The global tin supply squeeze shows no sign of abating, pushing United States premiums close to $2,000 per tonne and European premiums to new all-time highs in the two weeks to Tuesday March 23.European, United States premiums hit all-time highs; supply tightness continues globallyTaiwan cif premium holds at $400-500 per tonneTin cash-to-three-month spread hovers around $2,000-per-tonne backwardat...Read More

Nicholas Quek has been appointed chief executive officer of Triland Metals Singapore Pte Ltd (TMS), with effect from Monday March 22.Quek joined TMS in April 1, 2019. Before becoming CEO, he was head of sales & trading.He replaces Shanthini Thaker, who...Read More

Minera Los Pelambres, the copper mine in Chile operated by Antofagasta, has reached a new labor deal with the trade union representing its employees following a period of government-mediated negotiations, the company said on Tuesday March 23.The new agreement will be valid for 36 months, and includes improvements in benefits and operational practices, as well as a bonus for agreeing the deal, the...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have steamed past $66 per hundredweight ($1,320 per short ton) and still have room to grow, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $66.36 per cwt ($1,327.20 per ton) on Wednesday March 24, up by 1.02% from $65.69 per cwt on Tuesday March 23 and 2.42% higher than $64.79...Read More

British Steel is increasing the use of scrap in its steelmaking process to reduce its carbon emissions, alongside investments in new equipment, the company said on Wednesday March 24.Increasing the use of recycled scrap has led to significant emissions and environmental benefits at its steelmaking plant in Scunthorpe, northern England, the company said. And it had plans to enhance this with more l...Read More

Fastmarkets launches a weekly price assessment for domestic steel hot-rolled coil in Spain from today, Wednesday March 24.Following a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets has launched a weekly assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Spain, ?,? per tonne.This new assessment for domestic HRC prices in Spain and the daily index for similar material in Italy, launched o...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Wednesday March 24, reaching their highest level since June 2008, sources have told Fastmarkets.Domestic prices in Italy have also increased day on day, supported by a material shortage, strong demand and rising import offers.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at...Read More

Steel rebar prices in the north of Europe were stable in the week to Wednesday March 24, despite subdued buying activity, because of high feedstock prices, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?630-660 ($749-785) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged for the second week in a row. The assessment...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationSignificantly improving the historically poorly-appointed camp, making a decision on refurbishing or replacing the SX-EW plant - including potentially introducing robotic stripping of the copperRead More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationNorilsk Nickel plans to construct a new copper refining facility in Monchegorsk that will produce 150,000tpa of copper, double the capacity of the closed shop, and use roasting-leaching-electroextraction technology.There would be a higher level of mechanisation, automation, and a much smaller proportion of ma...Read More

Turkish steel mills remained absent from the deep-sea scrap import market on Wednesday March 24, due to the slump in the value of the lira and weak steel demand, market participants told Fastmarkets.The Turkish lira weakened sharply at the beginning of the week following the surprise decision by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sack central bank chief Naci Agbal and appoint a finance specialist,...Read More

Applied Materials (AMAT). a NASDAQ 100 stock moved above $124.26 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Hong Kong iShares (EWH) moved below $26.26 completing a double top pattern.Seagen (SGEN), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved below $141.50 extending an intermediate downtrend.U.S. Dollar ETN (UUP) moved above $24.91 extending an intermediate uptrend.Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday March...Read More

Japanese steel scrap suppliers are limiting the volume of material they are offering to the market, in the expectation of a short-term recovery in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 24."The supply side is stopping new offers and they feel the market will not decrease anymore," a Japanese steel scrap trader said.A second trading source added: "The Japanese domestic scrap market has...Read More

The trading stalemate in the Chinese ferrous scrap import market has remained over the past day, with buyers keeping their distance from purchasing amid limited offers from sellers.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China was $460-470 per tonne on Wednesday March 24, unchanged from a day earlier.Major Chinese steel mills have not shown firm interest...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal price moved up in the fob market on Wednesday March 24, with new buying interest for low-priced cargoes, sources said.On the contrary, the premium hard coking coal cfr price fell against the weak demand, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $111.96 per tonne, up $0.32 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $212.00 per tonne...Read More

Iron ore prices mostly edged down on Wednesday March 24, due to reduced trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets, but high-grade fines gained slightly due to concerns over supplies of Carajas fines from Brazil.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $161.39 per tonne,down $0.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $161.97 per tonne,down $0.03 per tonne58% Fe fines high...Read More

A major blockage of the Suez Canal by a large container ship, leading to a vessel traffic jam, is adding to disruption in the global bulk freight markets.The Ever Given, a large container ship flagged in Panama and operated by Taiwanese firm Evergreen, was blown off-course by bad weather late on Tuesday March 23.The vessel is still blocking traffic travelling in both directions in the southern par...Read More

Fastmarkets' US lead premium reached its highest since 2012 due to supply tightness, while the zinc premium went up in Southeast Asia over freight cost hikes.Concerns voiced over the Chinese refined zinc production amid power cuts in major producing areas and a low zinc concentrates treatment charges (TC) while premiums are unchanged for zinc ingots.On-warrant zinc stocks in New Orleans' LME sheds...Read More

Tin market participants say they saw the record-breaking squeeze coming, but in pandemic-time trading, how does it get back to normal?It was at the beginning of the year when the phones started to ring. Hedge funds, eager to hitch a ride on the steadily rising price of tin, were in the market to buy physical stocks of the valuable metal that is predominately used in electronics.Solder makers and s...Read More

Aluminium recovered by 1% during morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday March 24 after Tuesday's sell-off saw most of the base metals complex fall by more than 1%.The three-month aluminium price was at $2,243 per tonne at 9am on Wednesday, following a 2.3% drop - the largest in the complex - on Tuesday to $2,219.50 per tonne. Tuesday's slump on the LME was prompted by rumors out...Read More