US regulators may be given powers to conduct oversight and investigate price reporting and price setting entities within the aluminium markets if recently-introduced legislation becomes law. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by US representatives Ken Buck (Republican-Colorado) and Jim Costa (Democrat-California) that would grant the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the abilit...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon market fell in the week ended Friday September 28, with prices dropping as suppliers sought to secure profits ahead of the country's Golden Week holiday.In Europe, the spot market for standard-grade ferro-silicon was steady after dropping for four weeks, with suppliers trying to set a price floor at around ?,?1,300 ($1,508) per tonne delivered. Chinese prices drop ahead o...Read More
Blackstone Resources AG has launched a research and development program focused on new battery technology, with the goal of developing small and flat batteries for the mobile phone and laptop markets, the company said. A variety of metals will be tested for the technology, which would also have further applications across the broader batteries market. The Baar, Switzerland-based mining and explora...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States have weakened further on low demand and sufficient stocks, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was $525-540 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday, narrowing upward from $530-540 per tonne fob Black Sea a week earlier."De...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday October 2.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday October 1 after some forecast-missing economic data from China. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:Premiums for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday October 1.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading, supported by the overnight finalization of the trilateral North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada.Here's how base metals prices looked at 12:16pm London...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's office in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday October 1.Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board during early trading on Monday October 1, pressured by a firmer dollar and the absence of Chinese participants due to a week-long holiday in China. Check Fastmarket MB's live futures report h...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market during the week ended Friday September 29. Raw materials Prices for light iron scrap in the United Kingdom have been steady over the past week, tracking the stability in export prices to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, which have consolidated the rises seen through September.Prices for shredde...Read More
Radoslaw Zalozinski has left his position as an executive director with Polish copper producer KGHM after 19 years with the group, Fastmarkets learnt on Monday October 1.Most recently, he was executive director of finance and risk management for the company, as well as president of the market & credit and risk committees.Zalozinski was also chairman of the finance committee...Read More
Geoff Rameaux has joined warehouse and logistics firm Istim UK as managing director, marking his return to the metals market after a five-month break.Rameaux, who spent almost two decades with industry peer Access World, will be based in London.He will be responsible for the commercial development of metals and other commodities for physical consumers in existing Istim locations as well as for del...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday October 1 after some forecast-missing economic data from China.Three-month copper reached its lowest point since September 21 at $6,152 per tonne before recovering some lost ground.Since the start of September, around 71,175 tonnes of copper have been booked for removal from LME-listed warehouses, while cancelled...Read More
Comex copper prices fell in the US morning on Monday October 1 due to poor Chinese manufacturing data released overnight.Copper prices for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.50 cents or 0.9% to $2.78 per lb. Earlier today, the contract hit an intraday low of $2.755, the lowest since September 21.In critical data points, Chinese Caixin manufacturing...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Monday October 1, supported by the overnight finalization of the trilateral North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada.The three-month aluminium price was recently up 0.7% on the pre-weekend close, buoyed by the fresh cancelation of around 41,200 tonn...Read More
CIS export rebar and wire rod prices continued to fall in the week ended Monday October 1, with mills reducing their prices to attract customers at a time of lack of demand and increased competition - particularly with Turkish suppliers.Recent offers of CIS-origin rebar were reported within the range of $500-505 per tonne fob Black Sea, down by $10 per tonne week on week.Modest buying activity in...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose at the end of September after smelters in China cherry-picked deals and traders bid on nearby tenders at higher numbers. The copper concentrate index rose to $86.4 per tonne / 8.64 cents per lb on Friday September 28, an increase of $2.40/0.24 cents and the highest since October 2017. And with mine disruption worries firmly in th...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday October 2.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday October 1 after some forecast-missing economic data from China. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:Premiums for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in...Read More
Aluminium Association of Canada president and chief executive officer Jean Simard hopes the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) reached on Sunday September 30 will lead to a swift resolution of the dispute over 10% US tariffs imposed beginning June 1.A side letter aiming to prevent the future use of such Section 232 national security tariffs has already been released, along...Read More
Three base metals traders working at Castleton Commodities International (CCI) will leave to join Mercuria and build up the company's aluminium, copper and zinc global books, Fastmarkets learned on Monday October 1.William Gayner, Benjamin Seaford and Saurabh Sharma are set to join Mercuria by the end of the year, sources said.Mercuria declined to comment, as did CCI. The global commodities mercha...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Monday October 1 after some forecast-missing economic data from China.Three-month copper reached its lowest point since September 21 at $6,152 per tonne before recovering some lost ground.Since the start of September, around 71,175 tonnes of copper have been booked for removal from LME-listed warehouses, while cancelled...Read More
A joint venture comprising Tsingshan Group, GEM, Brunp Recycling, PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and Hanwa Co Ltd will invest $700 million to develop a nickel-cobalt project in Indonesia. The project, located in Morowali County, Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, has a target production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year of nickel and 4,000 tpy of cobalt. It will be able to produce 50,00...Read More