Japan's third-quarter aluminium quarterly benchmark looks likely to cross another six-year high after offers were heard at $180-190 per tonne earlier this week, primarily supported by the open Chinese arbitrage window.The arbitrage window to ship aluminium to China has been widening since it opened on April 29, with Chinese importers standing to gain a profit of $63.59 per tonne on May 20 for ever...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil in the United States again jumped to all-time highs this past week, with market participants continuing to cite the lack of spot supply as the main driver behind the surge. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US rose to $89 per hundredweight ($1,780 per short ton) on Thursday May 20, up by 3.49% f...Read More

World crude steel production increased year on year but declined month on month in April, with the 64 countries that report to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) producing 169.5 million tonnes of crude steel last month.That total is up by 23.27% from 137.5 million tonnes in April 2020 and but down slightly from a revised 170.1 million tonnes produced in March 2021, according t...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States held above $78 per hundredweight for a third consecutive day, with buyers scrambling to acquire steel, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $78.54 per cwt ($1,570.80 per ton) on Friday May 21, down 0.87% from $79.23 per cwt on Thursday May 20 but up 2.52% from $76.61 per cwt on May 14. Thu...Read More

Fastmarkets price for Brazilian steel slab climbed to another all-time record on Friday May 21 on higher deals to the United States and the domestic market, with July-shipment availability reported as wholly filled.Fastmarkets assessed steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, at $980-990 per tonne on Friday, up by $10-30 from $950-980 per tonne one week earlier and by $50-80 from $900-940 per tonn...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly stronger this morning, Thursday May 20, on dip buying, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down across the board in reaction to the 3.5% average loss on the LME on Wednesday.China’s rhetoric on its determination to wrestle inflationary pressures in commodities triggered weakness in the metals.Base metalsLME three-month...Read More

Flat steel prices continued to increase in Turkey during the week to Friday May 21, with mills accepting orders for October production, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand was strong in local and export markets and market participants expect further price increases because mills are already booked for over five months.In addition, prices are expected to strengthen amid speculation that China could imp...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe two first entered into the option agreement in September 2020 and have since completed a jointly designed validation program, which provided further support for the project's copper potential.Read More

Hot-dipped galvanized coil prices in Turkey increased during the week to Friday May 21 while demand was strong, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand was strong in the domestic and export markets, with several deals heard during the week, Fastmarkets was told.HDG prices continued their uptrend in Europe, one of the biggest export markets for Turkish HDG, sources said.The price increases were moderate du...Read More

Indian mills increased domestic hot-rolled coil prices by 1,000-1,750 rupees ($14-24) per tonne this past week amid continued gains in international prices for the commodity.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, domestic ex-warehouse India widened upward by 1,000 rupees to 63,500-68,000 rupees per tonne on Friday May 21 from 63,500-67,000 rupees per tonne the previous week. ....Read More

An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang,...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe mine will feature the latest digital technology to help with decision-making including the use of artificial intelligence and predictive software within the FutureSmart Mining programme of theRead More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationStay-at-home virtual presentations are the order of the day for the Barcelona event, as is fielding questions about copper in response to the red metal's spectacular rise to (nominal) record levelsRead More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 16 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US83.06 cents following release of Canadian March Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 3.7% versus a gain of 1.2% in February. Actual was an increase of 3.6%.Home Depot added $1.75 to $317.65 after announcing a $20 billi...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 8 points in pre-opening trade.U.S. equity index futures were virtually unchanged prior to release of the May Philly Fed Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop to 44.0 from 50.2 in April.Cisco dropped $2.52 to $49.95 despite reporting higher than consensus fiscal fourth quarter revenues and earnings. Guidance was l...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman exploration"The new drilling continues to expand the openpit target and the copper zone remains wide open in all directions," president and CEO Tim Moody said.Sprott Capital Partners had described the company as "overlooked Spanish copper with best-in-class former Rio CEO" when it initiated coverage in March.Huntsman Se...Read More

"Unethical"… "dystopian"… "totalitarian"…These are the words of the British government's primary scientific advisory bunch - the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviour, by title.These scientific advisors presently droop their heads in shame. For these are the very words they employ to describe their own conduct.They concede: Last March their wicked counsel encouraged go...Read More

The export price for pig iron from the south of Brazil increased again in the week to Friday May 21, on continuing strong demand and long lead times, with suppliers said to be sold out until late August.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $610-620 per tonne on Friday, up from $590-610 per tonne last week.Offers from the south of Brazil came in at...Read More

The price of 18/8 (grade-304) stainless steel scrap in the United Kingdom was substantially lower during the week to Friday May 21 amid volatile nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?1,130-1,180 ($1,598-1,669) per tonne on Friday, down ?50-60 from ?1,180-1,240 per tonne a week...Read More

Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the United Kingdom increased to as much as ?180 ($254) per tonne over the week ended Friday May 21, a level last seen in April 2012, on firm fundamentals that have encouraged higher offer prices. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-180 ($240-255) per tonne on Friday,...Read More