September has been a very eventful month so far for the Chinese silico-manganese and ferro-silicon markets. In the first three weeks, the futures prices for both products kept rising to new heights against market expectations.Market participants have grown antsy in the absence of any indication of a slowdown in this upward momentum. They believe the unprecedented price rally has gone far beyond ma...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves in the week to Friday September 24.Jessica Long, Ruby Liu and Carrie...Read More
The processing charge on spot copper concentrates increased in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting the return of smelters to market activity after the traditionally slow summer months.Clean tonnages were sold to Chinese smelters in the low-to-mid $60s per tonne, with interest being shown for material to be available in the first quarter of next year.A new round...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United States nudged higher week on week amid healthy domestic and overseas demand and a continued upward trend in futures prices on the London Metal Exchange. Solid demand in the non-automotive side of the sector, such as consumer products, has helped to mitigate some of the impact from sluggish volumes into automotive suppliers, who continue to face disruptions driv...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 24. Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and Sybil...Read More
South Korean mills are continuing to scale back their steel scrap imports amid a slide in local steel demand and production stoppages at some electric-arc furnace (EAF) mills, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 24.South Korean steelmakers take back-seat while Vietnam ramps-up buyingHigher bids for scrap in China, with restocking efforts stepping upOffers for imported material to China re...Read More
Most flat steel prices decreased in Turkey during the week to Friday September 24, with demand weak because buyers wanted to see prices hit a market bottom, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition to the falling prices, low demand from the automotive sector because of the semiconductor chip shortage also affected buying in Turkey. Several carmakers in the country were undergoing temporary shutdowns d...Read More
China's Chengxin Lithium International, a subsidiary of the Chengxin Lithium Group, is planning to enter into a joint venture lithium project in Indonesia with Singapore's Stellar Investment.It plans to invest $350 million in the joint venture whose proposed name is PT ChengTok Lithium Indonesia, it said on Friday September 24.Chengxin Lithium International will hold a 65% stake in the joint ventu...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices increased on Friday September 24 amid more speculative buying activity for low- and mid-grade iron ore fines, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $111.33 per tonne, up by $2.66 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $113.78 per tonne, up by $4.40 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $83.08 per tonne, up by $3.54 pe...Read More
Demand for steel, especially for flat products, in China could be hit by power supply constraints caused by the drive to reduce energy consumption and sustained coal shortages.Concerns among steel market participants have increased after reports by a major local information provider suggesting that some pipe mills in Hebei province's Tangshan and Tianjin have been required to suspend operations fo...Read More
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from Turkey were unchanged over the week to Thursday September 24, despite the limited demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was stable week on week at $660-670 per tonne on Thursday.Rebar offers to foreign customers were heard mainly within the range of $665-675 per tonne fob. But aft...Read More
Prices moved up in several major Asian import scrap markets in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting moves to replenish stocks at mills in Taiwan and Vietnam as well as fresh domestic scrap price increases in Japan.Turkey stays largely quiet following last week's bookingsUS exporters struggle to source shredded materialVietnam returns for Japan-origin scrap amid demand uptickChina import scr...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imports into Pakistan softened during the week to Friday September 24, with Indian scrap also inching lower, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $520.32 per tonne on Friday, down from $526.91 per tonne one week previous, and from $530.42 per tonne one fortnight ago.A dea...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt hydroxide p...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
September has been a very eventful month so far for the Chinese silico-manganese and ferro-silicon markets. In the first three weeks, the futures prices for both products kept rising to new heights against market expectations.Market participants have grown antsy in the absence of any indication of a slowdown in this upward momentum. They believe the unprecedented price rally has gone far beyond ma...Read More
Nyrstar, one of Europe's main zinc producers, will cut production at one of its European smelters due to rising energy costs at a time when premiums in the region are at six-year highs."Nyrstar's fully electrified zinc smelter in Budel-Dorplein, the Netherlands, is curtailing production during peak times of day when power prices exceed the break-even cost of production. This is in response to the...Read More
LME zinc's three-month price was just $2 away from setting a new year-to-date high, while aluminium's three-month price was the only one to close lower in the afternoon session on Friday September 24. The intraday high for zinc's futures contract was of $3,138 per tonne, just a couple of dollars short of its previous 2021 high of $3,140 per tonne from September 17. The metal was spurred on by news...Read More