Nickel remains in the spotlight because the market now has concrete news to adjust to and tin seems to be rising on nickel’s coattails, with Indonesia being the second largest producer of tin in the world.The other metals and markets in general are now waiting for further news on when United States-China trade talks will resume - given generally poor manufacturing purchasing managers’ in...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 21 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to growing trade tensions. Snap added $0.34 to $16.17 after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line.Bausch Health was unchanged at $28.37 after announcing plans to reduce debt by $200 million.Amazon dipped $5.23 to $1,771.06 despite an increase...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed from Friday August 30 that are worth another look.China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate prices temporarily held in the week to August 29 with buyers cautious of further decreases, while the lithium hydroxide market kept flat and no matter how low the offers, deals were rarely concluded due to continuing poor downstream dema...Read More
Prices in most of the global markets for steel billet dropped sharply in the week ended Friday August 30 amid unfavorable market conditions - in particular, poor demand and falling scrap prices.ChinaWeakening demand for billet continued to push Chinese domestic billet prices down, sources said.Re-rolling mills in Tangshan were expected to reduce their production in September and early October to h...Read More
Prices in most of the global markets for steel billet dropped sharply in the week ended Friday August 30 amid unfavorable market conditions - in particular, poor demand and falling scrap prices.ChinaWeakening demand for billet continued to push Chinese domestic billet prices down, sources said.Re-rolling mills in Tangshan were expected to reduce their production in September and early October to h...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed from Friday August 30 that are worth another look.China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate prices temporarily held in the week to August 29 with buyers cautious of further decreases, while the lithium hydroxide market kept flat and no matter how low the offers, deals were rarely concluded due to continuing poor downstream dema...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed from Friday August 30 that are worth another look.China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate prices temporarily held in the week to August 29 with buyers cautious of further decreases, while the lithium hydroxide market kept flat and no matter how low the offers, deals were rarely concluded due to continuing poor downstream dema...Read More
While nickel is in the spotlight, the rest of the base metals are still being pulled and pushed by the combination of higher tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods and China’s plans to support its economy with further spending on infrastructure.Chinese manufacturing data also showed mixed results with the official purchasing managers index (PMI) falling to 49.5 from 49.7, while the Caixin man...Read More
European aluminium billet premiums on Friday August 30 traded at their lowest since late 2016 and early 2017, pressured by a sustained oversupply in the region. Oversupply, aggressive offers sink premiums in Europe. Brazilian billet premium falls on weak demand.US, Asian billet premiums steady. European premiums hit by sustained oversupplyEuropean billet premiums hit their lowest since 2016 follo...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange continued to surge at the close of trading on Friday August 30, closing at its highest level since September 2014, while a 3.6% uptick in tin futures did little to close a widening gap between the two metals.Nickel's rally began just before midday after the price breached the key $16,690 per tonne resistance level, opening a surge of fresh...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group (Jisco) plans to temporarily close its Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart) refinery for over a year in the next two to three months, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 30. Sources close to the matter said the refinery, which is located in Nain in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, needs to shut to modernize its facilities. "It previously reopened early on high alumina prices...Read More
The Chinese domestic spot silico-manganese price has been less volatile so far in 2019 thanks to relatively balanced supply and demand fundamentals over the period, market sources told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of an industrial conference in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, on Thursday August 29. Fastmarkets assessed the price of silico-manganese 65% Mn min, max 17% Si, in-whs China at 7,300-7,400...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to make changes to the specifications of two cobalt hydroxide assessments it initially launched in February 2019.The two assessments are the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low end), and the cobalt hydroxide index 30% Co min, cif China, $/Ib. Following an initial consultation among market par...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices around the world fell over the week ended Friday August 30 on thin buying interest from end-users, which expected more price falls so were not eager to purchase materials. Ample supply damps prices More falls in export prices expected Prices plunge on thin buying interest Limited transactions on weak downstream demand.TurkeyImport prices in Turkey fell sharply week on week, wi...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron scrap, which hit a ten-week run of stability this week, is set to drop in the near term amid weakening demand for feed from steel producers in Europe, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was flat week-on-week at ?80-100 ($98-122) per tonne on Friday Augu...Read More
Alloy steel scrap prices in the UK domestic market widened upwards this week on a nickel price surge on Friday August 30, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices had been largely flat throughout the week in reflection of a stable nickel market. On Friday morning, however, nickel prices started to increase quickly and continued through the day. By Friday's close, the three-month nickel price on the Lo...Read More