China's domestic rebar prices resumed their downward trend on Tuesday March 26 after holding steady for a day, with bearish sentiment brought about by the upcoming decrease of value-added tax in the country weighing on the market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,850 yuan ($566-573) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,820-3,860 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan...Read More
The high-grade manganese ore index fell on Friday March 22 after sellers re-entered the market offering at a price stable with last month; in alloys, the Chinese ferro-manganese price rose following the recent recovery in the country's silico-manganese market. 44% manganese ore index retreats after previous climbDeals for 37% material concluded at higher levelsSilico-manganese prices rise in China...Read More
Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery, located in Brazil's northern state of Par??, is expected to operate at 75-80% of its capacity two months after the receipt of approval from the Brazilian federal court in Bel?(C)m, Norsk Hydro Brazil's executive vice president of bauxite and alumina said.According to John Thuestad, this approval, which will be debated at an April 4 meeting between Hydro and...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 26.Please click...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Tuesday March 26, at $13,105 per tonne, with dip-buying emerging despite continued strength in the US dollar index. The US dollar index was just under the psychological level of 97. Total LME nickel stocks remain at their lowest level in seven years at 183,582 tonnes, with just 116,292 tonnes on-warr...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26, amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers."[A] number of cobalt producers have indicated a desire to list their brand on the LME," the exchange said in the note, "but have expressed concerns that, in the event that the 'user choice' mo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 26 that are worth another look.The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26 amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers. There are no concerns surrounding the availability of bauxite to meet ongoin...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Tuesday March 26, at $13,105 per tonne, with dip-buying emerging despite continued strength in the US dollar index. The US dollar index was just under the psychological level of 97. Total LME nickel stocks remain at their lowest level in seven years at 183,582 tonnes, with just 116,292 tonnes on-warr...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26, amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers."[A] number of cobalt producers have indicated a desire to list their brand on the LME," the exchange said in the note, "but have expressed concerns that, in the event that the 'user choice' mo...Read More
The United States' copper market was modestly lower on Tuesday March 26 morning amid a lack of trading action and industry participants seeking fresh market catalysts. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down 0.30 cents to $2.8535 per lb. Copper trading has been fairly quiet over the past several weeks, with modest global growth...Read More
Fastmarkets has extended the consultation period for a proposed change to the specification of its domestic Chinese indium price assessment until Tuesday April 23.On February 25, Fastmarkets proposed to increase the minimum tonnage of its domestic Chinese indium price assessment to 50 kilograms to better reflect the dynamics of the market.The goal of a minimum tonnage is to exclude any deal that,...Read More
Steelmakers in Turkey continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market on Tuesday, March 26, due to the volatile Turkish lira, sources told Fastmarkets.Having slumped to TRY100 to $17.41 on Monday - compared with TRY100 to $18.31 on March 18 - the lira regained some ground following an intervention by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB). The currency had been de...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 26 that are worth another look.The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26 amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers. There are no concerns surrounding the availability of bauxite to meet ongoin...Read More
The US copper cathode premium has logged its first movement since July 2018, widening upward amid expectations of higher demand and shorter supply during the second quarter.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the US copper cathode premium at 7-7.75 cents per lb delivered to the Midwest on Tuesday March 26, up by 0.25 cents on the high end of the range from 7-7.5 cents per lb previously.While the first q...Read More
The government of Guinea is seeking to develop and integrate its mining sector in order to use the country's mineral resources to secure diversified domestic economic growth, according to the west African country's minister of mines and geology.Abdoulaye Magassouba told delegates to Fastmarkets' 25th annual bauxite and alumina conference in Miami, on Tuesday March 26, that a key driver for his gov...Read More
The federal court in Bel?(C)m, in the northern Brazilian state of Par??, has scheduled a conciliatory hearing between Norsk Hydro's alumina refinery Alunorte and the country's federal prosecutors' office (MPF) on April 4, regarding embargoes on the refinery's production and the use of its waste material deposit No2 (DRS2).Alunorte, the largest alumina producer in the world, has been running at onl...Read More
Chilean copper producer Codelco has decided to terminate an engineering and construction contract with Canada-based SNC-Lavalin and to take over a project at its Chuquicamata smelter to ensure compliance with new environmental regulations in the South American country, it said on Monday March 25.Codelco is the largest copper producer in the world, and Chuquicamata, in northern Chile, is the larges...Read More
Flooding of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in the last three weeks has delayed aluminium barge shipments from New Orleans to the US Midwest, according to Fastmarkets sources, and this could lead to increased spot trading in the second quarter of the year.So far, the delays have not impacted the US Midwest aluminium premium, which remained supported at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb a...Read More
Trading activity in the CIS export billet market enlivened toward the end of March amid renewed demand from North Africa, and Algeria in particular.An Algerian long steel producer booked two lots of Russian billet, each of 20,000 tonnes, scheduled for shipment in April at $492 per tonne cfr.The deals were not included in the calculation of Fastmarkets' CIS export...Read More
The prices for flat steel products imported into the United Arab Emirates have been stable over the past week with levels of demand remaining low but consistent, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday March 26.Demand among end-users has been weak, so buyers were unwilling to place orders for large tonnages, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, some market participants were expecting prices to come down bec...Read More