Fastmarkets' assessed nickel full plates cif Shanghai premium increased 69% week on week on Tuesday June 18 due to an open import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, hitting an historic high since Fastmarkets launched the premium in April 2016. Fastmarkets assessment of the low-high premium for 99.8% purity nickel, full plate, cif Shanghai surged to $350-410 per tonne on Tuesday June 18 from $2...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices soared across the $110-per-tonne-cfr mark again on Tuesday June 18 after a dip on Monday, amid bullish trading in derivatives and physical markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $112.28 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $111.08 per tonne cfr Qingdao,up $4.07 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $114.46 per tonne cfr Qing...Read More
Dollar index rally will give gold a much-needed consolidation period.China's industrial slowdown should bolster safe-haven gold demand.Despite gold's headwind, mining shares still enjoy a powerful tailwind.Gold is facing renewed headwinds in the form of a strengthening U.S. dollar and a comeback in equity prices. Yet despite these obstacles, an abundance of evidence shows that investors ar...Read More
The price of steel billet exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained stable over the week ended on Tuesday June 18, while trading activity continued to be sluggish in the major sales outlets."Everyone expected demand to pick up after Ramadan, especially in the Middle East, but it did not happen," one trader said, adding that the reason for the weak buying was low finished...Read More
Gold futures finished lower on Monday, following a four-session streak of gains, pressured by uncertainty ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve that's expected to offer hints on the central bank's plan on interest rates. International trade clashes and a concern over a weakening global economy, however, limited losses for the haven metal. The yellow metal for August delivery GCQ19, -0.0...Read More
Turkish steel producers have paused their deep-sea purchases after a buying spree over the past week, sources said on Tuesday June 18.Mills started to book scrap last week following a downturn in prices due to oversupply and softening domestic values in the United States. Turkish steel mills booked eight deep-sea cargoes last week and one at the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 18 that are worth another look.Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco is running its Chuquicamata division at half capacity, due to strike action by three unions at the site in northern Chile. GFG Alliance, the parent of Liberty Steel USA, is open to possible mergers, a top company executive told attendees during a key...Read More
Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco is running its Chuquicamata division at half capacity, due to strike action by three unions at the site in northern Chile.The company is aiming to reach 60% throughput soon, Codelco said on Sunday June 16.The 3,200 employees who are members of the three unions walked out on Friday, but another 1,400 workers are continuing to run operations, Cod...Read More
Vale has suspended all nickel-processing activities at its On??a Puma plant in the Brazilian state of Para on judicial orders, it said on June 17.The Brazilian multi-metals miner gave no reason for the suspension of nickel processing, which follows the halt on all mining activities at the site in September 2017 following judicial action taken against Vale by Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutio...Read More
Fastmarkets' assessed nickel full plates cif Shanghai premium increased 69% week on week on Tuesday June 18 due to an open import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, hitting an historic high since Fastmarkets launched the premium in April 2016. Fastmarkets assessment of the low-high premium for 99.8% purity nickel, full plate, cif Shanghai surged to $350-410 per tonne on Tuesday June 18 from $2...Read More
Terrafame will be the main supplier of battery-grade refined nickel products to the European electric vehicle (EV) market when demand penetrates the continent, company CEO Joni Lukkaroinen told Fastmarkets in an interview on June 5.Finnish multi-metal company Terrafame, which is 22.7% owned by Dutch commodity trading company Trafigura, has been ramping up nickel and cobalt production for the past...Read More
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up during morning trading on Tuesday June 18, taking their cue from the Dow Jones Index which edged higher overnight in anticipation of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which gets underway today. Recent comments from Fed officials have given rise to the expectation that interest rates will be cut in the near term, prec...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States will drop as low as $500 per short ton ($25 per hundredweight) in the coming months before climbing to $720 per ton ($36 per cwt) in early 2020, according to top executives from World Steel Dynamics (WSD)."We think [the HRC price] can drop to $500 [per ton] in the months ahead, and then we'll rally to about $720 when we have the steel boom early next...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producers postponed a planned domestic price increase to July with imports into the country becoming less expensive, Carlos Loureiro, president of distributor association Inda, said on Tuesday June 18.Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) had announced a 10% increase for June, which did not materialize, sources told Fastmarkets. Now, the readjustment is looking closer to 8%, w...Read More
Prices for imported rebar in the United Arab Emirates have weakened over the past week, in line with lower offers and a lack of demand, sources said on Tuesday June 18.Domestic rebar The domestic rebar market in the UAE was sluggish due to a drop in demand during the summer period. The UAE's largest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 1,881 dirhams ($512) per tonne ex-works this week,...Read More
The price for flat steel products imported in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia was fairly stable over the past week, except for hot-rolled coil, while the demand for material was limited, sources said on Tuesday June 18.UAEOffers for HRC were at around $520-530 per tonne cfr from all supplying regions this week, but demand was sluggish due to falling prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price...Read More
Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped further on Tuesday June 18 amid a sustained bearish outlook for the sector among most market participants.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,730-3,750 yuan ($539-541) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,740-3,750 yuan per tonne, unchangedParticipants remained pessimistic about price trends in the HRC market, and are not ex...Read More
RAPAPORT... Business Botswana called out De Beers for failing to providesubstantial opportunities for the country's businesspeople, ahead of the miner'sforthcoming negotiations over a new sales agreement. "The benefits deriving from the diamond industry haveunfortunately not been enjoyed by Batswana entrepreneurs," Gobusamang Keebine,president of the employers' advocacy group, said in a speec...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tango Mining sold a 5.28-carat rough diamond for $7,730 per carat, boosting sales from it Oena project in South Africa. The diamond was one of 190 stones totaling 333.25 carats, which the miner sold at a tender at the Kimberley Diamond Exchange in the third quarter ending May 31. The miner achieved an overallaverage price of $1,198 per carat for rough at the sale. The miner...Read More
RAPAPORT... HRD Antwerp has launched a new drop-off center in London'sHatton Garden, its first foray into the UK market, it said Tuesday. The location, which is part of an effort to combat theaccidental mixture of natural and lab-grown stones, will serve as a deliverypoint for UK jewelers sending diamonds and jewelry in for grading. Itemssubmitted to the center will then be shipped to HRD's g...Read More