Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.India's renewables target of 175 GW capacity (100 GW of solar and 75 GW of wind) by 2022 is an ambitious endeavour. Even with significant cost declines, Wood Mackenzie expects about 76% of the target to be met by 2022 and this would s...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Wood Mackenzie's research analysts have over 40 years' experience understanding and forecasting natural resources industry performance across exploration, extraction and production, refining and financial markets.We produce annual, ha...Read More
The closure of some induction furnaces in China in 2016 followed by the government's crackdown on all unlicensed IFs in mid-2017 freed up some scrap volumes, albeit arguably of low-quality material. Chinese domestic scrap prices came under pressure from the increased supply, which prevented them from keeping pace with the rise in steel and other raw material markets in the fourth quarter of 2016;...Read More
Welcome to Creamer Media’s Resources Watch, a weekly video round-up of the events and people making and shaping the news in the mining industry.This week:AdvertisementWorking together can deliver mining’s massive benefitsDe Beers to spend R30m on diamond exploration this yearAdvertisementAnd, Ramaphosa challenges mining to take ten value-adding stepsMining can and will deliver massive...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices have increased by at least 500 rupees ($7) per tonne over the past week, mainly on rising prices for finished products such as rebar, Fastmarkets heard on Friday February 15.The Indian domestic secondary billet price assessed by Fastmarkets on February 15 was 34,300-34,500 rupees ($483-486) per tonne ex-mill, up by 500 rupees per tonne compared with 33,800-3...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy moved up in February following the positive trend settled in the international scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 15.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for domestic grade E3 scrap in Italy was ?,?270-290 ($306-327) per tonne delivered on Friday February 15, compared with ?,?260-280 per tonne delivered in January."The upward tren...Read More
Alderan unlocking Frisco potentialSPONSOREDalderan resourcesThe improved performance was in large part owing to a 17% production increase at its Sentinel copper mine, in Zambia, which helped push 2018 production to 158,000 tonnes.Read More
Section 232 tariffs on aluminium and steel raised $3.6 billion in their first nine months, and revenues for the last two months are likely to push that figure up by around another $1 billion, US government data shows.That figure would be enough to cover the shortfall in funding sought by United States President Donald Trump for border security. In other words, aluminium and steel tariffs could fun...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were higher across the board at the close of trading on Friday February 15, with market sentiment continuing to improve amid US-China trade talks, while participants continue to short-cover after last week's price rally. Climbing furthest over the afternoon, zinc futures closed above $2,600 per tonne and continued to trade in a volatile trend after s...Read More
Comex copper prices turned positive on Friday morning in the United States with improving trade talk optimism boosting the entire base metals space.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded 0.80 cents to $2.7820 per lb."We expect the global refined copper market to become tighter...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) warehouse rule has not so far been activated at Istim's warehouses in Port Klang despite a large queue building at the warehouse, sources confirmed to Fastmarkets MB. An LME queue report published on February 11 stated there was a 118-day queue to withdraw aluminium at Istim warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, at the end of January. This c...Read More
Base metals stocks on Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly higher as of Friday February 15 due to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, with zinc leading the increase although nickel stocks dropped because of tight supply.Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have risen by 39,516 tonnes or 84.2% since February 1 to 86,447 tonnes as of February 15. Zinc stocks also rose for the sixt...Read More
More copper concentrates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be diverted after ERG suspended its Chambishi copper smelting facility in Zambia, multiple market sources said. ERG told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 14 of its decision to halt the 55,000 tonne-per-year Chambishi copper operation following the implementation of the 5% import duty on cobalt and copper concentrates i...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading on Friday February 15, gathering support from a broadly positive tone emerging from recent US-China trade talks.Climbing furthest over the morning, lead's three-month price is moving closer toward the $2,100 per tonne level after reaching a low of $2,011 per tonne on February 13. The metal's futures pr...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February Empire State Manufacturing Survey. Consensus was an increase to 7.00 from 3.90 in December. Actual was.8.8.Nvidia added $12.47 to $167.00 after reporting higher than consensus fourth quarter sales and earnings. Note...Read More
Brazil's Usiminas believes its steel prices could increase by 4-5% until the second quarter of 2019 given the global uptrend in place, the company's commercial vice president, Miguel Homes, said during a conference call on Friday February 15.The steelmaker is assessing the landscape before taking any steps regarding new prices. Usiminas' internal target is to maintain domestic prices no more than...Read More