The heads of mining companies should not be complacent about higher prices and need to continue to run their operations as efficiently as possible, the chief executive officer of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) told Metal Bulletin. Steve Din said during an interview on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa that the mining sector must avoid a tendency to become exubera...Read More
Copper premiums in the United States and China were broadly unchanged over the past week, while those in northern Europe softened amid lower offer prices from sellers. Lower offer prices sink northern European premiumsUS copper premium steady, potential near-term rise eyedShanghai premiums broadly flat ahead of Lunar New Year holidays Copper premiums eased lower in northern Europe this past...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange plunged at the 5pm ring close on Wednesday February 7 amid a strong recovery in the dollar leading to copper prices plummeting 2.4%. The three-month copper price declined $196 to close below $7,000 per tonne, hitting a new 2018 low and the lowest since December 19, 2017. "The open of the Chinese night session and Comex saw renewed pressure across the...Read More
Tungsten miner Almonty Industries reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the three months ended September 31, 2017, that were the same as in the previous quarter, at C$2.88 million ($2.31 million).This was a significant increase from earnings of C$951,000 recorded in January-March, which was the second quarter of Almonty's financial year, the Canada-ba...Read More
Yilmaden Holding has sent a team of senior representatives to Mining Indaba to secure investment opportunities in markets including cobalt, vanadium and molybdenum. The company, a subsidiary of Turkish industrial conglomerate Yildirim Group, is looking for diversification opportunities in Central Asia, Africa and South America. The group already owns chrome assets in Turkey, Sweden, Russia and Kaz...Read More
Nyrstar, the world's second largest zinc smelter, has filed an arbitration request to the operator of Century Zinc mine to enforce "long-standing Life of Mine agreements" for the offtake of zinc concentrates, the company told Metal Bulletin. The dispute centers on a life of mine offtake agreement Nyrstar had for concentrate from the Century mine in Australia, recently revived via tailings reproces...Read More
Trading houses Transamine and Mercuria have entered into long-term offtake agreements for zinc concentrates from the Century zinc mine, beating competition from nine other parties, operator New Century Resources said on Wednesday February 7. The two traders will take an estimated total of 750,000 tonnes of 54% zinc concentrates from the project at floating spot market terms, half of the 1.5 millio...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves. Read More
Ivanhoe Mines will meet the higher taxes and royalty requirements expected to be introduced by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) provided it is counterbalanced by stability and transparency into how the additional revenues are spent, the company's executive chairman said. Local communities must benefit from mining revenues in the manner that was intended at the outset of projects, Robert Frie...Read More
The Turkish steel mills stayed out of the scrap markets on Wednesday February 7, making no deep-sea bookings, but were still expected by market sources to book more cargoes for March.There were rumors of a European cargo being sold at $340-342 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), but the supplier denied this."I heard the same rumor but it is not correct," the supplier source said....Read More
Miners all too often lack a clear purpose and fail to approach investments with the appropriate due diligence, a method that drives shareholder returns lower, according to the chairman of Norilsk Nickel.Average total shareholder returns of the major miners are down 32% over the last five years, Gareth Penny said, noting that there is more to the situation than just a cyclical market. "As a mining...Read More
A rise in demand from the mining sector has led to a year-on-year improvement in the earnings of Swedish engineering group Sandvik, the company said this week.Increased customer activity was primarily related to mining in the commodities of gold, silver, copper and zinc, while signs of improvement were noted in coal, Sandvik said, with the largest rise in order intake being in Australia.Revenues a...Read More
Nornickel has signed a $4.4 billion partnership deal with Russian Platinum Plc in a 50:50 owned enterprise to jointly develop three major PGM deposits in Russia, it said on Wednesday February 7.The joint company aims at producing approximately 70-100 tonnes per year of platinum and palladium, as well as 50,000 tpy of nickel, Nornickel's president Vladimir Potanin said in...Read More
Domestic prices in Europe for hot-rolled coil (HRC) increased again this week and steelmakers have already made attempts to raise their offers further, sources told Metal Bulletin.The upward trend settled in the EU coil market has been supported by a combination of low availability of domestic material in Italy and the effects of trade defense measures in the region.Sources of imported HRC have be...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Europe have been largely unchanged over the past week, but prices are expected to rise with support from a positive trend in the steel coil market, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday February 7.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel plate in Southern Europe was ?,?550-565 ($681-699) per tonne ex-works on Februar...Read More
Export prices for Chinese hot-rolled coil picked up strength on Wednesday February 7 after a handful of overseas buyers put in higher bids in response to an increase in offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,110-4,130 yuan ($654-657) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,000-4,030 yuan per tonne, unchangedDomestic prices held steady amid sparse trading in the major markets of Shangha...Read More
The merger between ArcelorMittal Brasil and local long steel producer Votorantim Siderurgia is expected to be concluded by April, ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Central & South Americas chief executive officer Jefferson de Paula told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday February 7.The deal will make the combined venture the sector leader in Brazil and will enable it to expand its product portfolio, he added."Th...Read More
Brazilian long steel import volumes increased by 73.10% in January on an annual basis.Imports of non-alloy long steel goods came to 20,886 tonnes, compared with 12,066 tonnes in the first month of 2017, according to figures released by Brazil's foreign...Read More
Prices for European domestic beams have fallen for the first time in 11 weeks after market participants slowed down their purchasing activities, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday February 7.The market hesitated because stockholders stopping buying amid the recent decrease in scrap prices and the wintry weather across Europe, one Northern European producer source said."At the end of J...Read More
The Turkish steel mills stayed out of the scrap markets on Wednesday February 7, making no deep-sea bookings, but were still expected by market sources to book more cargoes for March.There were rumors of a European cargo being sold at $340-342 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), but the supplier denied this."I heard the same rumor but it is not correct," the supplier source said....Read More