Peruvian copper and gold mining projects could return to full swing in the third quarter 2020 after a national lockdown led to significant disruptions and a sharp drop in export earnings, a local organization said. Peru, the second-largest copper and zinc producer in the world, is estimated to suffer a loss of $4-5 billion in absolute terms due to the coronavirus pandemic-led lockdown, the Institu...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have moved above $25 per hundredweight ($500 per short ton) for the first time in more than seven weeks on expectations of higher scrap costs and cautious optimism about improving demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.21 per cwt ($504.20 per ton) on Thursday May 28, up by 1.6% from $24.82 per cwt on Wedn...Read More

While increased domestic flat steel prices could invite more imports into the United States, according to market participants, preliminary Census data shows that shipments of finished steel products in April declined on a year-on-year basis.Domestic flat-rolled steel prices have gone up in the past two weeks as a result of higher scrap costs, slowly recovering demand and mills' second attempt to r...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has received a request for a review of existing anti-dumping measures applied to hot-rolled coil products from Russian steelmaker Severstal, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 28.The EC set definitive duties on HRC from Russia at a fixed rate of ?,?17.60 ($19.33) per tonne in October 2017. The Russian steelmaker was assigned the lowest rate of duty am...Read More

ArcelorMittal has restarted operations in the hot zone at its Zenica plant in Bosnia this week, and plans to re-open the rolling mills in June, the company's spokesperson told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 28.Last week, ArcelorMittal decided to pause its Bosnian operations for 10 days due to a sharp drop in steel demand in the region.The company put its blast furnace, wth capacity for 1.1 million to...Read More

NEW TOOLS IN ITS LATEST MICROMINE UPGRADESPONSOREDmicromineCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesRiveros said a reduction of personnel at mining operations and the suspension of projects cut output.In a video presentation,...Read More

NEW TOOLS IN ITS LATEST MICROMINE UPGRADESPONSOREDmicromineCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesSandfire acquired the Tshukudu project via the takeover of MOD Resources late last year and set an initial A$10-12 million bud...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe company has also undertaken a 25:1 share consolidation reducing its share count to 64.4 million. Its shares now trade on the TSX exchange under the ticker MARI.Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for April Durable Goods Orders was a drop of 19.0% versus a decline of 16.6% in March. Actual was a drop of 17.2%. Excluding Transportation Orders, April Durable Goods Orders was a drop of...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices increased slightly on news of fresh cargo deals heard on Thursday May 28.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $246 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $251 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $256 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the same region...Read More

Seaborne iron ore went up on Thursday May 28 with mid-grade iron ores such as Newman fines and Pilbara Blend fines from Australia performing well, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $97.09 per tonne, up $1.72 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.89 per tonne, up $0.89 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices continued to fall on Thursday May 28 and spot market activity was muted, with market participants lowering their estimates.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.23 per tonne, down $2.07 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $119.77 per tonne, down $1.93 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.39 per tonne, d...Read More

Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB has resumed production at its Kiruna mine after a "seismic event" last week, the company said on Wednesday May 27.All operations at the Kiruna mine were stopped on May 18 following an earthquake with a reported magnitude of 3.3 on the local magnitude (Richter) scale.The company managed to resume operations on May 23, it said, with production levels of abo...Read More

Prices for bulk cargoes of ferrous scrap exported from Japan rose over the week to Wednesday May 27 amid solid export demand and stronger domestic markets, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan rose to ?23,500-24,000 ($218-222) per tonne on Wednesday May 27, up ?1,000 per tonne week on week.Small quantities of H2 were heard so...Read More

Idoru Trading's Nathan Fruchter knows how it feels to be ahead of the curve in the Asian steel scrap markets. The New York-based trader sold his first cargo to Bangladesh in the late 1980s and his first containers to Vietnam in the early 2000s - back in the infancy of both markets.Fruchter was also an early riser in his calls for a Taiwan ferrous scrap futures contract, having lobbied for such a d...Read More

Base metals prices were mixed during morning trading on Thursday May 28, with geopolitical tensions still weighing on the complex.The tensions did not appear to phase the LME copper price, which was the best performer in the complex and recovered just over 1% after closing 1.9% lower yesterday. The LME three-month copper price was up $59.50 from the May 27 close reach to $5,319 per tonne duri...Read More

Prices for cobalt salts in China, including cobalt sulfate and tetroxide, continued their upswing in the first half of this week, but the upward momentum has slowed after suppliers found it increasingly difficult to conclude deals at higher levels. Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China rose to 46,500-47,500 yuan ($6,493-6,632) per tonne on Wednesday May 27, up by 500...Read More

Cobalt is the battery raw material most likely to face supply disruption or inefficiency during Covid-19, according to a poll conducted during a Fastmarkets webinar last week.About 50% of respondents to the poll said cobalt would be most prone to disrupted supply or limited availability as a result of Covid-19; nickel and lithium each received 20% of respondents' votes, while the remaining 10% wen...Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices were unchanged over the past week amid weak demand, but export prices fell due to a depreciation in the yuan. The Chinese currency was pegged at 7.1092 yuan per $1 on Wednesday May 27, compared with 7.0956 yuan to $1 a week earlier. The mixed performance by stainless steel prices comes amid an unclear trend in the price of nickel, a Southeast Asian buyer sai...Read More

Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX: WDO) has released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its wholly owned Kiena mine complex, 15 km northwest of Val-d'Or and 100 km east of Rouyn-Noranda in Quebec.The PEA estimates a mine life of eight years producing an average of 85,931 oz. gold annually at cash operating costs of US$374 per oz. and all-in sustaining costs (AISCs) of US$512 per ounce.The early-sta...Read More