Spot copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TCs/RCs) firmed in the latter half of February after Chinese smelters returned to the market for March and April cargoes. Fastmarkets calculated the copper concentrates TC/RC index at $74.3 per tonne/ 7.43 cents per lb as of February 28, up marginally from $74.20 per tonne/ 7.42 cents per lb for the first two weeks of February. TCs...Read More
Brazilian domestic flat-rolled steel and reinforcing bar prices fell during the week ended Friday March 1, with discounts from past months consolidating in the market due to low demand.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for Brazilian domestic hot-rolled coil was 2,425-2,470 Reais ($649-661) per tonne ex-works on March 1, down from 2,470-2,650 Reais per tonne ex-works a month earlier.The as...Read More
Prices for domestic beams in the United States have risen after recent mill hikes were passed through to the marketplace, while import beam prices dipped on confirmed lower-priced purchases from Luxembourg, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the price for domestic W8x8-in beams at $43.25 per hundredweight ($865 per short ton) fob mill on Thursday February 28, up 3.6%...Read More
Evraz, one of the largest Russian steelmakers, continues to modernize its Nizhniy Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK) to reduce production costs and the burden on the region's ecology.The company appointed the equipment suppliers for the reconstruction of blast furnace No 6, which was closed in the first quarter of 2018, earlier in February.PaulWurth will supply the technical equipment, while the el...Read More
Light iron steel scrap prices in the United Kingdom were maintained at their previous level in the week ended Friday March 1, consolidating five straight weeks of increases.But a slowdown in export business and the increasing strength of sterling versus the dollar was likely to be a drag on the British steel scrap markets in the next few days, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price ass...Read More
Coated-steel prices in Turkey were mostly stable in the seven days to Friday March 1, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets. Demand is unlikely to improve in March, because of the uncertainty before the mayoral elections to be held on March 31, sources told Fastmarkets. Buyers want to see if end-user demand improves after the elections and have postponed buying as a...Read More
GABORONE - Botswana's president on Friday dismissed a report that the country had offered Zimbabwe a $600 million diamond-backed loan and said his government had only offered to guarantee a $100 million private credit line for Botswana companies to invest in their troubled neighbour.Zimbabwe's secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs was quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper on Tuesday sa...Read More
The term ‘mining auction’ refers to a range of disposals in the mining sector, including the disposal of scrap and/or surplus yellow equipment, assets from business rescue and/or liquidation, and the disposal of mining concessions, explains Hogan Lovells partner Nicholas Veltman.The primary distinction between a bidding process and an auction process is that, under a bidding process, t...Read More
As this is the final year of the Kimberley Process’ (KP’s) three-year review, the organisation must grasp the opportunity to correct failings in the system designed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the distribution chain, World Diamond Council (WDC) president Stephane Fischler told a special meeting conducted on Thursday as part of the United Nations General Assembly's se...Read More
Pig iron prices in Brazil and the United States were stable for the week ended Friday March 1 due to weak trading and different price expectations among buyers and sellers.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Brazilian pig iron exports from southeastern Minas Gerais state was $340 per tonne fob on Friday, unchanged from the previous week. Meanwhile, the assessment for pig iron e...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India fell by $11 per tonne this week following deals done at lower prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 1.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $328.33 per tonne cfr on March 1, down $11.11 per tonne from $339.44 per tonne cfr on February 22.Deals were heard for shredded material into...Read More
Turkish scrap import prices recovered at the end of the week on Friday March 1 with news of a fresh deep-sea cargo, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $310.50 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $320.50...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained stable over the week, while suppliers seek a price rise in the United States, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron was $335-340 per tonne fob Black Sea on February 28, unchanged week on week.The latest deals for material have been made with buyers in th...Read More
UK prices for alloy steel scrap were unchanged on Friday March 1, reflecting the relatively stable prices in the markets for nickel and molybdic oxide.Traders in the UK remarked on a very flat and stable market, with no apparent pressures on prices. Supply and demand were unchanged and unexceptional, sources said.The price of domestic UK 18/8 stainless steel scrap solids on March 1 remained at ?8...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters continued to aim for higher prices on Friday March 1 following futures-led gains in the domestic market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,860 yuan ($574-577) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,760-3,820 yuan per tonne, up 20-60 yuan per tonneFurther gains in the future market gave spot prices more upward momentum during the day.T...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday March 01* Copper -$167.67 (-1,126.68 yuan) Aluminium -$339.23 (-2,279.58 yuan) Zinc -$153.96 (-1,034.57 yuan) Nickel -$248.5 (-1,669.9 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Friday March 1, with a slight uptick in the US dollar index capping gains while disappointing Chinese and European PMI data continues to show weakness across global manufacturing sectors. That said, both copper and nickel, which are widely used as components in construction and infrastructure works, have co...Read More
Prices in the seaborne coking coal spot market moved in opposite directions on Friday March 1, with some Chinese buyers becoming more willing to pay more for materials while fob Australia offers start to show some weakness.A top Australian brand was sold via a miner's tender at around $217-218 per tonne to a Chinese trader, sources said during the day. A cargo in the same segment was traded around...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rebounded for a second time this week on Friday March 1 on gains in the futures market, while the export segment also received a small boost.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,780-3,830 yuan ($565-572) per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,780-3,830 yuan per tonne, up 50 yuan per tonneRebar futures posted gains for two consecutive days, which re...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More