Fastmarkets today launches a monthly price assessment for Ferrous scrap No E40 (shredded steel scrap), delivered to mill, Italy, ?,?/tonne.After a one-month consultation period, Fastmarkets has launched a monthly assessment for Ferrous scrap No E40 (shredded steel scrap), delivered to mill, Italy, ?,?/tonne.The consultation period ended on March 14, with the assessment coming into effect from Marc...Read More
The prices for nickel and copper were the poorest performers in trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday March 14, Fastmarkets has heard.Weaker data on China's industry drove the LME three-month nickel price down by 2.2% to $13,185 per tonne at the close of trading."The January-February combined data on Chinese industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment failed to provid...Read More
BCS Global Markets, one of Russia's largest securities brokers, believes that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's newly-acquired shareholding in Russia's largest miner Nornickel may lose value.Abramovich's investment firm Crispian Investments acquired the 2.5% stake for $551 million on Wednesday March 13.But the oligarch's share may depreciate in value in line with expectations that nickel prices...Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia moved above $400 per tonne and to its highest since mid-December 2018 following increased buying demand in the market and continued tight supply. The daily fob Australia alumina index rose to $402.70 per tonne on Thursday March 14, up from $396.92 per tonne the previous day and 3.5% higher week on week. Key drivers Renewed bullish sentiment in th...Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia moved above $400 per tonne and to its highest since mid-December 2018 following increased buying demand in the market and continued tight supply. The daily fob Australia alumina index rose to $402.70 per tonne on Thursday March 14, up from $396.92 per tonne the previous day and 3.5% higher week on week. Key drivers Renewed bullish sentiment in th...Read More
Backers of Freepoint Commodities have given the merchant trader approval to make further long-term investments in copper assets, the firm's commodities strategist, David Wilson, said at the International Copper conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday March 13. "Internally I can see that there is more appetite for us to invest in copper assets as well as trading. There's definitely a change in sentime...Read More
South African state power utility Eskom has implemented load shedding for the first time this month amid lingering power constraints, sparking predictions of ferro-chrome price spikes if the situation deteriorates. Load shedding - controlled power outages - were last implemented in mid-February and were reported to have affected large industrial power users, including ferro-chrome smelters. After...Read More
Exchanges have an important role to play in the growing push for the use of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in investing, the chief executive officer of the London Metal Exchange said. Matthew Chamberlain said that the lack of a global regulatory body policing ESG criteria meant that sometimes it falls to exchanges and other market infrastructure players to step up and use thei...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in March have been settled at values unchanged from the month before, with higher export prices and steady domestic British demand supporting the move, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.The sideways moves in UK prices consolidate a jump of ?20 per tonne in February. This came after European export prices to key destination Turkey rallied by...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their bookings of deep-sea scrap cargoes with prices remaining stable, sources said on Thursday March 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $317 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $331 per tonne cfr.The same mill...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia moved up on Thursday March 14, amid an uptick in trading activity and higher scrap values, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $485-495 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday, up $5 per tonne from $480-490 per tonne cfr on Wednesday. Numerous deals involving Malaysian billet were concluded i...Read More
The United States copper market failed to hold onto previous gains during morning trading on Thursday March 14, with weaker-than-expected Chinese data capping the base metals space.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 4.30 cents to $2.8925 per lb. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at around 10am Shangha...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Thursday March 14, with copper, nickel, lead and zinc down by an average of 0.4%, while lead and tin were up by 0.1% 0.4% respectively.Three-month copper was recently quoted at $6,444 per tonne, down by 0.3% compared with Wednesday's close at $6,466 per tonne.Volume was below average, with 5,913 lots traded on LME...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices mixed on Thursday March 14 with those in the eastern region slipping while the northern market held steady. The export market strengthened with deals being concluded at higher prices. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,850 yuan ($571-574) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,760-3,780 yuan per tonne, unchanged Sellers in easter...Read More
Prices in the local market for Turkish rebar and wire rod have continued to increase, influenced by the weakening of the value of the country's lira and rising costs for imported scrap raw material, sources said on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar was TRY3,180-3,215 ($582-589) per tonne ex-works on March 14, including 18% VAT, up from last week's TRY3,100-3...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod prices have increased over the past week in line with the latest uptick in the cost of imported scrap, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.Demand for rebar was still sluggish in the country's export markets, however, although the wire rod market was comparatively better due to demand from the machinery industry.Turkish steel producers were trying to keep their...Read More
Steel billet import prices in Egypt have increased over the past seven days with higher offers being heard, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $475-480 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $470-475 per tonne cfr last week.CIS-origin billet was offered to the country at $480 per tonne cfr, but no major bookin...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in March have been settled at values unchanged from the month before, with higher export prices and steady domestic British demand supporting the move, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.The sideways moves in UK prices consolidate a jump of ?20 per tonne in February. This came after European export prices to key destination Turkey rallied by...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their bookings of deep-sea scrap cargoes with prices remaining stable, sources said on Thursday March 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $317 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $331 per tonne cfr.The same mill...Read More