Global miner Vale could be forced to pay as much as 17 billion Reais ($4.51 billion) in compensation for environmental damage and lives lost after the recent rupture at one of its iron ore tailings dams, Brazilian bank Ita?? BBA said in a report on Tuesday January 29.An iron ore tailings dam at the Feij??o mine at Brumadinho in the state of Minas Gerais burst on Friday January 25, with waste mater...Read More
Brazilian federal police have arrested five people related to inspections of the tailing dam that failed last week at Vale's C??rrego do Feij??o iron ore mine.Three of the people arrested on Tuesday January 29 work for the Brazilian miner and two are with T?oeV S?oeD, the German audit firm that certified in 2018 that the dam had met safety standards.The arrest included a search-and-seizure operati...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices remained flat on Tuesday January 29 after a confirmed booking for material from the United States, but deals for cargoes are expected to be agreed at higher prices in the coming days, sources said.A US cargo was sold on Monday but reports of the deal came to light only after the deadline for Monday's indices.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo...Read More
Global production of direct-reduced iron (DRI) increased by 11.59% in 2018, according to the latest statistics from the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).The principal reason for this growth was higher steel output in the Middle East-North Africa (Mena) region, where more than 90% of steel is produced in electric-arc furnaces, which consume DRI as a raw material, Worldsteel said on Friday Janua...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, Global Ore,...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to advance toward $80 per tonne cfr on Tuesday January 29 despite limited trading activity in China while the Lunar New Year approaches.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $78.69 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.51 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $79.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.51 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $80.19 per tonne cfr Qingdao...Read More
Seaborne coking coal sold to China continued to fetch higher prices on Tuesday January 29 against expectations, sending most buyers to the sidelines. A March-laycan cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal was sold at $203 per tonne cfr China to an end user in northeastern China, sources told Fastmarkets during the day."We needed this specific cargo for production so the price [at $203 per tonne...Read More
Precious metals prices have the potential for a strong upside in 2019 alongside weakness in the US dollar and declining US Treasury yields, according to Georgette Boele, an analyst with Dutch bank ABN Amro.Boele told Fastmarkets that there was also casue for optimistic on platinum prices, which were "punished" in 2018 due to lower demand for jewelry in China and because diesel cars lost some marke...Read More
The auction of some Fanya Metal Exchange indium stocks on Tuesday January 29 has failed to attract any bidders, market sources told Fastmarkets. Fanya announced earlier this month its intention to auction a total of 34.64 tonnes of indium stocks it holds in its warehouses. The opening bid was 1,200 yuan ($177) per kg, not including VAT and storage fees. But both Chinese and overseas market pa...Read More
Cobalt consumers are increasing their exposure to the emerging hydroxide spot market in 2019 in response to rising supply volumes of intermediates and differing fundamentals at other points along the supply chain.Traditionally, buyers have signed annual or multi-year contracts with suppliers to secure the supply of cobalt hydroxide. In most cases, payment was negotiated and agreed by both parties...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to launch two reference prices for the cobalt hydroxide market to capture and quantify the standalone fundamentals of the cobalt intermediates market through its emerging spot trade.Fastmarkets will launch a single-figure monthly cobalt hydroxide index, and a twice-monthly cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, both on the basis of min 30% Co, cif China.Cobalt hydroxide, typicall...Read More
Vital Materials has appointed Nick Boulton as its sales and product manager, the company told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25. Boulton, who will be based in the United Kingdom in this role, holds over 30 years' experience in multiple roles across a variety of market segments including petrochemicals, fine chemicals pharmaceuticals and minor metals. Prior to joining...Read More
Higher sales prices brought slight price increases to European high-carbon ferro-chrome and imported charge chrome in China in the week ended Friday January 25 amid low activity prior to the Chinese New Year holiday. Imported charge chrome in China increases by 1.3% Domestic spot ferro-chrome prices in China stable Imported ferro-chrome into Japan, South Korea and US steady Europea...Read More
The domestic ferro-silicon market in China has been steady in the past week, consolidating a small recovery made the week before, amid low-key trading. In Europe, ferro-silicon prices fell to lows last seen in July 2017 when traders cut their offer prices to encourage buying interest amid slow demand. Chinese market holds up with supplies reduced European suppliers cut offer prices on slow demand...Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices showed signs of recovery in the week ended Friday January 25 while high-grade flattened amid increased liquidity ahead of Chinese New Year in early February. Low-grade manganese ore prices ticked up in China, high-grade holdsPhysical silico-manganese prices hold in China, India, EuropeFerro-manganese holds globallyUS silico-manganese prices edge up Low grade mangane...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part still consolidating the gains seen at the end of last week, following weakness on Monday January 28, an up day on Tuesday, and now awaiting further direction. Three-month LME prices were up by an average of 0.2% on Wednesday morning, with the majority up between 0.1% and 0.3%, but with nickel up by 0.9% and aluminiu...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 9 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the ADP report at 8:15 AM EDT Consensus for January ADP Employment was a drop to 175,000 from 271,000 in November. Actual was 213,000.Apple gained $8.17 to $162.85 after offering guidance on new products.Advanced Micro Devices add...Read More
(Adds new death toll and comments from cemetery director;restores context) By Jake Spring and Gram Slattery BRASILIA/BRUMADINHO, Brazil, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Vale SA , the world's largest iron ore miner, on Tuesday vowedto take as much as 10 percent of its ore output offline in orderto decommission 10 more dams like the one that burst last week,killing scores of workers and nearby residents. Chief E...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange fell by almost 3% at the close of trading on Monday January 28, continuing to trade at less than $1,900 per tonne while the rest of the complex followed lower.Total aluminium volumes traded on the exchange were moderate, with 13,588 lots changing hands by the close, and while the metal's LME stock levels remained firmly above 1 million ton...Read More
The aluminium market mainly shrugged off the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) long-awaited decision to remove sanctions imposed on producer UC Rusal on Sunday. The market said the removal of sanctions had been expected and therefore is already priced into the premium levels. But Rusal's next move will remain a crucial key to how the market develops in...Read More