Brazilian pellet producer Samarco, a 50:50 joint venture between Vale and BHP, resumed some of its operations on Friday December 11 after being halted for more than five years due to a deadly tailings dam disaster.Samarco has started operations at one of its three iron ore concentrating plants and at its new waste processing facility, both at its Germano complex in Mariana city, in the country's s...Read More
International ferrous scrap sales to Turkey have hit $435 per tonne, but export deals from the United States' East Coast remain closely guarded secrets.The US export market is very opaque at the moment. One export source reported that sales were being conducted, but the destinations and prices were protected by confidentiality agreements to prevent export dock prices from overheating.The export so...Read More
The stainless steel scrap market in the United States has strengthened as the year-end approaches, with market participants noting that the stainless and ferrous scrap price jumps this month are very unusual for this time of year, when consuming mills usually reduce their inventories for year-end financials. "I am shocked with all the pricing. This has been one crazy year!" one large dealer said."...Read More
Renewed buying interest from consumers in South Korea and Taiwan has allowed another increase in Japanese export scrap prices over the past week, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 16. Prices had already surged last week on the back of a leap in December's Kanto steel scrap auction and robust domestic buy prices, but greater demand from key Asian buyers allowed another...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Wednesday December 16 after the most-traded May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) crossed the 1,000 yuan-mark ($153) to close the afternoon trading session, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $156.45 per tonne, up $1.38 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $156.71 per tonne, up...Read More
Premium hard coking coal cfr and fob prices diverged further on Wednesday December 16, with the latest transaction for premium low-volatility hard coking coal sealed at $101.50 per tonne fob Australia, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $101.46 per tonne, down $1.30 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $182.64 per tonne, up $0.17 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
Global steel prices - which have been surging in recent weeks - will experience some correction in the first half of 2021, according to United Arab Emirates-based galvanized coil producer Al Ghurair Iron & Steel.The question is whether this correction will happen before or after the Chinese New Year, its chief executive officer, Abu Bucker Husain, said at Fastmarkets' Middle East Iron & Steel virt...Read More
LMEpassport, a new digital register for physical metals data, is to be rolled out by the London Metal Exchange in 2021, starting with aluminium and gradually phasing in other metals over the next three years.The digital register - part of a sustainability package that includes a spot trading platform and new contracts - is designed to provide a centralized transparency source, the data from which...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's latest off-warrant stock data showed a month-on-month net rise of 78,092 tonnes of material held outside the LME network over October.Data collected by the LME showed that at the end of October there was 1.83 million tonnes of metal held off-warrant, up 4.3% from 1.81 million tonnes the previous month. This includes 1.6 million tonnes of aluminium, accounting for 85% of...Read More
China's rebar market recovered some losses on Wednesday December 16 amid reports that suppliers in the country were resuming the export of billet amid high international prices for the semi-finished product, though no transactions have emerged yet.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,160-4,190 yuan ($636-641) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneEnd-user demand was stable during the day like on Monday...Read More
LME nickel was the only metal to see its three-month price fall on the morning of Wednesday December 16, with the other base metals climbing on the prospect of a new Covid-19 stimulus package in the United States.Nickel's price edged down to $17,525 per tonne from Tuesday's closing price of $17,557 per tonne. The metal did reach its year-to-date high of $17,880 per tonne during trad...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey, Dalila Ouerghi and Michael Greenfield in London, Susan Zou...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda and Declan Conway contributed...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 16.Key drivers Ferro-titanium has jumped more than 11% during the week to Wednesday December 16 to a peak last seen in January 2013 amid a flurry of orders from consumers in the steel sector, both for prompt shipment and for deliveries in January and February. The titanium scrap markets, where supplies have been getting tig...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 grade, in-whs...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.Fastmarkets...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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...Read More
Prices for steel slab in Iran's export market increased with new deals done over the week to Wednesday December 16, although billet prices remained stable, Fastmarkets learned.Iran's export billet prices are at their highest for the last 29 months, while Iran's steel slab export prices have reached their first new peak in 31 months.Iranian market participants expect a decline in the near future, h...Read More
Silver ETN (SLV) moved above $23.96 resuming an intermediate uptrend.Silver stocks are responding to higher silver prices. First Majestic Silver moved above US$12.21 and Cdn$15.90 resuming an intermediate uptrend.Travelers (TRV), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved above $138.11 extending an intermediate uptrend.Accenture (ACN), an S&P 100 stock moved above $253.93 to an all-time high e...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian flat steel sales from distributors fell in November compared with the previous month due to limited supply from steelmakers but increased on an annual basis, according to national flat steel...Read More