Chinese vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) producers may be unable to achieve their scheduled production ramp-up plans in 2019 due to cost pressures stemming from the comparatively low V2O5 price so far this year and persistent stringent environmental inspections across the country, market sources told Fastmarkets MB. Many Chinese V2O5 producers planned to ramp up their operations in 2019, encouraged by ha...Read More
Northern China's domestic rebar prices continued to rise on Tuesday June 25 amid surging futures, though the eastern Chinese market held steady.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,950 yuan ($567-574) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,770-3,800 yuan per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneTraders in Shanghai kept prices flat despite rising futures in an attempt to secure more sales.B...Read More
Iron ore prices retreated further on Tuesday June 25 due to the expectation of falling demand amid restrictions on steelmakers in China's steel production hub of Tangshan.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $114.46 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $2.31 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $113.26 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $2.31 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $115.71 per tonne cfr...Read More
Zinc's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday June 24, settling at just under $2,500 per tonne. Just under 10,000 lots were exchanged.Despite a slight uptick in zinc's three-month price, storage and financing costs for the metal remain sizable. Zinc's forward spreads on the LME remain tight, with the cash/three-month spread recently...Read More
The benchmark for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in the third quarter of 2019 has settled at a premium of $108 per tonne cif over the London Metal Exchange cash price. The settlement represents a 3% increase from the second-quarter benchmark of $105 per tonne, which was set at the end of March. Deals for a total of 34,500 tonnes between three major producers, two consumers an...Read More
The discount for No2 copper scrap, comprising 94-96% copper content, narrowed in the Chinese market this month while more buyers began acquiring spot units after the first batch of quotas were announced for purchases in the second half of 2019.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the discount for No2 copper, birch/cliff stood at $0.29-0.35 per lb on a cif China basis, as of June 24, down from $0.34-...Read More
The discount for No2 copper scrap, comprising 94-96% copper content, narrowed in the Chinese market this month while more buyers began acquiring spot units after the first batch of quotas were announced for purchases in the second half of 2019.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the discount for No2 copper, birch/cliff stood at $0.29-0.35 per lb on a cif China basis, as of June 24, down from $0.34-...Read More
Nyrstar will write down the value of its zinc-copper-gold Myra Falls mine by an additional ?,?30 million ($34.18 million), it said on Saturday June 22, bringing total 2018 impairment on assets to ?,?130 million. Specifically, the company is impairing ?,?117.2 million on its Myra Falls and Langlois mines, with its metal smelting unit taking a ?,?11.4 million write-down. "The company has continued t...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe for the week ended Friday June 21. China Key drivers Domestic antimony price in China was flat for the third consecutive week despite sparse trading activity. Many Chinese antimony suppliers remained resolute in refusing to sell their cargoes at below 40,000 yuan ($5,822) per tonne, citing mounting difficulty in sourcing cheap ore m...Read More
The price of cobalt continued to fall last week, while prices for standard and alloy-grade units converged, in a market where sellers lowered their offers to offload material not declared on long-term agreements.Fastmarkets assessed the price of standard-grade cobalt at $13.85-14.50 per lb, in-warehouse, falling from $14.25-15 per lb on June 19, and down 3% week on week. Fastmakrets' assessment of...Read More
Fastmarkets MB's World DRI and Pellet conference, held in Dubai last week, took place against a backdrop of challenging circumstances for the steel industry.Finished steel prices, both in the Middle East region and beyond, have trended down over recent months, while certain raw materials prices - such as for iron ore-derived products - continue to soar, heaping pressure on margins.The best way to...Read More
The discount for No2 copper scrap, comprising 94-96% copper content, narrowed in the Chinese market this month while more buyers began acquiring spot units after the first batch of quotas were announced for purchases in the second half of 2019.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the discount for No2 copper, birch/cliff stood at $0.29-0.35 per lb on a cif China basis, as of June 24, down from $0.34-...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained out of the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of the week, while suppliers were trying to keep offers firm, sources said on Monday June 24.Mills slowed their bookings last week, with almost 80% of all their July requirements booked. Although, this means they still need to book scrap, sources told Fastmarkets.As a result, suppliers were keeping their offers as...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday June 24 that are worth another look.Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia following a leak at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24. The United States Supreme Court has denied a request by the American Institute for In...Read More
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East showed no sign of abating over the weekend after the United States claimed that it had carried out a cyber-attack on Iranian weapons systems in retaliation for the latter shooting down a US drone last week.While the threat of a war between the two remains a possibility, global investors have taken refuge in haven assets amid the rising uncertainty in the re...Read More
The price of cobalt continued to fall last week, while prices for standard and alloy-grade units converged, in a market where sellers lowered their offers to offload material not declared on long-term agreements.Fastmarkets assessed the price of standard-grade cobalt at $13.85-14.50 per lb, in-warehouse, falling from $14.25-15 per lb on June 19, and down 3% week on week. Fastmakrets' assessment of...Read More
MMK Metallurgy, subsidiary of Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) postponed the start of its hot-rolled coil production until at least 2021, Pavel Shilyaev, ceo of MMK told Russian news agencies last week.MMK stopped operations at its melt shop and compact strip mill - which have a capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per year - in late 2012 because HRC prices had fallen...Read More
There was an uptick in import prices for steel slab in Asia over the past week after buyers in Southeast Asia returned to the market to book cargoes, while market participants in East Asia were optimistic that downstream flat steel prices had bottomed out.In Southeast Asia, two shipments of slab produced in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were booked at $440-455 per tonne cfr during t...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil surged on Monday June 24 after news spread that mills in Tangshan, the steelmaking hub in the country's northern region, will start production cuts to curb air pollution.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,890-3,910 yuan ($566-569) per tonne, up 110 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,850 yuan per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonnePrices surged nationwide after the...Read More
Declining raw material costs, weakening demand from the automotive end market and competitively priced imported material have driven down prices for cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod in the United States. Fastmarkets AMM's monthly pricing assessment for cold-heading quality wire rod dropped to $41.50 per hundredweight ($830 per short ton) North American delivered duty p...Read More