Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal on an fob Australia basis edged up on Friday September 6 while the other segments remained stable, leaving buyers and sellers on the lookout for factors that could set a more definite tone for the market. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $151.43 per tonne, up $2.34 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $169.01 per tonne...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil sellers lowered their prices on Friday September 6 following declining trading activity over the course of this week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,670 yuan ($511-514) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,600-3,610 yuan per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneMills cut their ex-works prices in the morning, which put pressure on the spot ma...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices retreated on Friday September 6 due to weaker demand caused by a typhoon on the country's eastern coast. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,620-3,650 yuan ($504-508) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,630-3,660 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 10 per tonneEastern and Southern China experienced heavy rain during the day as a result of Ty...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday September 6:Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 39,000-40,000 yuan per tonne from 40,000-41,000 yuanChromium alumino-thermic 99% min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $6,750-7,000 per tonne from $6,800-7,200Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb: $17.05-18.35 per lb from...Read More
Increased sales of low-grade product and favorable currency moves have allowed South African manganese miner Tshipi to declare an additional dividend, owner Jupiter Mines announced on Friday September 6.The new dividend is worth 600 million rand ($40.46 million), taking Tshipi's total dividend for the first half of its 2020 financial year to 1.75 billion rand."The dividend is higher than previousl...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
What difference a few days makes, with base metals and broader, non-haven, markets looking considerably more upbeat recently, with copper prices on Thursday September 5 reaching levels last seen in early August - that after just two-days of gains. That said, the metals are consolidating this morning.This risk-on move has seen gold, the Japanese yen and outright benchmark United States 10-year trea...Read More
China's Hebei Steel, the country's second largest steel mill, has released its purchase price for silico-manganese at 7,700 yuan ($1,078) per tonne for September delivery, down by 150 yuan per tonne from its August tender price, market sources told Fastmarkets. The Friday September 6 announcement for the September tender price for silico-manganese came much later than expected. The tender result i...Read More
The following Fastmarkets non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday September 6:Aluminium scrapFloated frag, delivered consumer Europe, ?,?/tonne: ?,?930-970 per...Read More
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices, comments on China talks) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Copper failed to respondpositively on Friday to China boosting bank lending because thetrade dispute between the biggest metals consumer and the UnitedStates still weighed on the market. China's central bank said it was cutting the amount of cashthat banks must hold as res...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange remain at historically low levels despite low stock levels, high premiums and sustained elevated raw materials costs. The LME aluminium three-month price has failed to trade over $2,000 per tonne since 2018 and closed at just $1,775 per tonne on Wednesday September 4. Yesterday's close price was 9% lower than the 2019 high of $1,951 per tonne from Marc...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday September 5, breaching the $5,800 per tonne resistance level and closing at its highest level since August 1.This came amid a 12-week high in daily volumes traded, with nickel futures being the only metal to close lower over the afternoon.Three-month copper futures rose by by more than $120 per...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange has rebounded by more than 14% during morning trading on Thursday September 5, prompted by the announcement of planned refined tin smelter production cuts by a group of 14 smelters in China. Tin's outright price reached an intraday high of $17,740 per tonne this morning, its highest level since July 26 and up by more than 12% from the end of A...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday September 5 that are worth another look.Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange remain at historically low levels despite low stock levels, high premiums and sustained elevated raw materials costs.While US interest in flat steel imports picked up somewhat in August, spurred by expectations of price increases for domestic...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange remain at historically low levels despite low stock levels, high premiums and sustained elevated raw materials costs. The LME aluminium three-month price has failed to trade over $2,000 per tonne since 2018 and closed at just $1,775 per tonne on Wednesday September 4. Yesterday's close price was 9% lower than the 2019 high of $1,951 per tonne from Marc...Read More
China's leading stainless steel mills - Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco), Tsingshan Group and Baosteel - have taken diverse approaches to their September tender prices for high-carbon ferro-chrome, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday September 5.Tisco has raised its tender price by 50 yuan ($7) per tonne month-on-month to 6,100 yuan ($852) per tonne, while Tsingshan and Baosteel have rolled over their price...Read More
Prices for cobalt metal, salts and intermediates rebounded in August, sparked by lower prices that encouraged restocking and momentum stemming from anticipated tightness after Glencore announced it will close its Mutanda copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the end of this year.Price movesBenchmark cobalt prices rebounded firmly in August amid expectat...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued to secure scrap cargoes for September deliveries this week with prices continuing to move down, sources said on Thursday September 5.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic-sea cargo comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $247 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $257 per tonne for September shipment.Following the $12.30 per tonne pric...Read More
The markets have been under steady pressure for so long that the combination of good news about Hong Kong, with the withdrawal of the extradition bill, and reports that high level US-China trade talks will resume in October, have been enough to lead a relief rally. This saw the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange rise by an average of 2.4% on Wednesday September 4.The rally...Read More