Brazil's new right-wing government, led by former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, is going ahead with announced changes to current mining regulations, which include a controversial plan to open up indigenous reserves to mining.Most of the country's original population lives in the Amazon rainforest, which has an ecosystem seen by many as having worldwide ecological importance. Speaking at an event in...Read More
China's rebar prices were flat amid active trading on Friday March 8, although billet prices in Tangshan dropped after local authorities imposed new production restrictions earlier this week aimed at improving air quality in the city in northeastern China. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,780-3,810 yuan ($563-568) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,750-3,800 yuan per tonne, u...Read More
Russian diamond miner Alrosa in February sold rough and polished diamonds worth $345-million, which was up 23% compared with January’s sales of $281-million, but down significantly on the $541.9-million sold a year earlier.Rough diamond sales in February comprised $340-million, compared with $278-million in January, while polished diamond sales comprised $5-million, compared with $3.4-millio...Read More
Brazil's new right-wing government, led by former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, is going ahead with announced changes to current mining regulations, which include a controversial plan to open up indigenous reserves to mining.Most of the country's original population lives in the Amazon rainforest, which has an ecosystem seen by many as having worldwide ecological importance. Speaking at an event in...Read More
Prices for light iron steel scrap in the United Kingdom broke a five-week spell of stability and fell by ?5 ($7) per tonne this week, with inter-merchant prices tracking a drop in the consumer market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 8.The inter-merchant market was responding to a drop of about ?10 per tonne in the consumer price in late February, sources said.Even though there has been...Read More
The Turkish steel producers skipped the last working day of the week with no deep-sea scrap bookings amid rising offer prices, sources said on Friday March 8.The most recent deal was done on Thursday March 7 from the United States at $322 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).However, market participants said offer prices for similar material were already above that US transaction price, with sev...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap recovered this week following a drop of more than $11 last week, sources said on Friday March 8.Fastmarkets MB's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $331.38 per tonne cfr on March 8, up from $328.33 per tonne cfr on March 1.The index had fallen by $11.11 per tonne from $339.44 per tonne cfr on February 22 because of a correcti...Read More
Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsAgua Rica hosts a large-scale, long-life copper mineral resource with associated gold, silver and molybdenum, while the Alumbrera infrastructure is of significant scale and configuration that isRead More
Physical iron ore prices retreated on Friday March 8 following declines in the futures market.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.77 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.84 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $85.17 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.84 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $88.25 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.76 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $75.88 per tonne cfr Qin...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker again this morning, Friday March 8, and weak Chinese trade data has not helped sentiment.With the exception of aluminium that was up by 0.1%, the rest of the complex were down between 0.2% for tin and 0.7% for nickel and zinc. Copper was off by 0.5% at $6,403 per tonne, compared with $6,435 per tonne at Thurs...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBHP, tender 90,000 tonnes of 57% Fe Yandi fines, traded at the April average of two 62% Fe indices, adjusted for Fe content, plus a discount of...Read More
Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsBMO, which recently hosted one of the world's biggest corporate mining gatherings in Florida, expects global copper production to fall by 4% from 2018 levels, by 2030.Read More
Share this articleAn underground driller at work at the now closed Max molybdenum mine near Trout Lake, British Columbia. Note the veins of massive molybdenite. Photo Courtesy Roca Mines Inc.Cameo Cobalt Corp. [CRU-TSX; CRUUF-OTC; SY7N-FWB] shares were active Thursday March 7after the company said it had closed the previously announced acquisition of the Max Mine and Willa properties. Both are loc...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices cfr China and fob Australia ended the week in opposite directions even as Chinese participants remained unsure about the future of port restrictions pertaining to imported coal cargoes.An April laycan, 85,000-tonne premium low-vol cargo changed hands at $213.52 per tonne cfr China, while a 35,000-tonne mid-vol cargo changed hands at $217 per tonne fob Australia.A cargo...Read More
The Comex copper price fell in US morning trading on Friday March 8 following the release of disappointing data from the world's two largest economies, the United States and China.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 2.30 cents to $2.8875 per lb. Market participants pointed to waning investor appetite for metals amid weaker than exp...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Friday March 8, with Asian buying subdued due to weaker Chinese trade data while continued strength in the dollar index deterred commodity investment. Over the morning, both copper and nickel futures - which have largely traded in tandem over February and March - edged lower despite both metals exhibiting t...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday March 8 *Copper -$169.53 (-1,142.09 yuan) Aluminium -$281.84 (-1,898.68 yuan) Zinc -$142.16 (-957.72 yuan) Nickel -$43.14 (-290.65 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 21 points in pre-opening trade. The drop in index futures was prompted by a 4.4% fall by the Shanghai Composite Index following news of a slowdown in Chinese trade.Index futures moved lower following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for January Housing Starts was an increase to 1.190 million units fr...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday March 8:Minor metalsBismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 47,000-49,000 yuan per tonne from 47,500-49,500 yuanChromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $8,635-9,400 per tonne from $8,650-9,400Cobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $14.60-15.75 per lb from $14.85-16.00Cobalt MB free market standard...Read More