German steelmakers have settled their monthly scrap contracts for June at prices that are either unchanged or with a decrease of ?,?5 ($6) per tonne month-on-month, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for domestic grade-E3 scrap in Germany was ?,?260-270 ($293-305) per tonne delivered on Friday June 14, compared with ?,?260-275 per tonne delivered in mid-May.Mills in the...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday June 14, having reached an intraday high of $12,065 per tonne but failing to close above that mark, while the rest of the complex continued to trade in a downtrend.Volumes traded in nickel were moderately high over the day, with more than 9,000 lots exchanged by the close, second to copper's 11,700...Read More
South32's decision to review the future of its manganese alloy assets comes as little surprise to fellow manganese alloy producers because they are likely to be considering similar options. The review, which could result in the divestment of the assets, reflects a wider predicament affecting alloy producers struggling with historically high ore prices and a subdued market for their own product. So...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has decided on a dispute over when the load-in, load-out (LILO) rule should have been activated, ruling in favor of warehouse company Istim. People familiar with the situation said that the warehousing firm had been found to have acted vigorously and without delay in its dealings with Glencore at its warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, following large cancellations of alu...Read More
The temporary truce on tariffs between China and the United States could be over, injecting a new round of uncertainty into the global financial markets and suspending hopes that a resolution to the countries' trade impasse was likely.US President Donald Trump has threatened to raise the tariff on $200 billion-worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% by Friday May 10. He also said that the US may...Read More
ThyssenKrupp has appointed Premal Desai as the new chairman of its European steel division, the German conglomerate said on Friday June 14.Desai, who is currently chief financial officer of the steel division, will replace Andreas Goss in the role on Saturday June 15.Goss will resign from his position as chairman of the steel division following the failure...Read More
With an international career that has spanned senior positions with some of the biggest companies and mines for non-ferrous metal production, Sonami president Diego Hernandez tells Andrea Hotter about the multiple roles that led him to the pinnacle of copper mining.Diego Hernandez was in his mid-20s when he learned a very important lesson about negotiating. The young mining executive, who would go...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday June 14, having reached an intraday high of $12,065 per tonne but failing to close above that mark, while the rest of the complex continued to trade in a downtrend.Volumes traded in nickel were moderately high over the day, with more than 9,000 lots exchanged by the close, second to copper's 11,700...Read More
The queue for aluminium at London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses at Port Klang, Malaysia, operated by Istim, edged down to 109 days at the end of May, according to the latest LME data.This is slightly down from the 113-day queue at the end of April, the LME said on June 10, but it is significantly lower than the 229-day queue registered at the end of February.Queues for copper,...Read More
Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices weakened further on Friday June 14, with rising inventory levels putting pressure on sellers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,810 yuan ($549-550) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,780-3,790 yuan per tonne, unchangedThe domestic market remained inactive despite sellers making price cuts.A Tianjin-based trader pointed out tha...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Turkey have been under pressure from slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 14.Buyers have been insisting on lower domestic prices, according to market sources. In addition, HRC buyers have been reported to have sufficient volumes of material in stock.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic HRC was $520-530 per tonne ex-...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have moved down this week due to the negative impact of competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,000-2,120 zloty ($530-562) per tonne ex-works on June 14, compared with 2,100-2,150 zloty per tonne ex-works a week earlier.The assessment reflects...Read More
With an international career that has spanned senior positions with some of the biggest companies and mines for non-ferrous metal production, Sonami president Diego Hernandez tells Andrea Hotter about the multiple roles that led him to the pinnacle of copper mining.Diego Hernandez was in his mid-20s when he learned a very important lesson about negotiating. The young mining executive, who would go...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia fell below $340 per tonne on Friday June 14 due to pressure from high availability of unplaced cargoes and low aluminium prices. The daily fob Australia alumina index declined to $339.65 per tonne - its lowest since August 24, 2017 on Friday June 14, down from $341.52 per tonne day on day and down from $349.39 per tonne week on week.Key drivers:The most rec...Read More
Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama fell 1.3% month on month in May,Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp said on Friday June 14.Total aluminium stocks at the three ports totaled 296,000 tonnes at the end of May, compared with 300,000 tonnes at the end of April, reversing the plunge seen from February to March this year, according to Ma...Read More