Iron ore prices surged on Tuesday April 20 amid strong mill results, which reflect very healthy margins, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $189.61 per tonne, up $7.81 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $190.03 per tonne, up $7.48 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $164.40 per tonne, up $6.91 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cf...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the cfr China and fob Australia markets stayed largely stable on Tuesday April 20, sources told Fastmarkets.Both supply and demand for seaborne cargoes remained weak in the Chinese market while some gradual and necessary procurement activities took place in the fob market, market sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, f...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices have been largely unchanged in the month to Monday April 19, supported by limited availability of some grades of the material, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Italy was unchanged over the month at ?,?335-345 ($402-414) per tonne on Monday.And the correspondi...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rebounded on Tuesday April 20 morning following its 1.5% dip on Monday at the close, while copper continued its price rise.LME three-month nickel was at $16,240 per tonne at 9am, a 0.7% increase from its Monday closing price of $16,121 per tonne. The metal fell by 1.5% on Monday from Friday's close of $16,363 per tonne following news that the...Read More
Base metals prices on London Metal Exchange were stronger across the board this morning, Tuesday April 20, but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, as were broader markets, following weakness on Wall Street on Monday.The US Dollar Index continues to trend lowerBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were up by an average of 0.7% this morning, once again led by a 1.2% rise in co...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in the United States, Europe and Asia for the week ended Friday April 16.Key driversChina The price of silicon in China continued to drop after a previous rally, and leading producers reduced their offer prices for the domestic market. Numbers of deals and inquiries thinned, with buyers holding back. Sources expected the market to have more supply, with producers...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets...Read More
A summary of Russian miner Nornickel's production results for the first quarter of 2021 as stated in a company announcement released on Monday April 19.In brief: Production of copper and nickel was down 21% and 10% respectively year on year - the company continues to face challenges caused by an accident at the Norilsk Concentrator and production delays at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines due to...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday April 16.Key drivers Limited activity in the market, with inquiries and deals thinning. Ample supply owing to Chinese smelters having resumed operations...Read More
Japan's aluminium seaborne spot market has rebounded strongly after a quiet 2020 that was characterized by thin spot trading volumes and buyers asking to defer deliveries - and the benchmark premium could keep rising.Activity has picked up dramatically in the second quarter of 2021, with constrained domestic supply propelling spot trades as high as $170 per tonne.Last week, a spot deal was heard a...Read More
Base metals prices on London Metal Exchange were up across the board this morning, Wednesday April 21, but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly weaker, as were broader markets, while haven assets were bid for.* The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming polarized on a regional basis...* ...this could threaten the global recovery and travel* Tension rises on Russia-Ukraine border...Read More
Disney (DIS), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved below $181.01 completing a Head & Shoulders pattern.Exxon Mobil (XOM) moved below $54.45 completing a double top pattern.Citigroup (C), an S&P 100 stock moved below $74.73 completing a double top pattern.JP Morgan (JPM), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved below $148.09 completing a double top pattern. Boeing (BA), a Dow Jones...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 19 that are worth another look.Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) was able to continue to operate normally at its coal and container terminals at the port of Itagua?- over the weekend despite...Read More
Three-month prices for base metals on the London Metal Exchange showed mixed fortunes at the close of trading on Monday April 16, despite the US Dollar Index being at a six-weeks low, with only copper showing a gain a of more than 1%, and nickel falling from its Friday price.Copper's three-month price was up by 1.8% at 5pm on Monday to $9,376 per tonne, compared with Friday's closing price of $9,2...Read More
Several major Chinese metal producers bought zinc and gold concentrates produced in North Korea in 2019, despite economic sanctions, a court ruling has revealed.Thirteen men were convicted of smuggling metal raw materials across the closed China-North Korea border, according to a ruling by the Jiangsu Yangcheng Intermediate Court on Wednesday March 31, resulting from the lawsuit (2021) Jiangsu 09...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 19 that are worth another look.Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) was able to continue to operate normally at its coal and container terminals at the port of Itagua?- over the weekend despite...Read More
Chinese alumina refinery Kaiman (Sanmenxia) Aluminium has cut its production by half because of a shortage of bauxite supplies, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 19.Hangzhou Jinjiang Group owns the refinery in Sanmenxia city in Henan province, which has capacity for 2.1 million tonnes per year. It will reduce output for at least one month starting from Monday, but could extend the cu...Read More
Seaborne manganese ore prices dropped further on Friday April 16, sparking buying interest due to the erosion of the premium over portside prices.Major suppliers of seaborne material reduced their offers to match the prices for cargoes already in Chinese ports.Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, dropped by 22 cents to $4.27 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on April 16.The corresp...Read More
It seems that copper's biggest market has soured on the metal. Premiums paid over exchange prices for copper cathodes imported into China have fallen in recent weeks, dropping to a five-month low in a decline that shows no signs of slowing down.Fastmarkets' benchmark copper grade-A cathode ER premium, cif Shanghai was at $40-48 per tonne on Wednesday April 14, a five-month low.Falling premiums for...Read More