Vale has suspended all nickel-processing activities at its On??a Puma plant in the Brazilian state of Para on judicial orders, it said on June 17.The Brazilian multi-metals miner gave no reason for the suspension of nickel processing, which follows the halt on all mining activities at the site in September 2017 following judicial action taken against Vale by Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutio...Read More
Fastmarkets' assessed nickel full plates cif Shanghai premium increased 69% week on week on Tuesday June 18 due to an open import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, hitting an historic high since Fastmarkets launched the premium in April 2016. Fastmarkets assessment of the low-high premium for 99.8% purity nickel, full plate, cif Shanghai surged to $350-410 per tonne on Tuesday June 18 from $2...Read More
Terrafame will be the main supplier of battery-grade refined nickel products to the European electric vehicle (EV) market when demand penetrates the continent, company CEO Joni Lukkaroinen told Fastmarkets in an interview on June 5.Finnish multi-metal company Terrafame, which is 22.7% owned by Dutch commodity trading company Trafigura, has been ramping up nickel and cobalt production for the past...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up during morning trading on Tuesday June 18, taking their cue from the Dow Jones Index which edged higher overnight in anticipation of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which gets underway today. Recent comments from Fed officials have given rise to the expectation that interest rates will be cut in the near term, prec...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States will drop as low as $500 per short ton ($25 per hundredweight) in the coming months before climbing to $720 per ton ($36 per cwt) in early 2020, according to top executives from World Steel Dynamics (WSD)."We think [the HRC price] can drop to $500 [per ton] in the months ahead, and then we'll rally to about $720 when we have the steel boom early next...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producers postponed a planned domestic price increase to July with imports into the country becoming less expensive, Carlos Loureiro, president of distributor association Inda, said on Tuesday June 18.Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) had announced a 10% increase for June, which did not materialize, sources told Fastmarkets. Now, the readjustment is looking closer to 8%, w...Read More
Prices for imported rebar in the United Arab Emirates have weakened over the past week, in line with lower offers and a lack of demand, sources said on Tuesday June 18.Domestic rebar The domestic rebar market in the UAE was sluggish due to a drop in demand during the summer period. The UAE's largest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 1,881 dirhams ($512) per tonne ex-works this week,...Read More
The price for flat steel products imported in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia was fairly stable over the past week, except for hot-rolled coil, while the demand for material was limited, sources said on Tuesday June 18.UAEOffers for HRC were at around $520-530 per tonne cfr from all supplying regions this week, but demand was sluggish due to falling prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price...Read More
Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped further on Tuesday June 18 amid a sustained bearish outlook for the sector among most market participants.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,730-3,750 yuan ($539-541) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,740-3,750 yuan per tonne, unchangedParticipants remained pessimistic about price trends in the HRC market, and are not ex...Read More
China is unlikely to become a major supplier in the ferrous scrap export market over the short to mid-term, due largely to robust demand in that country's domestic market, according to a top executive at Turkey-based ??olakoglu Metalurji. "I believe China is going to consume all the [ferrous] scrap internally. It's not going to export," chief executive Ugur Dalbeler said on Tuesday June 18, speaki...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices soared across the $110-per-tonne-cfr mark again on Tuesday June 18 after a dip on Monday, amid bullish trading in derivatives and physical markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $112.28 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $111.08 per tonne cfr Qingdao,up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $114.46 per tonne cfr Qing...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBHP, Global Ore, 80,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Newman fines, traded at $111 per tonne...Read More
The seaborne coking coal spot market picked up some strength on Tuesday June 18 despite falling prices for metallurgical coke in China.A cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal, with laycan set for late June, was sold to a northeastern Chinese end user at $201 per tonne cfr China, various sources confirmed during the day.The price is a bit higher than current market rates, but is down $0.70 per...Read More
China's rebar market maintained its downward trend on Tuesday June 18 amid weakening demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,840 yuan ($547-554) per tonne, down 10-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,650-3,700 yuan per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneRain in both Shanghai and Beijing capped trading activity during the day. Market participants expect demand to weaken in the next fe...Read More
Pala Investments will buy 100% of the remaining shares in Cobalt 27 for C$501 million ($374 million), the companies said on Tuesday June 18.A newly created company, Nickel 28, will hold Cobalt 27's joint-venture interest in the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine, as well as its other royalty and equity positions. Cobalt 27's physical cobalt position - about 2,900 tonnes - and its streaming deal for Vale's Vo...Read More
Fastmarkets hosted a free web seminar on Tuesday June 18 discussing recent price moves in the cobalt market and how industry developments might affect the market - and prices - going forward. If you missed it, follow the link below to listen to the free recording. Cobalt: contending with volatility in 2019 and beyondDuring the web seminar we discussed: Price assessment specifications, methodology...Read More
After 19 years of providing live spot market prices for gold, silver, platinum and palladium to hundreds of thousands of clients across the world, Fastmarkets will retire the Bullion Desk brand and close the Bulliondesk.com website. Prices will be available on Fastmarkets.comFastmarkets will continue to provide free precious metals spot prices and charts for gold, silver, platinum and palladium. T...Read More
Production of battery materials, including cobalt sulfate and nickel sulfate, at Guangxi Yinyi Advanced Material will not be affected by the bankruptcy of its parent company, Yinyi Group, Fastmarkets understands. Yinyi Group, the holding company for Shenzhen-listed ST Yinyi, has recently applied to Ningbo Intermediate People's Court for rehabilitation to solve its liquidity problems, according to...Read More
While generally weak global economic data continues to weigh on sentiment and is keeping base metals prices under pressure, the rise in tensions between the United States and Iran has lifted the gold price this morning, Tuesday June 18.The market is also waiting for direction from the US Federal Reserve, which it should get on Wednesday when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting provide...Read More
Outokumpu hopes to increase capacity by 100,000 tonnes per year and significantly improve lead times by fully digitalizing production at its site in Tornio, Finland, by 2020, it said on June 17. The stainless steel producer has been working with software giant Microsoft to build an industrial digital platform, Outokumpu Digital Platform (ODP), that will result in end-to-end digital manufacturing a...Read More