Serbia's RTB Bor copper smelter, owned by Chinese miner Zijin, has been suspended for a reconstruction project due to excessive sulfur dioxide emissions, according to local media reports. The suspension came after the Bor city government filed a criminal charge against the Chinese state-owned miner after registering SO2 levels that exceeded limits on three days in a row last week, Serbian Monitor...Read More

France-headquartered international banking group BNP Paribas has said it will end operations at its Geneva commodity trade financing desk just weeks after the closure of its Paris desk in August, according to a statement on Wednesday September 23. The move is part of the ongoing fallout after the bank racked up several large losses in its lending unit this year and is part of a wider move in the b...Read More

Brazilian trade chamber Camex confirmed this week that the country's self-imposed quota for duty-free imports of aluminium had been exhausted, but it was expected to resolve soon upon an additional volume of around 30,000 tonnes, Fastmarkets has learnt.According to Camex data, the volume for which import licenses had been issued reached the full-year 2020 limit of 150,000 tonnes on September 9. Ma...Read More

Red 5 set to build company-changing mineSPONSOREDred 5The hub of the project is the 2,800 tonnes per day Copper Rand mill, which Mast says can be brought online with relatively little work."The mill requires upgrades to its electrical and control systems. We would look to restart at closer to 1,000tpd and as we put the various former mines into operation we can increase that tonnage. It will be a...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices began to consolidate during the morning session on Friday September 25 after the broad-based sell off which emerged after Monday's United States equities plunge began to fade and buying pressure re-emerged across the complex. Despite a consistently stronger dollar continuing to trade above 94 this morning, most recently around 94.40, the US doll...Read More

Turkish prices in the domestic market for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil (pre-painted galvanized iron or PPGI) fell in the week to September 25 after buyers retreated. Buyers held back from making purchases to see if price falls would continue, market sources said. Prices were under downward pressure from weakening global prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coa...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed but little changed this morning, Friday September 25, this after once again running into dip-buying on Thursday.* A late rally in US equities on Thursday lent support to broader markets.* US Congress is working on a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that could be voted on next week.* Asian-Pacific equities were for the most part stronger this...Read More

The domestic steel hot-rolled coil price in Europe remained firm on Friday September 25 due to a combination of limited supply and a lack of competitive imports offers, rather than booming demand, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?488.02 ($568.97) per tonne on Friday, up by just ?,?0.21 per tonne from ?,...Read More

Prices for hot-rolled coil in Turkish market were flat or lower in the week to Friday September 25, as a result of weak demand and expectations of further declines, sources told Fastmarkets.Some market participants expect a fall in prices due to slower demand, a drop in Chinese prices and a weaker Turkish lira against the United States dollar.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel HRC index export,...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 14 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the August Durable Goods Orders report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 1.5% versus an upwardly revised gain of 11.7% in July. Actual was an increase of 0.4% . Excluding transportation orders, consensus was an increa...Read More

ArcelorMittal has resumed operations at blast furnace No3 at its plant in Bremen, Germany, after six month of downtime, the company told Fastmarkets this week.The decision to relight the furnace was based on the current recovery in steel demand and the need to boost pig iron output due to the relining of a blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Gent in Belgium, the company said.Read More

Poland's steel rebar producers have pushed for new price increases this week on good buying activity, rising raw materials costs and a lack of competitive imports in the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 25.The rebar market in the country moved up this week on fresh offers from domestic mills, encouraged by good buying, rising rolling costs and tighter availability of rebar with...Read More

 QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong,If this “Great Reset” movement pushes gold underground, what would that mean for gold producers? I recall reading on your blog that when gold was confiscated in the United States to devalue the Dollar, gold producers were happy because governments started buying their product at a fixed price which allowed the producers to avoid market risk. Do you see a s...Read More

The Brazil export pig iron market was subdued in the week to Friday September 25 on reduced demand in China. Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil at $360-370 per tonne on Friday, down by $5 per tonne from $365-375 per tonne one week earlier. In the south of Brazil, export offers were reported $370 per tonne fob. Only one supplier, who has...Read More

The price of shredded scrap imported into India continued to move down this week, with trading slow due to poor market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 25.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $ 309.58 per tonne on Friday, down from $317.57 per tonne one week previous.Two deals were heard for shredded this week, one at $3...Read More

The market for UK inter-merchant light iron scrap was stable in the week to Friday September 25, with enough domestic demand and limited availability offsetting a recent drop-off in export demand to traditional destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, industry sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inte...Read More

Early during the week to Friday September 25, pig iron import deal prices in the United States overtook the market level in China, which had been driving the global market since March, but eased later in the assessment period. Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US softened to $380-387 per tonne on Friday from $385-387 per tonne one week earlier. One spot b...Read More

A Turkish steel producer broke the silence in the deep-sea scrap market on Friday September 25 after two quiet weeks, securing deals for two cargoes, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 12,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 10,000 tonnes of shredded, 1,000 tonnes of bonus and 1,000 tonnes of busheling at an average price of $299 per tonne...Read More

Sentiment in the Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) pig iron export market turned negative amid falling prices in the Chinese raw materials and finished steel product markets in the week to Thursday September 24.The typically strong demand for finished steel products in the September-October period has not appeared in China this year, sources said.Market sources expect the housing market, i...Read More

China imported 263,032 tonnes of alumina in August, up 119% year on year from 120,000 tonnes in August 2019, according to Chinese customs data released on Thursday September 24.This follows China's alumina imports hitting a four-year high of 417,263 tonnes' last month.Alumina importsAugust imports: 263,032 tonnes, up by 119% year on year, down by 40% month on monthJanuary-August imports: 2,619,015...Read More