Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP), formerly known as BTG Pactual Commodities, has exited London Metal Exchange warehouse operations in Malaysia, according to an LME notice published on Friday March 8. The London-based commodity trader has been reducing its physical base metals trading operations since November 2018, liquidating aluminium stocks and cutting down its team of physical tra...Read More
Base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were mostly down week on week on Friday March 8, with lead leading the descent in percentage terms, while copper stocks registered a 4% gain. Deliverable lead stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 928 tonnes or 3.2% since March 1 to 28,427 tonnes as of March 8. Over the week to Friday, warehouse company Guochutianwei in...Read More
Coated steel base prices firmed in the United States this past week due to steady demand, while cold-rolled coil was steady compared with the previous week, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for the domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel base price moved to $41.50 per cwt ($830 per short ton) on Thursday March 7 from $41 per cwt a week earlier, and the all-i...Read More
Prices for coated steel products in Turkey decreased in the seven days to Friday March 8, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets.Demand was unlikely to improve in March, sources told Fastmarkets, because of market uncertainty in the period before mayoral elections to be held across the country on March 31.Buyers want to see if end-user demand improves after the elections and have...Read More
Some steel coil prices in Turkey decreased again in the week ended Friday March 8, with buying activity remaining subdued.The market is unlikely to improve in March because of the uncertainty in the build-up to Turkey's mayoral elections held on the last day of the month, sources told Fastmarkets. Market participants want to wait and see if end-user demand improves after elections are over.Additio...Read More
China's export hot-rolled coil (HRC)trading was thin this week, with sellers still insisting on prices too high for most overseas buyers to accept on Friday March 8.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,830 yuan ($569-571) per tonne, narrowing downward 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,770-3,780 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneTrading was thinner in Shanghai compare...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were up slightly on Friday March 8 amid pressure from elevated offer levels, although some buyers were still unwilling to increase their bids this week, market participants said. Fastmarkets' daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $480-490 per tonne cfr Manila on Friday, widening upward by $5 per tonne from $480-485 per...Read More
South Africa's Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) has found a 100.83 carat gem-quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.The D-colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine."The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: Hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More
In this opinion piece, De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver outlines the diamond miner's approach to creating a more inclusive world for all.For more than a century, International Women's Day has been celebrated annually on March 8 to recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity...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
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