal. Fastmarkets then said there was a race against time before either a trade deal...Read More
Trafigura has offered Nyrstar minority shareholders ?,?22.5 million ($25 million) for their remaining 2% stake in the zinc and lead smelting company.Trading house Trafigura, which owns 98% of Nyrstar, had previously offered ?,?22...Read More
Declining nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange put China's stainless steel market under pressure over the past week.The three-month nickel contract on the exchange ended Wednesday October 24's trading session at $16,420-16,425 per tonne, down $510-515 per tonne from a week earlier.The contract price is also $2,030-2,050 per tonne lower compared with September 2's five-year high of $18,450-18...Read More
Turkish steel producers have remained out of the deep-sea scrap import markets as most of them are fully booked for November shipment cargoes, sources said on Thursday October 24.Steel mills in Turkey have booked at least 16 cargoes, totaling 500,000 tonnes of scrap so far in October and went quiet at the end of last week."Most of the mills have booked sufficient deep-sea scrap for November shipme...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 23 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers Chinese cobalt metal price softens on slow spot activity, while tight supply of certain domestic brands has eased amid profit-taking.The cobalt tetroxide price in China was unchanged, though lower offers emerged after prices for downstream lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) battery materials...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil producers continued to shift their focus to the country's domestic market, with prices there being largely stable on Thursday October 24 amid declining inventory levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($495-498) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,490-3,500 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices stayed largely stable on...Read More
Domestic long steel prices in the Turkish market have retreated slightly over the past week on the back of a strengthening lira against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday October 24.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey was TRY2,850-2,910 ($494-505) per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's TRY2,880-2,950 per tonne, including 18% V...Read More
The export prices of rebar and wire rod from Turkey have continued to increase over the past week, because of the rising cost of scrap and the reduced supplies due to production cuts in the country.Demand was still weak in any case, sources said on Thursday October 24.The mills in the country have raised their offer prices for exports of rebar to $410-420 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, c...Read More
The price for steel rebar in Egypt was stable in the week ended Thursday October 24, but the import price for steel billet has increased again, sources have told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers reduced their domestic prices on October 9, but have not made any further changes since then.Ezz Steel, Egypt's biggest producer, was currently offering rebar at E ?10,900 ($672) per tonne, El Marakby...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices looked set to find support from restocking demand in China in October but the outlook for the rest of the quarter and months ahead is uncertain.The spread between the mid-grade iron ore products, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe iron ore, and the high-grade materials, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 65% Fe iron ore stood at $6.60 per tonne in September th...Read More
The continued unpredictability of trade relations between China and the United States has made long-term planning harder for businesses, including mining companies.But what would happen to the mining sector if the trade wars were to end overnight?According to the heads of the world's largest miners, the impact would be smaller than one might expect.For starters, there would not be a sudden rush to...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified several rounding discrepancies in its implied pellet premium historical prices between data published in the Excel file on the MB Iron Ore Index website; and those published in Price Book and distributed via the Excel Add-In. The Fastmarkets MB CFR China Implied Pellet Premiums are derived figures that are calculated by subtracting the weekly averages of the Fastmarkets...Read More
The price of steel billet in the Turkish market increased over the past week because of tight supplies and rising imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday October 24.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey, was $380-385 per tonne on Thursday, up from the $365-380 per tonne.Mills in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have increased t...Read More
The price for steel rebar in Egypt was stable in the week ended Thursday October 24, but the import price for steel billet has increased again, sources have told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers reduced their domestic prices on October 9, but have not made any further changes since then.Ezz Steel, Egypt's biggest producer, was currently offering rebar at E ?10,900 ($672) per tonne, El Marakby...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Thursday October 24 , although market participants told Fastmarkets they expected prices to start dropping amid weakening demand despite data showing a sharp decrease in inventory levels.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($507-511) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,550-3,590 yuan per tonne, unchangedSpot market inventories...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices looked set to find support from restocking demand in China in October but the outlook for the rest of the quarter and months ahead is uncertain.The spread between the mid-grade iron ore products, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe iron ore, and the high-grade materials, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 65% Fe iron ore stood at $6.60 per tonne in September th...Read More
The proposed takeover of steelmaker British Steel by a Turkish army pension fund is looking uncertain with the UK government indicating it is willing to open talks with other interested parties, the official receiver said.Ataer Holdings, a division of Turkish army pension funk Oyak, had been in exclusive talks with the British government regarding the proposed takeover of the Scunthorpe-based...Read More
Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has kept its shipment guidance unchanged for its 2020 financial year (FY20) at 170-175 million tonnes, according to its latest quarterly report, released on Thursday October 24. The shipment guidance also included 17-20 million tonnes of the miner's 60.1% Fe Western Pilbara fines, a product first shipped out in December 2018.Strong demand from Chinese steel mills, with...Read More