National Iranian Copper Industries Co's (NICIC) three copper-related projects will come online this year to produce an extra 400,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, according to local media reports. That could bring in an estimate revenue of $800 million to the company, which was established by the Iranian state and was subsequently privatized, according to a Tehran Times report on April 6 that cite...Read More
The waiting time to deliver out aluminium at Istim's London Metal Exchange warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, soared to 183 days at the end of March, according to the LME's latest queue report. The queue has built quickly over the past month, compared with no queue at the end of February for Istim warehouses in Port Klang for the first time since December 2018. More than 600,000 tonnes were...Read More
Chinese automotive production jumped by 71.6% annually in March to 2.462 million units, providing strong support for upstream metal prices. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) attributed the strong recovery in automotive output to the government's efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Output was also 63.9% higher than that in February, indicating steady growth in industria...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price was down by 2.8% to $16,165 per tonne during morning trading on Monday April 12, with the other base metals also starting the week lower after turning to the downside last Friday following comments out of China regarding rising commodity prices.The decline in nickel this morning, the sharpest among its peers, comes after it had dropped by 1.2% on...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker this morning, Monday April 12, while markets contend with cross winds.United States treasury 10-year yields have pulled back from recent highs Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said US economy at an "inflection point" with growth and hiring set to accelerateMarkets wary of US earnings season in case resu...Read More
Tata Steel has introduced carbon surcharges on steel products manufactured in Europe to balance the rising cost of such emissions, the company's spokesman told Fastmarkets on Monday April 12."We are now creating a greater awareness of the cost of carbon by introducing a CO2 surcharge on our products," the spokesman said."Increasing shortages and rising prices for emissions rights mean that there i...Read More
Prices for steel slab from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to climb in the week to Monday April 12, supported by persistent growth in finished flat steel prices both domestically and in customers' markets.Offer prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) from producers in Russia and Ukraine have jumped to $895-960 per tonne fob, depending on the coil weight and supplier, up from $885-905 per...Read More
Flat steel suppliers to Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow were targeting higher prices for May deliveries because of the strong export market but faced stiff resistance from buyers, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 12. Firm offers were still scarce because producers were taking their time to better estimate the market situation, but some had already started to test buyers wit...Read More
Turkish steel mills held off from making deep-sea scrap bookings on the first working day of the week, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday April 12. The most recent cargo was heard at the end of the last week, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Canadian cargo comprising 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) and 15,000 tonnes of shredded at an average price of $436 per tonne c...Read More
Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices have increased slightly over the past week, but ship scrap prices were fairly stable, market sources said on Monday April 12.In response to the upturn in imported scrap values over the past week, a number of steel mills have raised their buy prices for domestic auto bundle scrap.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix),...Read More
Seaborne Iron ore prices moved up on Monday April 12 amid steelmakers reporting healthy steel margins, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.57 per tonne, up $1.03 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.85 per tonne, up $0.84 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $156.34 per tonne, up $1.87 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin...Read More
The premium hard coking coal price increased in the cfr market on Monday April 12 due to necessary replenishment demand from some large-sized Chinese steel mills, while the fob price inched downslightly amid weak buying activity, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.86 per tonne, down by $0.85 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet strengthened further in the week ended Friday April 9 due to solid demand for high-grade products amid measures to control emissions in China, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $228.98 per tonne, up $7.14 per tonne.66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $200.06 per tonne, up $2.16 per tonne.K...Read More
Australia's Port of Port Hedland shipped 24.5% more iron ore in March than a month earlier, according to data from the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) released on Monday April 12.The port exported 46.7 million tonnes of iron ore last month, compared with 37.5 million tonnes in February.Volumes shipped in March were largely flat with that shipped in the...Read More
Luo Tiejun, the vice president of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) said the country will take measures to push down steel production in 2021 and raise imports.Luo, who spoke at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership's (RCEP's) Steel Development Forum on Friday April 9, emphasized five major points, according to a report on Cisa's website.Lower crude steel outputCisa is of the opi...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices tumbled on Monday April 12 amid a government call for stable commodity prices, but exporters raised their offers after a rise in trading activity last week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,350-5,390 yuan ($817-823) per tonne, down 100-110 yuan per tonneSellers in the spot market had to lower their offers after sentiment was dampened by slumping futures.Several dom...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday April 9. Key drivers Buyers have started to resist numbers above $3,100 per tonne while shipment offers from China kept falling and end-user demand has started to slow.Still, tight prompt availability in Europe and continuing shipping delays from China are supporting prices above...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 assessed Cobalt standard...Read More
The pace of decline in the Chinese cobalt sulfate market eased on Friday April 9 after aggressive offers for scrap-fed material started to disappear. Lower offers for cobalt sulfate produced from scrap has put downward pressure on the whole market since the second half of March. They prompted most sellers to continue lowering offers for sulfate produced from hydroxide (regular-fed material) t...Read More