The nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was trading firmly above $18,500 per tonne during morning trading on Monday September 2 against a backdrop of a flurry of buying and cancelation of more than 20,500 tonnes of warrants. The three-month nickel price started to rise strongly last week, climbing more than 9% from a low of $16,010 per tonne on August 29 to its highest in more than five year...Read More
Shanghai-bonded copper stocks fell to their lowest level since February 2016 at the end of August after a profitable import arbitrage between London and Shanghai boosted buying interest for bonded warrants last month....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 manufact...Read More
The price of rebar and wire rod exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) dropped in the week to Monday September 2, pressured by weak demand in the major sales outlets as well as in rival markets amid increased competition and slower projects realization.Falling scrap and billet costs were another negative factor affecting steel sales and prices in the global market.Recent wire r...Read More
The CIS steel export billet market continued to weaken on the first trading day in September, amid a pessimistic mood in the global scrap market and limited demand in the major sales outlets.Given these conditions, a fresh booking was heard on Monday September 2 only after a significant price discount was provided by the selling mill.A 30,000-tonne cargo of Russia-origin material...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia fell over the past week on dampened demand due to a softening of the downstream flat steel market, though suppliers have become unwilling to lower their offers any further. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel slab imports, cfr Southeast Asia and East Asia was $420-430 per tonne for the week ending Monday September 2, down $5 per tonn...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore continued to fall over the past week amid intensifying supply pressures.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $465-475 per tonne for the week to Monday September 2, widening downward by $10 per tonne from a week earli...Read More
The emergence of distressed cargoes of hot-rolled coil en route to Vietnam or sitting at key ports in the country have resulted in prices for the flat steel product to continue to fall in the past week.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel HRC import, cfr Vietnam assessment - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam - was $460-46...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices gained some strength on Monday September 2 amid rising iron ore futures.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,640-3,660 yuan ($509-511) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,630-3,640 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneA pick-up in trading activity propped up prices in both Shanghai and Tangshan, trading sources said.The increases were larg...Read More
China's domestic rebar market picked up amid rising futures on Monday September 2, but export prices dropped on expectations of higher production this month due to looser steelmaking restrictions in Tangshan. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,590-3,620 yuan ($501-505) per tonne, up 30-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,580-3,600 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneRebar futures increa...Read More
Domestic prices for auto bundle steel scrap and shipbreaking scrap in Turkey have decreased because of poor demand, sources said on Monday September 2.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was TRY1,520-1,770 ($260-303) per tonne on September 2, widening downward from last week's TRY1,580-1,770 per tonne.A number of steel mills have dec...Read More
Physical iron ore prices surged on Monday September 2 on news that Chinese mills were likely to face 'looser' production restrictions in the September-October period.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.58 per tonne, up by $5.92 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.97 per tonne, up by $5.93 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $87....Read More
Iron ore miner Tacora Resources (Tacora) shipped its first iron-ore concentrate cargo from its Scully Mine from the Port of Sept-Iles in Quebec, Canada, the company announced on Friday August 30.The MV Rio Tamara was loaded with 69,770 tonnes of high-grade iron ore concentrate - branded "Tacora Premium Concentrate" - which has more than 65% iron content, the company said.The shipment will be deliv...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Monday September 2, after a month of sharp decreases in August. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.01 per tonne, unchanged Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153.75 per tonne, unc...Read More
Seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet prices continued to fall last week amid a general decline in prices across the iron ore market.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao was at $89.25 per tonne on Friday August 30, down $3.87 per tonne from the previous week. The price movement was based on the visible market activity detailed below, w...Read More
China Minmetals Rare Earth Co Ltd has won 18,661 tonnes of antimony ingots held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange in an auction that ended at 10am Beijing time on Sunday September 1.As the only bidder at the auction, it came as no surprise that China Minmetals won the auction of the entire antimony stock at a price of around 546 million yuan ($76.28 million), according to the official auction re...Read More
Key data from the Friday August 30 pricing session in Shanghai and London. Key driversCobalt hydroxide payables rose in the second half of August following news that Glencore will close its copper-cobalt Muntanda mine by the end of this year.Demand increased when consumers intended to secure units before the hydroxide price...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai in the week ended Friday August 30. China Key drivers The Chinese export silicon price moved up for the second consecutive week in response to tight supply in domestic market due to increased buying from Chinese secondary aluminum alloy producers who are ramping up production before China's National Day holiday (October 1-7) when prod...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue five of its precious metals prices to focus attention on our core markets. The prices being proposed for discontinuation are as follows:Platinum min 99.9% Europe Free Market $ per troy oz in warehousePalladium min 99.9% Europe Free Market $ per troy oz in warehouseRhodium min 99.9% Europe Free Market $ per troy oz in warehouseIridium ingot min 99.9% Europe Free...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe during the week ended Friday August 30.ChinaKey drivers The price for antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, continued to soften over the week after some domestic suppliers slashed their offer prices further to encourage sales amid sluggish demand. A few Chinese antimony producers, which refused to make a further compromise on the prices...Read More