Handan city, a major steelmaking hub in northern China's Hebei province, has issued production curbs on key sectors for the rest of 2021 to fight against air pollution during the smog-prone winter heating season. From Thursday November 18 until the end of the year, steel mills in the city are required to cut their blast furnace (BF) production by up to 100%, depending on the grades assigned to the...Read More

Weaker demand combined with lower offers from all origins, spearheaded by recent Chinese price falls, put further downward pressure on South American flat-rolled steel import prices in the week ended Friday November 19.Despite offers from China continuing to drop - in what was widely considered by market participants to be short-selling from traders - buyers remained hesitant about booking new car...Read More

An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and the latest price moves.Janie Davies, Dalila Ouerghi,...Read More

Importers of ferrous scrap were lured back to market in the week ended Friday November 19 by lower prices, which were precipitated by a period of lackluster buying activity.?EUR?Turkish mills' import prices rebounded by the week's end after deals at lower prices?EUR?US sales halted with exporters reluctant to reduce their selling prices?EUR?Vietnamese buyers were actively seeking more material aft...Read More

An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves.Jessica Long, Zihao Li and...Read More

Sellers of physical copper are holding out for a higher premium for 2022 contracts in the United States.No major deals were reported by the end of the American Copper Council (ACC) fall meeting in Miami, Florida this past week, although there was talk of a US copper premium in the 10-cents-per-lb range.In the US, Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9 cents...Read More

Mining and metals companies say they're serious about transitioning to a sustainable economy, but whether they can afford to is another matter.Achieving decarbonization throughout the supply chain is going to require a huge amount of investment in technology to reimagine production processes and redesign existing sites.Last week, the International Aluminium Institute estimated that to decarbonize...Read More

The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed, but largely up at the 5pm close on Friday November 19, after a week of choppy trading."We seem to be following a similar pattern to last week," Marex LME desk analyst Alastair Munro said."Macro-inspired weakness during the first part of the week has given way to a bout of short-covering [activity] into the weekend," he added.The three-mon...Read More

The risks that the Chinese government will introduce export duties on steel products will increase if export volumes surge when prices stabilize again after the recent decline, market sources told Fastmarkets over the week to Friday November 19."A sharp rebound in export volumes will draw attention from the central authorities," a Shanghai-based trader said.Fears have emerged that the Chinese gove...Read More

The seaborne low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) cfr price fell further in the week to November 19 amid weak demand; seaborne coking coal prices in both the cfr and fob markets also inched down on Friday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $422.68 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $348.75 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, f...Read More

What are the silver market footprints signaling a rally?by Samuel Briggs via KinesisIn this week's Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire explains the significance of gold rising alongside the US dollar and reveals the silver market footprints signaling a rally. The lifelong wholesaler expertly unpacks Monday's COT report and predicts the gold price sweet spot ahead of BIS Options Expiry.Don't miss...Read More

It looks like our bankers are finally...by Harvey Organ of Harvey Organ BlogNOV18/GOLD CLOSED DOWN $8.40 TO $1850.60//SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS TO $24.84//COMEX GOLD STANDING INCREASES TO 6.6469 TONNES AND SILVER OZ STANDING INCREASES TO 6.5 MILLION OZ//ALARM BELLS GOING OFF IN TURKEY AS THEIR LIRA PLUMMETS TO 11.1 TO THE DOLLAR//TURKEY'S USA DOLLAR RESERVES FALL TO EXTREME LOWS//STRANGELY THE NUMBER O...Read More

Giga Metals discuss demand for battery metals and the clean energy transitionSPONSOREDgiga metals corporationLake Resources nearing lithium production in ArgentinaSPONSOREDlake resourcesDiscovery crowns Kingwest's shift to gold producerSPONSOREDkingwest resourcesBase Metals Outlook: Energy transition underpins growth forecastSPONSOREDThe country's ANLA National Environmental Licensing Authorit...Read More

Giga Metals discuss demand for battery metals and the clean energy transitionSPONSOREDgiga metals corporationLake Resources nearing lithium production in ArgentinaSPONSOREDlake resourcesDiscovery crowns Kingwest's shift to gold producerSPONSOREDkingwest resourcesBase Metals Outlook: Energy transition underpins growth forecastSPONSOREDThe deposit now hosts an indicated resource of 2.72 million...Read More

Aluminium billet premiums were steady across the globe on Friday November 19, remaining close to all-time highs.EuropeEuropean billet premiums are unchanged this week at record highs but liquidity is low, with most buyers covered until the end of the year.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,450-1,500 per tonne on November 19, unch...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed, but largely up at the 5pm close on Friday November 19, after a week of choppy trading."We seem to be following a similar pattern to last week," Marex LME desk analyst Alastair Munro said."Macro-inspired weakness during the first part of the week has given way to a bout of short-covering [activity] into the weekend," he added.The three-mon...Read More

Giga Metals discuss demand for battery metals and the clean energy transitionSPONSOREDgiga metals corporationLake Resources nearing lithium production in ArgentinaSPONSOREDlake resourcesDiscovery crowns Kingwest's shift to gold producerSPONSOREDkingwest resourcesBase Metals Outlook: Energy transition underpins growth forecastSPONSOREDThe 40% was acquired following approval from the Court of Qu...Read More

Brazilian aluminium maker Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) expects demand for extrusion billet, its most important primary product, to remain steady - at least - during 2022, after significant growth was reported in 2021, head of primary aluminium division Alexandre Vianna said on Friday November 19.A surge in the country's billet consumption came alongside heated construction market, which...Read More

Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) indices edged down slightly in the week to Friday November 19. Spot activity was thin, with the market still focusing on 2022 contract negotiations; no number for benchmark charges has...Read More