The European ferro-vanadium market surged earlier this week, amid a flurry of spot purchasing interest and renewed supply concerns.Spot prices for European ferro-vanadium increased to $69-71.20 per kg on June 6, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up 4.82% from $66.25-67.50 per kg on June 1, according to Metal Bulletin's mid-week assessment.Spot market buying interest picked up considerably this week f...Read More
Battery cell maker Northvolt has received the environmental permit for what will be Europe's largest lithium-ion battery cell factory, with the initial phase of construction to begin on Friday June 8. The permit was issued for the first section of the factory, in Skellefte?? in the north of Sweden, which will be completed in 2020 and produce eight gigawatt cell capacity per year. The full factory...Read More
Primary copper smelting capacities have been partly suspended in important regional hubs in China such as Jiangxi province, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 7.The action was the result of the country's environmental inspection teams being dispatched to 10 provinces to review the progress made in curbing pollution since the end of May.In Jiangxi, home to more than 600,000 tonnes per yea...Read More
The European ferro-vanadium market surged earlier this week, amid a flurry of spot purchasing interest and renewed supply concerns.Spot prices for European ferro-vanadium increased to $69-71.20 per kg on June 6, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up 4.82% from $66.25-67.50 per kg on June 1, according to Metal Bulletin's mid-week assessment.Spot market buying interest picked up considerably this week f...Read More
Toromocho copper mine, the only major greenfield project in Peru, will increase annual capacity by 45% in 2020, owner Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) said. The state-owned company plans to spend $1.3 billion on the ramp-up which will boost annual mining output to $2 billion worth of concentrate per year upon completion, Chinalco chairman Ge Hoglin said at a groundbreaking ceremony in the Peruvia...Read More
Assertions that cobalt could soon be eliminated altogether from electric vehicles (EVs) are simply wrong, according to the chief executive officer of First Cobalt. Trent Mell, who heads the North American pure play cobalt company, said that while the EV sector is moving toward an era of lower cobalt content per vehicle, this nonetheless has positive implications for cobalt producers. "It lowers th...Read More
Toromocho copper mine, the only major greenfield project in Peru, will increase annual capacity by 45% in 2020, owner Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) said. The state-owned company plans to spend $1.3 billion on the ramp-up which will boost annual mining output to $2 billion worth of concentrate per year upon completion, Chinalco chairman Ge Hoglin said at a groundbreaking ceremony in the Peruvia...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for July deliveries on Thursday June 7, with prices increasing slightly.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a US cargo, comprising 34,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $347 per tonne and 8,000 tonnes of shredded at $355 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo,...Read More
China's crackdown on copper scrap imports will fundamentally alter global flows but it also presents a significant opportunity for entrepreneurial merchants and innovative companies, panelists said at Metal Bulletin's fourth annual copper seminar in New York on Wednesday June 6. The Chinese central government announced in April that it will ban imports of all Category 7 scrap items by the end...Read More
Comex copper prices ticked higher on Thursday June 6 due to bullish sentiment on the back of Escondida wage negotiations and a weakening dollar.Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange edged 4.5 cents or 1.4% higher to $3.307 per lb. "Copper price sentiment remains bullish on Thursday June 7; the three-month benchmark has hit a 2018 high...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were split into two camps on the morning of Thursday June 7, with copper leading aluminium and nickel higher, while the rest were little changed to weaker.The three-month LME copper price, up by 0.6% at $7,281 per tonne, continues to be supported by supply-side fears stemming from labor negotiations at Chile's Escondida mine and the closu...Read More
Assertions that cobalt could soon be eliminated altogether from electric vehicles (EVs) are simply wrong, according to the chief executive officer of First Cobalt. Trent Mell, who heads the North American pure play cobalt company, said that while the EV sector is moving toward an era of lower cobalt content per vehicle, this nonetheless has positive implications for cobalt producers. "It lowers th...Read More
Battery cell maker Northvolt has received the environmental permit for what will be Europe's largest lithium-ion battery cell factory, with the initial phase of construction to begin on Friday June 8. The permit was issued for the first section of the factory, in Skellefte?? in the north of Sweden, which will be completed in 2020 and produce eight gigawatt cell capacity per year. The full factory...Read More
Metal Bulletin's Top Steelmakers 2018 list shows ArcelorMittal retaining the crown as the world's largest steel producer, but the mills of China, Japan, South Korea and India occupy positions 2-10. Nucor in the United States, with an output of over 21 million tonnes in 2017, is the highest-ranking steelmaker from outside the region, in 12th spot. Since China has about half of the world's global st...Read More
China's ferrous futures posted some gains during morning trading on Thursday June 7, with environmental inspections in the country leading to an improved outlook for the steel and steelmaking raw materials markets.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,844 yuan ($601) per tonne, up 36 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,979 yuan per tonne, up 33 y...Read More
The United States' formerly robust reinforcing bar import market is showing signs of revival, market participants said, with at least one US importer booking some 30,000 tonnes of Turkish rebar recently.After President Donald Trump levied hard 25% Section 232 tariffs against steel imported from North American free Trade Agreement countries and the European Union, Turkish mills firmed up...Read More
Domestic reinforcing bar prices in the United States remain steady as market participants await the impact of the Trump administration's decision to impose Section 232 tariffs of 25% on imported steel products from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.American Metal Market's latest price assessment on June 6 for domestic rebar was $35-36 per hundredweight ($700-720 per short ton), uncha...Read More
Imported steel billet prices narrowed but domestic rebar prices were unchanged in Egypt this week because of limited demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 7.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Egypt on June 7 was unchanged at E ?12,525-12,528 ($699-700) per tonne ex-works.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel,...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States was silent on Thursday June 7 because only a few producers have small tonnages from July production available and key consumers restocked in the second part of May.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS region was unchanged on June 7 at $385-390 per tonne fob Black Sea."The price...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for July deliveries on Thursday June 7, with prices increasing slightly.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a US cargo, comprising 34,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $347 per tonne and 8,000 tonnes of shredded at $355 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo,...Read More