An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets on Tuesday March 30 and their latest price moves.China Light spot buying and weak sentiment continued in China's domestic ferro-chrome market, with prices heard for deals concluded 100 yuan ($15.24) per tonne lower week on week. Imported charge chrome prices fell following weakness in the domestic alloy sector, with some buyers making aggressive bids...Read More
Force majeure has been declared on shipments of copper concentrate from the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources said in a notice to shareholders on Tuesday March 30.Deliveries have been halted as a result of "Covid-19 health and safety precautions related to Chinese-Mongolian border crossings," said Turquoise Hill, which owns 66% of the Oyu Tolgoi mine and is itself 50.8%...Read More
Structural bull market or flash in the pan? One copper miner isn't taking its chances.Canada's Taseko is expanding a copper hedging strategy to cover 41 million lbs (18,597 tonnes) at a price of $3.75 per lb ($8,267 per tonne), throughout the second half of 2021, it said late on March 29."With the...Read More
Teck Resources has agreed to supply China's largest zinc smelter with zinc concentrates from its Red Dog mine this year, diversifying the market for what is one of the world's biggest exporters of the metal.Hechi Nanfang, which produces 400,000 tonnes of refined zinc annually, will receive up to 30,000 tonnes of Red Dog zinc concentrates this year, three sources source with knowledge of the matter...Read More
A summary of China-headquartered Huayou Cobalt's 2020 annual report, released by the company on Tuesday March 30.In briefRevenue: 21.19 billion yuan ($3.23 billion), up by 12.38% year on yearNet profit: 1.12 billion yuan, up by 1,549.03% year on yearRevenue for battery materials sector: 7.76 billion yuan, up by 11% year on yearRevenue for non-ferrous...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday March 26, with most grades remaining at high levels and market participants waiting for the next developments in the United States' market. Most market participants indicated stability in prices last week while the market digests recent price increases that particularly affected the prime grades of scrap....Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up on Tuesday after firm offers from the Baltic Sea region, although many mills were looking to achieve further rebar sales in the export and domestic markets before purchasing more scrap, sources said on March 30.The most recent deep-sea transaction was done on Friday March 26, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a United States-origin carg...Read More
Nornickel has stopped the inflow of water at its Oktyabrsky mine, one of two flooded mines in its Norilsk Division, and will resume production at both operations in line with the plan announced earlier this month, the company said on Monday March 29.The Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines have been closed since February 24 following an inflow of groundwater.The second stage of the remediation plan for...Read More
Apart from aluminium, base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were firmer this morning, Tuesday March 30, with broader markets also firmer having partially shook off, for now, contagion worries from last week's hedge fund troubles. US Treasury 10-year yields jump higher againWeakness in gold prices and stronger bond yields suggest market is not lookin...Read More
As global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) increases, the focus on battery technology and the challenges relating to production costs, sustainability and performance becomes more acute.Fastmarkets has identified the need for more transparency in the seaborne market for nickel sulfate, a key component in nickel, cobalt, manganese (NCM) lithium-ion batteries, which is a battery chemistry of growin...Read More
The Chinese nickel sulfate price continued its downtrend in the seven days to Friday March 26, with the weak LME nickel price reviving interest in nickel briquettes, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for nickel sulfate min 21%, max 22.5%, cobalt 10ppm max, exw China was 33,000-33,500 yuan ($5,032.5-5,108.8) per tonne on Friday March 26, down by 1,000-1,500 yuan per t...Read More
Australia-listed AVZ Minerals has signed a strategic long-term offtake partner agreement with Chinese lithium producer Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry, the company said on Tuesday March 30.Under the offtake agreement, the Australian miner will supply Yibin Tianyi with up to 200,000 tonnes per year of 6% grade spodumene concentrates (SC6) from the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the south of the De...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 30 that are worth another look....Read More
Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were expected to rise due to shortness of supply from EU mills and a lack of import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 30.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?836.00 ($984.44) per tonne on Tuesday, down by just ?,?0.67 per tonne from ?,?836.67 per tonne on Ma...Read More
Strong domestic demand in China and India meant that there were reduced numbers of offers of flat steel products made to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the week ending Tuesday March 30, sources told Fastmarkets.Some of the import offer prices did also go down, however.China and India are two of the principal exporters of flat steel to the Middle East, and an additional factor was the...Read More
The residential construction and home improvement sectors are set to drive long steel consumption in Mexico this year, Gerdau Corsa chief executive office Fernando Pessanha said on Tuesday March 30.The infrastructure segment may also benefit from both state-level projects and the United States' spending plan, the executive said during Fastmarkets' virtual Mexican Steel Forum 2021. He did not, howe...Read More
Rebar producers in the United Arab Emirates sold material at reduced prices in the week to Tuesday, March 30, to encourage sales despite limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets. Rebar producers in the UAE rolled over their offer prices on March 22 and are officially offering rebar at 2,530-2,545 dirhams ($689-693) per tonne ex-works.However, deals were heard at 2,300-2,435 dirhams per tonne...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Tuesday March 30, sources told Fastmarkets, due to the downtrend in rebar prices and reduced trading activity at Chinese ports.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.58 per tonne,down $1.30 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $167.22 per tonne,down $1.66 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $147.50 per tonne,down $1.96 per...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday March 26, with most grades remaining at high levels and market participants waiting for the next developments in the United States' market. Most market participants indicated stability in prices last week while the market digests recent price increases that particularly affected the prime grades of scrap....Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up on Tuesday after firm offers from the Baltic Sea region, although many mills were looking to achieve further rebar sales in the export and domestic markets before purchasing more scrap, sources said on March 30.The most recent deep-sea transaction was done on Friday March 26, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a United States-origin carg...Read More