The Dow Jones was up some 300 points yesterday when the sirens wailed at 2 o'clock sharp… and Jerome Powell pickled the bomb switch.When the all-clear sounded at 4 p.m., the index was down 352 points. In all, the Dow swung 900 hair-raising points yesterday.Markets emerged from their shelter this morning to take a look around - and survey the damage.Still shaken, still rattled... they broke u...Read More
There was zero activity in Brazil's pig iron export market this week, with buyers declining to make any purchases ahead of the New Year.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron exports from the south-eastern Minas Gerais region was $335-340 per tonne fob on Friday December 21, down by $5 per tonne week on week. "The market is dead. Even if producers cut prices [again] no one will buy...Read More
Prices for light iron scrap in the United Kingdom were steady this week while the market processed a price reduction made last week to 5C and monthly prices due to ongoing market headwinds, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 21.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?65-95 ($82-120) per tonne on December 21, flat week on week, bu...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India fell further this week, with fresh deals bringing the index to a year-to-date low, market participants said on Friday December 21.Fastmarkets MB's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $331.98 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on December 21, down from $337.50 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on December 14. Continued poor...Read More
Global demand for direct-reduction (DR) grade iron-ore pellets is forecast to increase following the commissioning of Tosyali Algeria's new direct reduced iron (DRI) plant."In Algeria [Tosyali] has two 2.5 million-tonne-per-year DRI plants coming on stream - one has already been commissioned and the other is due to be commissioned next year," a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets.Tosy...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Friday December 21 after a jump on the previous day. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $72.24 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.02 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $72.07 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.02 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $74.16 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.19 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $63.93 per tonne cfr Qi...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday December 21*Copper -$89.73 (-620.16yuan)Aluminium -$397.37 (-2,746.49 yuan) Zinc -$8.32 (-57.53 yuan) Nickel $239.71 (1,656.83 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month prices...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Friday December 21, hindered by weak equity markets and oil futures which have kept investors risk-averse. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.58% this morning amid fears that the US government could face a shutdown and continued economic pressure, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2% on similar fears. Th...Read More
Finding your way around a new building can be a challenge - it's not like you can just pull up your smartphone's map app and pinpoint your location like you would outside."A lot of companies - Google, Google Maps, Facebook - have been working on the challenge of indoor navigation for a long time," said Sam Sartor '18, who graduated in December with a bachelor's degree in computer science. "GPS dat...Read More
Metro International Trade Services has withdrawn from London Metal Exchange warehouse services in Europe with immediate effect, while the company's UK arm has simultaneously delisted a warehouse in Port Klang, according to a notice from the exchange on Friday December 21. In July, Fastmarkets reported that Metro's owner, Reuben Brothers, entered into advanced discussions regarding the sale of a ma...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market tumbled on Friday December 21 amid lower offers, and consequently, transactions concluded below prevailing levels.A shipment of premium mid-vol hard coking coal was sold to a South Asian end user at around $220 per tonne fob Australia during the day, Fastmarkets has heard.A top Australian brand was sold to an end user in southern China at $205 per tonne cfr China, m...Read More
While prices for the major metals and other mined commodities mostly went sideways during 2018, there was plenty of big news over the year - much of its stoked by political pressures on miners. Here are our picks of the top mining stories of 2018.8. Beta Hunt bonanza - In the feel-good story of the year, RNC Minerals in September announced it had found a 95-kilogram specimen of rock at its Beta Hu...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
When Stratabound Minerals (TSXV: SB) CEO Kim Tyler told people he wanted to drill Golden Culvert as soon as possible after optioning the Yukon gold project in October 2017, many suggested that he should carry out some geophysical surveying before punching holes into the ground.But he told them that sort of work would only confirm what he already knew: that there was an outcrop the size of a transp...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday December 21:Minor metalsAntimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $7,700-7,900 per tonne from $7,750-7,900Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 47,000-49,500 yuan per tonne from 48,000-50,000 yuanCadmium MB free market min 99.95%, cents/lb: 117-132 from 120-135Cadmium MB free market min 99.99%, cents/lb: 123-138 from 123-140Chromium...Read More
Power Ore (TSXV: PORE) is buying the Opemiska copper mine complex in Quebec from Explorateurs-Innovateurs de Qu?(C)bec (Ex-In), a private company.Opemiska consists of two past-producing underground mines operated by Falconbridge from 1953 to 1991. Located near the town of Chapais, Springer and Perry produced 23 million tonnes at 2.4% copper and 0.3 gram gold per tonne. "We've taken a bet on copper...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.See also:2018 REVIEW: Eight...Read More
December was a slow month for stainless steel demand in Europe, according to distributors who have also complained since October of diminishing margins. "The market was lousy this month, very quiet demand. Only the first couple days of December were ok, but even then they weren't great. Prices have been going down for months, we're not making margins, so...Read More
Turkish scrap import prices decreased on Friday December 21, with buyers bidding at lower prices, sources told Fastmarkets MB.European origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was on offer at $290 per tonne cfr to Turkey, while buyers were bidding $275-280 per tonne cfr for the material. One seller told Fastmarkets that...Read More
Prices for alloy steel scrap imported into Europe weakened further this week, with the bearish trend expected to persist into the first quarter of 2019, market sources told Fastmarkets MB on Friday December 21.Despite European sources saying they had been pleasantly surprised by the level of trading activity that took place in December so far, given that the Christmas holiday is just around the co...Read More