Eastern China's Shagang has increased the prices for its long steel products for orders booked in the first 20 days of February.The mill is selling its HRB400 16-25mm rebar at 3,900 yuan ($582) per tonne over the February 1-20 period, up 20 yuan per tonne from its last set of prices, it said on Friday February 1.Shagang is also...Read More
The United States pig iron market continued to be plagued by uncertainty during the week ended Friday February 1 due to unclear price trends for scrap and hot-rolled coil. Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US was $340-345 per tonne cfr on Friday, narrowing downward from $340-350 per tonne cfr a week before.The market level was estimated by sources at $340-345 per tonne cfr i...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Friday February 1, with most futures prices ending the week higher amid continued weakness in the US dollar index and LME stock drawdowns. Despite consolidating 0.5% lower over the afternoon, copper's three-month price remains well supported above $6,100 per tonne. While on-warrant material is now above 100,000 t...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has outlined the terms in which it will conduct its electronic price discovery trial of nickel, introducing a trade-at-settlement (TAS) functionality and setting out a scheduled start date of March 18, the exchange said in a notice to members on Friday February 1. The electronic trial will last for three months and will end on June 18, 2019. Closing prices for nickel will...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Courts in Brazil have ruled that up to 12.6 billion Reais ($3.44 billion) of Vale's assets and resources will be frozen after the rupture of a tailings dam at Vale's C??rrego do Feij??o iron ore mine, the miner stated on Friday February 1.The federal prosecutors' office, state prosecutors and the state government of Minas Gerais, where Feij??o is located made most of the complaints. Additionally,...Read More
First Quantum Minerals has resumed copper production at its Las Cruces mill in Spain after a land slippage last week, by processing lower-grade stockpiled ore.The stockpiled ore was expected to provide feed for the next several months while the company, which is based in Toronto, Canada, obtains the necessary regulatory approval to begin mining at Phase 6, an area that was not affected by the land...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves. Read More
Global scrap prices pushed upward during the working week from Monday January 28 to Friday February 1, driven by heightened demand due to restocking activity from steel mills worldwide. Steelmakers in Turkey secured at least 17 ferrous scrap cargoes over the past week, pushing Turkish scrap import prices and US ferrous scrap export prices higher during that period. Asian and Indian import pri...Read More
Light iron steel scrap prices in the United Kingdom increased for the second consecutive week on tighter availability because collection rates have dropped off amid freezing temperatures in the week to Friday February 1.The move to higher prices is only the second increase since the start of November 2018, and puts the market at a level last seen on December 14. Major shredders need a high, steady...Read More
Alloy steel scrap prices in Europe increased in the week ended Friday February 1 because of higher costs for nickel and molybdenum.The largest gains were seen in the price of European 18/8 scrap solids imports, which moved up by ?,?20-40 per tonne to ?,?940-980 ($1,079-1,125) per tonne cif on Friday.The UK domestic price for 18/8 solids increased more modestly, with traders complaining that mills...Read More
The price of copper on the Comex exchange in the United States edged lower in the final session of trading on Friday February 1, with the market awaiting further news on US-China trade talks.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 0.20 cents to $2.7825 per lb.Price action in the red metal has been positive throughout the week, on lo...Read More
Further weakness in China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), that fell to 48.3 in January from 49.7 in the prior month, was enough to dent confidence in the base metals market this morning, Friday February 1, with prices for the most part weaker as a result. Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down by an average of 0.3% this morning, with aluminiu...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
China's domestic battery-grade lithium-carbonate spot price remained stable this week, while the transportation of lithium compounds stopped ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday (February 4-10).Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices stable ahead of the holiday. Lithium hydroxide prices unchanged on thin trading activity. Seaborne Asian cif China, Japan & Korean prices remain unchanged.&nb...Read More
Steel coil prices in Turkey increased again this week because of the high cost of scrap alongside other global price increases, with more increases expected, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 1.Hot-rolled coil (HRC) stocks are low in the country because buying was weak for a long time when prices were falling.Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap - a r...Read More
Indian mills are likely to increase their domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in February sales by about 1,000 rupees ($14) per tonne because of rising international HRC prices, particularly in China, Fastmarkets heard on Friday February 1.Officials from at least two mills confirmed the likelihood of a price rise. Indian mills were likely to issue new price lists next week, the officials sai...Read More
Coated steel prices in Turkey increased in the week ended Friday February 1, with some producers closing their sales books because they were short of the hot-rolled coil (HRC) base material.The producers had low stocks of HRC, and they wanted to wait and see how much the price of this commodity will increase before announcing new prices for coated coil, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly...Read More