Cesco, the Chilean Center for Copper and Mining Studies, is calling for a technical and political committee to be formed in order to discuss the recent law proposal to increase mining royalties in the country.An optimal balance between state interests and return on private investments must be reached to develop Chile's mining industry further, Cesco said in a statement on Friday May 7. It added th...Read More
Metal merchants for years ploughed credit into Liberty Commodities, the trading unit of GFG Alliance, even while banks quietly shunned the company.In separate instances related to nickel and copper deals dating to 2016, blue-chip banks including ICBC Standard Bank, Sberbank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have abruptly halted financing of commodity trades made by Liberty after finding irr...Read More
Copper's futures price set a new all-time high in afternoon trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday May 7, with the bullishness also extending to zinc, which rose above $3,000 per tonne for the first time since June 2018, and aluminium.Three-month copper reached a record high price of $10,435 per tonne on Friday, with volumes traded at over 22,300 lots by 5pm - the most since mid-April.The...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
Spot trading of copper concentrate slowed in the week ending Friday May 7 with Chinese and Japanese market participants away for holidays. Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index rebounded, with deals to smelters reported at low-to-mid $30s. Spot buying interest was not particularly high because several major Chinese smelters are carrying out maintenance in May...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices rose during the week ended Friday May 7 as sellers seized the opportunity to raise prices given low supply and strong demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was $900-940 per tonne on Friday, up by $20 per tonne on the high end from $900-920 per tonne the previous week. Early in the week, offers were reported between the...Read More
South American flat steel import prices rose during the week to Friday May 7 as Chinese mills were only beginning to return from the country's 5-day Labor holiday, and material from elsewhere was sold at higher levels.Only a few firm offers were provided to clients in South America, according to market participants. Most were price indications for residual June shipments and initial assessments fo...Read More
Coated coil prices in Turkey increased during the week to Friday May 7 on strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Most coated coil producers were fully booked until late August, with some accepting orders for September production.Demand was strong in domestic and export markets because of limited stock levels.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil...Read More
Indian mills have increased domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil by 4,500-7,000 rupees ($61-95) per tonne for sales this month, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Mills have also curtailed the supply of HRC to the domestic sector in order to ensure that the price increase will be absorbed by the market."Mills are supplying very little [HRC] material to the...Read More
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to set definitive safeguard duties for a number of steel products for a period of three years, it is said in a document issued by the Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti Injurious Practices in International Trade (GCC-TSAIP) seen by Fastmarkets on Friday May 7. In February this year, GCC-TSAIP said that it found recent and sudden increases in imports o...Read More
Flat steel prices increased further in Turkey during the week to Friday May 7, with mills almost fully booked until the end of September, sources told Fastmarkets.Some mills have received requests for October production, but are unable to announce prices because they are yet to book their raw materials for October, Fastmarkets heard.The latest scrap bookings by Turkey were made for June shipping a...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil increased across Europe on Friday May 7, and ArcelorMittal raised its offers even further, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,042.00 ($1,254.34) per tonne on May 7, up by ?,?21.17 per tonne from ?,?1,020.83 per tonne on May 6.The index was up by ?,?34.86 per tonne week on we...Read More
Prices in the CIS export billet market continued to rise in the second half of the week as customers from Turkey and China accepted higher levels in fresh deals.There was a revival in interest in imported billet in Turkey after the recent uptick in imported scrap costs.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $488.83 per tonn...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 6 that are worth another look.Recent changes in Chinese tax policy have resulted in significant rises in the prices for steel billet and finished long steel products from the CIS and...Read More
Trafigura is in talks with Cliveden Trading to acquire copper purchase and sale contracts from the Zug-based trading house, sources with knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets.Talks were held between the two companies this week, with Trafigura potentially taking on a portion of Cliveden's copper book, subject to conditions, two sources who declined to be named because the discussions were confid...Read More
The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK increased this week on an uptick in nickel costs and persistently strong market fundamentals, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,200-1,260 ($1,668-1,751) per tonne on Friday, up from ?1,150-1,230 per tonne a week previously.Th...Read More
Global steel scrap prices surged in the week to Friday May 7 and could well break through the $500 per tonne cfr mark, starting in Asia, market sources have told Fastmarkets.This was due to the continued demand for steelmaking raw materials and the current high prices for alternative iron ore feedstock, they said.Turkish scrap import prices spikeSentiment in US remains bullishPossible $485 per ton...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States rose further in the week to Thursday May 6 due to the bullish sentiment of suppliers and strong markets in the supply chain. Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $575-590 per tonne on Thursday, up from $555-565 per tonne a week earlier. "Pig iron prices are dep...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into South Asia continued to rise on Friday May 7 but buyers were hesitant about booking material, sources have told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $478.96 per tonne on Friday, up from $468.83 per tonne one week earlier.There were no deals heard on the market this week, but offers...Read More
The price of stainless steel flat products in Europe surged this week with some sources attributing this to China's cancellation of an export tax rebate, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?3,000-3,050 ($3,611-3,672) per tonne, up by ?,?200 per tonne week on...Read More