Some mobile phone producers have started to develop devices that support the fifth generation (5G) network, but long-term support for cobalt demand from 5G phones will be limited, Fastmarkets heard on the sidelines of a cobalt conference in Hong Kong this week.There was likely to be an instant boost for cobalt demand, however, when many consumers replaced their 4G mobile phones with those enabled...Read More
Australian Lepidico Ltd agreed earlier this month to acquire Desert Lion, a junior miner with mining operations in Namibia, to create an integrated lithium business. The merged company will be named Lepidico Ltd and will combine Desert Lion's Rubicon and Helikon lepidolite deposits in Namibia alongside the partially developed lepidolite concentrator with Lepidico's L-Max and LOH-Max technologies w...Read More
Follow up on this year's Fastmarkets Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai with this comprehensive downloadable PDF that brings together the full coverage from the event.Our Battery Materials Conference 2019 in Shanghai in April was one of the many industry-leading events we curate, organize and run, bringing together the biggest OEMs, battery manufacturers, cathode makers and chemical companie...Read More
An accident at a steel mill owned by Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) on Wednesday May 15 injured around 20 employees but had no impact on production there, the company said.The accident at the plant in Volta Redonda city, in Brazil's southeastern Rio de Janeiro state, was caused by a reaction during the removal of slag from equipment during the steelmaking process, CSN s...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices were largely steady on Wednesday May 15 amid sparse trading in the domestic market, though trading activity in the export segment appeared to pick up after exporters cut their offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,000 yuan ($580-582) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,870-3,880 yuan per tonne, narrowing from both endsTrading was persistently t...Read More
The price range for hollow steel sections in Northern Europe has widened downward this week under the influence of lower prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC), sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 15.Fastmarkets' domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe widened downward to ?,?600-630 ($673-707) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, lower b...Read More
Feralpi Stahl will raise capacity at its rebar and wire rod rolling mill in Riesa in the Saxony region of Germany to 1.3 million tonnes per year, the German division of Italy-based steelmaker Feralpi Group said.The company will invest ?,?60 million ($67.33 million) over a two-year period to increase capacity at Riesa, it said on Wednesday May 15."The investment will strengthen the current producti...Read More
Steel H-beam prices in Northern and Southern Europe were stable this week, although pressure from falling scrap costs remains a feature of the market and beams prices could fall in the near future, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 15.One factor behind the lack of price movement, particularly in Southern Europe, was the Made in Steel event taking place in Milan, Italy, from May 14-16, wher...Read More
The UK ferrous scrap market for deliveries to domestic consumers in May has settled at prices lower than a month earlier, matching losses reported in the export market, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 15.Export prices have fallen in line with weaker sales into the key destination of Turkey, they added.Most UK deals for May deliveries to domestic consumers have been settled at ?15...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes this week, with prices falling further, sources said on Wednesday May 15.The mills were trying to keep their deep-sea scrap purchases as slow as possible, to put downward pressure on prices, because demand for long steel products was sluggish and values were falling, Fastmarkets was told.But two steel mills came to the market...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices picked up on Wednesday May 15 following gains in China's futures market, and amid concerns that BHP's mine maintenance could affect supply at a later date.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $96.95 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.61 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $95.63 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $2.61 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $98.53 per tonn...Read More
The export market for steel slab and billet in Iran was very slow in the seven-day period to May 15 after the United States imposed sanctions on the country's steel trade, sources told Fastmarkets.US president Donald Trump ordered new sanctions on Iranian metals - including steel, aluminium and copper - on Wednesday May 8."Today's action targets Iran's revenue from the export of industrial metals...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia declined over the week ended Wednesday May 15 because of low buying interest in a bearish market that followed the escalation of trade tensions between China and the United States.China has announced that it will increase duties on $60 billion-worth of US goods from June 1, in a retaliatory action after the latter country raised tariffs on $200 billio...Read More
The price range for hollow steel sections in Northern Europe has widened downward this week under the influence of lower prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC), sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 15.Fastmarkets' domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe widened downward to ?,?600-630 ($673-707) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, lower b...Read More
Feralpi Stahl will raise capacity at its rebar and wire rod rolling mill in Riesa in the Saxony region of Germany to 1.3 million tonnes per year, the German division of Italy-based steelmaker Feralpi Group said.The company will invest ?,?60 million ($67.33 million) over a two-year period to increase capacity at Riesa, it said on Wednesday May 15."The investment will strengthen the current producti...Read More
An accident at a steel mill owned by Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) on Wednesday May 15 injured around 20 employees but had no impact on production there, the company said.The accident at the plant in Volta Redonda city, in Brazil's southeastern Rio de Janeiro state, was caused by a reaction during the removal of slag from equipment during the steelmaking process, CSN s...Read More
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp expects the global steel market environment to remain challenging in 2019, amid "continuing global overcapacities, ongoing risks from trade uncertainties, [and] sharply rising iron ore prices," the company said on May 14.Fastmarkets' 62% Fe iron ore index averaged $82.41 per tonne cfr Qingdao over the first quarter of 2019, compared with $74.39 per tonne cfr in the f...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
European nickel premiums universally declined on Tuesday May 14 after weak regional demand for material manifested in depressed premiums across the board. Elsewhere, the cif Shanghai premium rose to a renewed 14-month high on fresh arbitrage profit opportunities on the back of a newly-opened import window. The European briquette premium remained on a three-week downward trajectory on weak de...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange recovered at the close of trading on Wednesday May 15, climbing back above $12,000 per tonne while the metal's cash/three-month spread moved into backwardation for the first time since 2015.The metal's cash/three-month spread differential was recently seen in a backwardation of $9 per tonne, while its nearby June-July spread was now trading i...Read More