Pig iron buyers in the United States have continued purchasing materials for restocking purposes but at low prices, although further reductions were doubtful because suppliers were not ready to reduce prices further, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25.Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US was $340-350 per tonne cfr on Friday, widening downward from $345-350 per ton...Read More
A rupture in a tailings dam at Vale's Feij??o mine in the city of Brumadinho, in the state of Minas Gerais in south-east Brazil, has flooded the company's administrative facilities and part of the nearby Vila Ferteco community. "There is no confirmation about injured people at the site," Vale said on Friday January 25. "[The company's] top priorities right now are preserving and protecting the liv...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India went up this week after deals were agreed at higher prices, market participants said on Friday January 25.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $322.34 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on January 25, up from $318.73 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on January 18.Deals for shredded material were heard done at $...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices continued to rise because of tight supply and increasing collection costs due to the heavy winter conditions, sources said on Friday January 25.A number of market participants were talking about a US deal to Turkey. The details of the transaction were not clear at the time of publication, but some sources believed that the cargo was sold at $295-298 per tonne c...Read More
The light iron steel scrap market in the United Kingdom has picked up on the low end of its current range amid steady demand from major domestic shredders in the week ended Friday January 25, the first price increase since the start of November.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?65-90 ($75-104) per tonne on Friday January 25. The...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading on Friday January 25, with continued stock moves prompting both positive and negative price action while continued optimism over US-China trade talks remains supportive of risk appetite. Despite continuing to trade below $1,900 per tonne, aluminium's total traded volumes have led the complex this week....Read More
Seaborne coking coal spot prices maintained its upward momentum on Friday January 25 with buyers snapping up cargoes following price increases earlier this week.A February-loading cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal was traded at around $195-196 per tonne fob Australia while a higher-ranked product in the same segment, scheduled for loading in March, change hands at $200 per tonne fob Austra...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday January 25 *Copper -$68.54 (-464.62 yuan) Aluminium -$356.08 (-2,413.67 yuan) Zinc -$82.43 (-558.76 yuan) Nickel -$244.52 (-1,657.43 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Friday January 25 amid gains in the billet and futures markets, but those in the export segment remained flat on weak demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,750 yuan ($546-552) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,740 yuan per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneSteel billet and rebar futures both rose in comparison with a...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices have clawed back some losses after three consecutive weeks of decline, with some miners holding firm on offers amid increased demand.Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Eizabeth, climbed 12 cents per dry metric tonne unit to $5.11 per dmtu on Friday January 25 a week after dropping below $5 per dmtu for the first time in nearly 14 months. Fastmarkets'...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday January 25:Minor metalsCadmium MB free market min 99.99%, cents/lb: 130-136 per lb from 126-135Chromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $9,450-9,950 per tonne from $9,600-9,950Cobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $19.00-21.00 per...Read More
Chinese cobalt metal imports fell dramatically in 2018, with the most significant drop in the second half of the year after the Europe-China price arbitrage negatively affected import appetite in the Asian country. Only 1,020 tonnes of cobalt metal were shipped to China in the whole of last year, down 63.3% from 2,785 tonnes in 2017, according to data obtained via Fastmarkets sources. Import volum...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday January 25.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price stalled in quiet trading conditions. Chinese stainless steel mills showed little interest in buying extra cargoes after releasing their February ferro-chrome tender prices early in the week. The import charge chrome price ticked...Read More
The silico-manganese market surplus for November was significantly smaller than initial estimates, according to a series of amendments made by the International Manganese Institute. The market was in surplus by 111,000 tonnes, the IMnI said, revising its figures down from 211,000 tonnes. World supply in November was 1.48 million tonnes, revised from 1.6 million tonnes. Demand was 1.37 million tonn...Read More
All Fastmarkets non-ferrous European scrap prices were unchanged on Friday January 25.Read More
A large spread between bulk-shipment and containerized ferrous scrap shipments to Asia is helping spot prices to rise.Limited supply and healthy demand in the key markets of Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea have added to the upward pressure on prices in import markets.Vietnam Import prices into the Southeast Asian nation rebounded this week on healthy end-user demand. Fastmarkets MB's import price...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday January 23 pricing session in Asia.Key driversWeak seasonal demand in Japan pressured export prices for aluminium ADC 12 alloy into main Japanese ports (MJP). The recent depreciation of the Japanese yen against the dollar dampened buying interest from Japanese participants. Japanese companies have begun destocking in anticipation of their fiscal year end in March....Read More
Lead outperformed the other base metals on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday January 24, closing 2.2% higher, while both zinc and tin also gained amid continued falls in LME stocks. For lead, on-warrant metal remains at its lowest since 2009 at just above 41,000 tonnes. And in tin, persistent outflows and fresh cancelations are propelling the price higher; the exchange's total tin inventory is...Read More
Comex copper prices sank once again on Thursday morning in the United States, with persistent bearish overtones and short-covering hampering the red metal.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.60 cents to $2.6485 per lb. "Although we acknowledge that market participants prefer to adopt a cautious stance toward copper for now,...Read More