Currency fluctuations knocked chrome ore buying interest in China in the week ended Friday May 17 due to higher import costs, causing UG2 and Turkish lumpy chrome ore prices to tumble week on week. Ore prices drop after yuan depreciation raises import costs.Domestic and imported alloy prices drop in China. South Korea and Japan markets flatline in thin trading. European alloy prices dip on weak d...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 13 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at U.S. 74.67 cents following release of March Canadian Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 1.0% versus a gain of 0.8% in February. Actual was an increase of 1.1%.Lowe's dropped $8.10 to $103.00 after reporting lower than...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange dropped by nearly 2% at the close of trading on Monday May 20, falling below its nearby $1,800 per tonne support level on the news that Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil has been allowed to resume full operations. Brazilian authorities ended the final production embargo on the facility earlier this afternoon and Alunor...Read More
Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery will ramp up to full production capacity after the federal court in Belem, Brazil, ended the final production embargo on the facility under the criminal lawsuit on Monday May 20. The court removed a production embargo under a civil lawsuit on Wednesday May 15, as Fastmarkets reported last week. The refinery has been running at 50% capacity since March 2...Read More
Market participants saw little immediate change to aluminium premiums in Europe on Monday May 20 following the US government's removal of its 10% Section 232 tariff on aluminium imports from Canada and Mexico at the end of last week. Fastmarkets assessed the Rotterdam P1020 duty-unpaid in-warehouse premium at $85-90 per tonne Monday, unchanged from last Friday. The duty-paid premium was...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday May 20 that are worth another look.Massive amounts of scrap metal are being held at Malaysian ports for unprecedented inspections and multiple copper cargoes still at sea are being diverted to other Asian countries at big discounts, sources told Fastmarkets. The German federal government is planning to invest "billions of eu...Read More
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), the copper-producing arm of global miner Vedanta Resources in Zambia, is under threat from the president of the African country of a possible takeover of its copper assets amid disputes arising from the country's new tax regime.Zambian president Edgar Lungu said on Sunday May 19 that the government plans to disengage with KCM and invoke a legal process, according to loc...Read More
Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery will ramp up to full production capacity after the federal court in Belem, Brazil, ended the final production embargo on the facility under the criminal lawsuit on Monday May 20. The court removed a production embargo under a civil lawsuit on Wednesday May 15, as Fastmarkets reported last week. The refinery has been running at 50% capacity since March 2...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe for the week ended Friday May 17. China The Chinese domestic antimony price tumbled for the second consecutive week after some domestic producers cut their offer prices further in an attempt to generate cash to pay bank loans. Yet some domestic antimony suppliers were resistant in surrendering much on the prices further, and some we...Read More
Key data from the Friday May 17 pricing session in London. Key drivers - Cobalt prices show slight weakness over the course of the week while consumers and traders refrain from buying. Sellers lower their offers while consumers have their immediate requirements covered, so most market participants expect a moderate decline in prices over the summer. -...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone down amid stronger supply and softer demand over the past week, sources said on Monday May 20.Three steel mills reduced their buy prices for local shipbreaking scrap to $292 per tonne, while a fourth cut its price to $290 per tonne delivered.As a result, Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic melting scrap from shipbreaking fell to $290-29...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market became quiet again at the beginning of the week with suppliers withdrawing their offers, after news was heard of the removal of an additional US import tariff on steel imports from Turkey, sources said on Monday May 20.The United States lowered its tariff on steel imports from Turkey to 25%, from the previous 50%, with effect from May 17.This essentially removed t...Read More
Massive amounts of scrap metal are being held at Malaysian ports for unprecedented inspections and multiple copper cargoes still at sea are being diverted to other Asian countries at big discounts, sources told Fastmarkets. The bulk of the cargoes comprise insulated copper wires (ICW), as well as scrap motors, a Malaysian copper scrap buyer said. This type of copper scrap typically comes with a pl...Read More
Renewed selling interest on Friday May 17 has capped the upside from the slight rebound mid-last week and the metal markets generally look shaky in the early morning of Monday May 20. Our assessment of global risk sentiment remains fairly weak and highly dominated by negative macro events. The simmering US-China trade altercation continues to undermine appetite for risk assets. US President D...Read More
Chinese producer Ganfeng Lithium reached a non-binding heads of terms deal with Bacanora Lithium on Monday May 20, under which it will purchase 29.99% of Bacanora's equity at a cost of ?14.4 million ($18.31 million) and will have the chance to acquire 22.5% of Bacanora subsidiary Sonora Lithium for a cash payment of ?7.6 million.Bacanora is based in the UK and listed on The Stock Exchange in Lon...Read More
Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for standard-grade cobalt, in-warehouse, $ per lb Click here fo...Read More
Key data from the Friday May 17 pricing session in London. Key drivers - Cobalt prices show slight weakness over the course of the week while consumers and traders refrain from buying. Sellers lower their offers while consumers have their immediate requirements covered, so most market participants expect a moderate decline in prices over the summer. -...Read More
The market for flat steel products in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was stable at the start of this week, with price movement depending on trends in the export market, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday May 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Russia-origin 4mm hot-rolled (HR) sheet was unchanged on May 20 at 43,000-44,500 roubles ($664-687) per tonne cpt Moscow, including...Read More
The market for exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was frozen on Monday May 20 because suppliers preferred wait for more clarity to emerge in Turkey, the key outlet."[The CIS] mills are mostly sold out for June production, and they have time to wait until some clarity appears in Turkey," one trader told Fastmarkets.The Unite...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products reported a 4.5% year-on-year drop in shipment volumes in the first quarter of 2019, Eurometal said on Monday May 20."Shipments continued their negative trend of late last year and this was accompanied by rising stocks," the regional federation for steel, tube and metals distribution and trade said.European steelmakers such as Germany's ThyssenKrupp have...Read More