Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil in Europe are expected to start to increase in the second half of February, sources have told Fastmarkets.In the meantime, domestic HDG prices in the region have been largely stable over the past week with demand remaining low, market participants said on Thursday January 24."The market is very quiet and buyers are waiting for the definitive dec...Read More
Consumption of ferrous scrap in the United Kingdom will continue to increase over the coming years amid an expansion in the UK operations of international metals group Liberty House, Fastmarkets MB's research team believes. UK scrap demand in 2018 is on course to rise for the first time in four years after Liberty restarted a second electric arc furnace (EAF) at its site in Rotherham, northern Eng...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 oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex),...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices picked up on Thursday January 24 amid rises in futures and swaps markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $74.71 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.23 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.55 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.23 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $76.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.56 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $66.02 per tonne cfr Qingd...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia staged a slight recovery this week amid limited offers and Turkey's strengthening scrap market, although participants reckon that the billet gains might be short-lived because they were not supported by demand.Fastmarkets' daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $450-455 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday January 24, narrowing u...Read More
A turnaround in sentiment in China sent seaborne coking coal prices higher on Thursday January 24. A miner's tender for a cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal with an end-February laycan was concluded at $198.37 per tonne cfr China, sources told Fastmarkets during the day.On trading platform Global Coal, a March-loading cargo of premium hard coking coal in the unbranded segment changed hands...Read More
Chinese steelmakers' narrowing margins and improvements in the supply of Brazilian iron ore have resulted in lower penalties for alumina content in the steelmaking raw material recently, though there are factors that could raise buyers' sensitivity toward this impurity in the coming months. The main driving factor for alumina sensitivity among buyers last year was the robust steelmaking margins in...Read More
Summary of Anglo American's production results for the year ended December 31, 2018.(Full-year total, year-on-year percentage change)Copper production 668,300 tonnes, +15% Iron ore production - Kumba43.1 million...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Thursday January 24, paring back gains made at Wednesday's close while continued fresh cancelations in LME aluminium and zinc stocks keep price action elevated. Similarly, both tin and lead futures remained well supported over the morning, with the former trading at its highest level since June 2018 and the latt...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday January 24 *Copper -$71.40 (-485.77 yuan) Aluminium -$365.94 (-2,489.66 yuan) Zinc -$52.28 (-355.70 yuan) Nickel -$153.06 (-1041.33 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
China hot-rolled coil market was largely stable on Thursday January 24 amid inactivity ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,730 yuan ($548-549) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,650-3,670 yuan per tonne, unchangedPrices stayed at "a moderate level," which yields HRC producers profit margins of 250-500 yuan per tonne, several so...Read More
United States-based global miner Freeport-McMoRan has been issued with pre-tax charges of nearly $400 million in penalties and interest related to disputed mining royalty assessments for its Cerro Verde copper mine in Arequipa, Peru.The charges relate to the years 2009 to 2013, and have come after Cerro Verde, in which Freeport owns a 53.56% stake, chose not to appeal a decision by the Peruvian Ta...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan expects its copper and gold production to fall over the next two years due to a long-anticipated transition of its operations in Indonesia, before improving significantly again. The Arizona, United States-based copper producer forecasts consolidated sales of around 3.3 billion lb of copper in 2019, down from 3.8 billion lb in 2018, along with 800,000 oz of gold, also down from 2.4...Read More
A summary of Kaz Minerals' production results for the year ended December 31, 2018.What follows is a full-year total, and...Read More
The prices for cobalt products in China were broadly steady on Wednesday January 23 on limited availability of prompt cargoes, but market participants are wary of price vulnerability after the Chinese New Year holiday on February 4-10. Fastmarkets MB assessed the Chinese domestic min 99.8% Co price at 325,000-350,000 yuan per tonne ($18.72-20.16 per lb, less China VAT) on Wednesday, unchanged...Read More
European molybdenum prices rose in trading this week, with oxide bouncing off a six-month low and ferro-molybdenum off a low last seen in December 2017 after a raft of new deals. The moves were fueled by a relative tightness in oxide, which pulled up alloy offer prices, although muted consumer demand for ferro-molybdenum and readily available supplies in Rotterdam may cap firmer price advances in...Read More
China's ferrous futures declined in the first hour of morning trading on Thursday January 24, but largely ended the session little changed from their opening prices.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,662 yuan ($539) per tonne, up 3 yuan per tonneJanuary hot-rolled coil: 3,576 yuan per tonne, down 3 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange January iron or...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia continued to edge up over the past week amid higher offers from some sellers and costlier nickel. But trading activity has begun to slow down with Chinese participants in a holiday mood ahead of the Lunar New Year, sources said on Wednesday January 23.Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil in East Asia...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices have remained flat for a fourth week amid an inactive market.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,200-14,800 yuan ($2,090-2,178) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday January 23, unchanged from a week earlier.More market participants have...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to update the normalization coefficients of the Turkey and Rotterdam ferrous scrap indices at a rate of once per month instead of once per quarter at present.The indices to which this proposed change relates are the HMS 1&2 (80:20), Northern Europe-origin material, cfr Turkey index; the HMS 1&2 (80:20), USA-origin material, cfr Turkey index; and the HMS 1&2 (80:20), Northern E...Read More