Global scrap prices were likely to fall soon in the wake of a recent surge across many markets, with concern among market participants about whether higher priced deals were sustainable, Fastmarkets heard during the week ended Friday February 15.Turkish mills stepped back from purchasing deep sea cargoes this week, with prices remaining stable throughout the week as a result.This withdrawal knocke...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India went up on higher deals and offers heard this week but a correction is expected soon, market participants said on Friday February 15.Fastmarkets MB's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $345.50 per tonne cfr on February 15, up from $342.67 per tonne cfr on February 8.Deals for shredded material into India w...Read More
Miner Vale has announced a fire has caused damage to its iron ore distribution center in Malaysia on Friday February 15. The fire caused material damage and took place in the one of the transfer houses of the conveyor belt system of the center,...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market remains insulated from the severe supply disruption affecting the other steelmaking raw material, iron ore, sources said on Friday February 15 amid a softening of prices for the former.A May-laycan cargo of premium hard coking coal in the branded segment was traded on trading platform Global Coal at $205 per tonne fob Australia during the day. This is the same price...Read More
A fire at Korea Zinc's Onsan smelter has been contained and deliveries are set to continue as usual, two sources at the company told Fastmarkets.The fire, which lasted for around half an hour, took place in the plant's power transformer, according to local daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo.London Metal Exchange three-month zinc futures have risen 1.4% from yesterday's close to $2,591 per tonne as of 9...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday February 15* Copper -$164.8 (-1,119.32 yuan) Aluminium -$327.88 (-2,226.91 yuan) Zinc -$77.01 (-523.04 yuan) Nickel -$115.55 (-784.78 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Due to an input error, Fastmarkets' price book entry for European grade-553 silicon briefly showed an incorrect value on Friday February 15.The correct price, as assessed on February 15, for silicon, grade 553, min 98.5% Si, in-warehouse Rotterdam, is ?,?1,800-1,860 ($2,030-2,098) per tonne.Fastmarkets' price book and database have been updated accordingly.The weekly assessments for this price hav...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday February 15:Chromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $8,800-9,650 per tonne from $9,000-9,950Cobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $15.90-17.95 per lb from $16.60-18.85Cobalt MB free market standard grade, $/lb: $17.00-19.30 per lb from $17.30-19.45Cobalt...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves. Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to launch a monthly Italy domestic grade E40 shredded steel scrap ?,? per tonne delivered to Italian mill price assessment. The introduction of the price will expand Fastmarkets' Italian scrap market coverage, complementing its monthly assessments for domestic E3 and E8 grade scrap in Italy. The launch of the new price will allow Fastmarkets to cover all main grades of the mat...Read More
The following Fastmarkets non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday February 15:Aluminium ingotDuty paid delivered works pressure diecasting ingot...Read More
Turkish scrap import prices have started to show some negative signals, with slightly lower offers from Baltic Sea suppliers, while demand from Turkish producers was very sluggish, sources said on Friday February 15.But there was news heard on Friday of a fresh Baltic Sea cargo, which was the only transaction this week. A steel mill in the Izmir region booked the cargo, which comprised 25,000 tonn...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday February 14, with a collective trend of dwindling LME stocks failing to prompt upward price action while volumes traded remain moderate. Nickel's three-month price was the biggest downward move over the afternoon, with its price action down 1.6% amid continued negative risk-appetite, while dollar...Read More
Global copper demand will outpace supply growth or at least stay in a tight balance for at least two to three years, according to the chief executive officer of Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema, Marcos Camara. "Even with concentrators expected to start operating in the next years, demand should keep growing at a healthy speed and there is a large number of mines heading to depletion around t...Read More
The US copper price failed to rebound on Thursday morning in the United States, while market participants hold back from being too optimistic about recent developments in US and Chinese trade talks.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.65 cents to $2.7665 per lb.Positive sentiment surrounding US-China trade is also beginning to man...Read More
Australian miner South32 increased its manganese ore operating margin to 64% in the six months to December 31, 2018, it revealed in its half-yearly results presentation on Thursday February 14.Manganese ore generated the company's highest operating margin during the period, the first half of its 2018-19 financial year. This was up from 60% for the corresponding months of the 2017-18 year.In compar...Read More
The copper industry's next major mine is a step closer to bringing its first tonnes to market.First Quantum has started crushing and milling ore at its Cobre Panama mine, which is targeting 150,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate production this year, starting in the first quarter.The mine, which is set to ramp up to 270,000-300,000 tonnes per year in 2020 and 350,000 tpy...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday February 13 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers The cobalt sulfate price, Co 20.5% min, China ex-works price dropped midweek amid few spot activities after the Chinese New Year holiday on February 4-10. Weak spot demand is likely to last until late February or early March because some consumers will not resume business until after the Lantern Festival on...Read More
The suspension of cobalt production at Chambishi could provide some respite to falling cobalt prices but it should not be confused with the eventual departure of Chambishi broken cathodes from the market, according to sources spoken to by Fastmarkets. ERG has temporarily halted production at Chambishi in Zambia due to a lack of feedstock, which it sources from Boss Mining and Frontier Mine in...Read More