Key data from the March 15 pricing session in London: Key drivers: Prices edge lower again in the second half of the week although the midweek drop to low the $14s deters some consumers from buying again, in anticipation of weaker prices. One so-far isolated sale at $13.20 per lb...Read More
Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX: TRQ; NYSE: TRQ) reported 2018 income of $394.3 million-a 255.4% jump over 2017's $110.9 million-driven by an increase in gold production and sales from its Oyu Tologi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.Gold production surged 150% year-on-year to 285,000 ounces, while copper production of 159,100 tonnes marked a 1.1% increase over 2017. The income jump was driven by an inc...Read More
* China's refined copper output in January and February rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year to 1.34 million tonnes, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.* Output on a daily basis works out at around 22,712 tonnes, according to Reuters calculations, down 16.1 percent from December's rate of around 27,065 tonnes* The bureau does not typically provide individual monthly numbers for January a...Read More
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) announced Friday that the $245-milion power station project for its Tanami gold mine in northern Australia had been completed.The world's No.2 gold and copper producer, which has fully owned and operated the mine since 2002, said the project included the installation of two power stations, a 66 kV interconnected power line, and a 450 km natural gas pipeline.Newm...Read More
Poland's Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has lambasted state-controlled miner KGHM (WSE:KGH) for buying the Sierra Gorda copper mine in northern Chile, saying that company has spent more than PLN 19.6 billion (about $5.2 billion) managing the operation and the ore processing plant over the last three years.The Office, which looks into the way the Polish state operates and how it spends public funds, sa...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices have fallen by 900 rupees ($13) per tonne this week with demand for both semi-finished and finished long steel products remaining subdued and inquiries limited.The price for Indian domestic secondary billet, assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday March 15, was 31,300-31,500 rupees ($450-453) per tonne ex-mill. This was down by 900 rupees per tonne compared with l...Read More
Fitch Solutions has predicted that copper prices will rise to an average $6,900 per tonne in 2019 before reaching $7,100 per tonne in 2020, with tight fundamentals and record-low warehousing stocks underpinning the market."Tight fundamentals, underpinned by record-low [London Metal Exchange] stocks and improving market sentiment as the probability of a US-China trade agreement rises have boosted c...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The copper market in the United States bounced back in trading on the morning of Friday March 15, with a softer dollar and positive data boosting the marketplace.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.95 cents to $2.9110 per lb."While we acknowledge that copper is at present facing macro/fundamentals headwinds, we think copper will s...Read More
Base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were mostly up week on week on Friday March 15, with nickel stocks registering a 13.3% gain.Deliverable nickel stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have risen by 1,438 tonnes or 13.3% since March 8 to 12,217 tonnes as of March 15. Over the week to Friday, warehouse company Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai had the most inflows into its sh...Read More
In a reversal of its closing fortunes on March 14, the London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract increased to $6,415 per tonne during morning trading on March 15, up by $11 per tonne from the $6,404-per-tonne close the previous day.A significant 44,800 tonnes of material was recorded to have arrived almost exclusively into Asian warehouses as of 9am on March 15, with global stocks of mat...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday March 15*Copper -$120.98 (-815.01 yuan) Aluminium -$312.74 (-2,106.89 yuan) Zinc -$99.95 (-673.36 yuan) Nickel -$137.75 (-927.97 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More
WASHINGTON - The United States and Brazil could work together to build small nuclear reactors, as South America's largest economy prepares to open uranium mining and related areas to foreign investment, Brazil's mines and energy minister told Reuters on Friday.Brazil is preparing legislation that would clear the way for both private and foreign investment in prospecting and mining for uranium in t...Read More
Strong demand again drove coated steel prices higher in the United States, while the price for cold-rolled coil remained steady week on week, according to market participants.Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for the domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel base price moved to $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Thursday March 14 from $41.50 per cwt a week earlier; and the all-in price for...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil remained unchanged this past week, although offers from the country were heard at higher levels.Fastmarkets MB's weekly assessment for Brazil-origin slab stood at $500-540 per tonne fob on Friday March 15, stable week on week.Offers from Brazil to the US market were heard close to $560 per tonne fob, but market participants were still doubtful whether...Read More
Prices for most imported flat steel in South America rose this past week, with galvanized sheet leading the uptrend as Chinese mills offered at substantially higher levels.Fastmarkets' hot-dipped galvanized coil assessment stood at $640-660 per tonne cfr on March 15 compared with $630-640 per tonne the week prior. It is the highest level since November 16, when prices were $685-700 per tonne."Chin...Read More
Fastmarkets has discontinued its weekly assessments of the Latin America rebar export price, which was reported on a dollar per tonne fob main port basis, with effect from Friday March 15.After a consultation period lasting two months, Fastmarkets has discontinued its weekly assessments after receiving feedback that there was now limited spot liquidity in the market for this material, with most vo...Read More
Fastmarkets MB is extending the consultation period to discontinue its weekly export price assessment of Latin America-origin hot-dipped galvanized coil, reported on a dollar per tonne fob main port basis.The extension is based on feedback and government data showing that producers in the region might be returning to export markets in 2019, Further investigation is also needed to verify if sp...Read More
Import tariffs on steel products in the United States created under Section 232 are likely to remain in place at least until the end of 2019, the chief executive officer of Gerdau, Gustavo Werneck, said during an event at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday March 13.The move from Donald Trump's administration boosted metal spread margins for steel producers in the US. This spread - calculated...Read More
Prices for coated steel products in Turkey decreased in the seven days to Friday March 15, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets.Sources told Fastmarkets that demand is unlikely to improve in March because of market uncertainty ahead of the mayoral elections being held across the country on the last day of the month.The export market was also poor because of weak deman...Read More