Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index continues to set new lows and has done for three weeks in a row. Major Chinese smelters are well-stocked for the third quarter, with Collahuasi, Cerro Verde and some clean brands reported being bought in the high $40s, Fastmarkets heard.  Traders' buying levels are heard to be in a range of high $30s to low $40s,...Read More

China's plans to stockpile some 40,000 tonnes of tin in the coming year could threaten the London Metal Exchange's smallest market with further tightness, sources have told Fastmarkets.With the industry's supply chain still reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns were now beginning to mount over the global availability of concentrate feed for smelters."The [global] tin market i...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Friday August 21 after the release of key purchasing managers' index (PMI) data out of Europe disappointed, while copper futures took the brunt of the decline over the morning in a 1.2% drop. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $6,535 per tonne, slipping below nearby resistanc...Read More

Lead stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell the most in percentage terms - by 4.5% or 1,522 tonnes to 32,403 tonnes - in the week to Friday August 21.The outflows mainly came from warehouses run by Zhejiang Tianchuan in Zhejiang province with decline of 1,575 tonnes while warehouse of Minmetals Wuxi had the most inflows of 246...Read More

Markets were for the most part upbeat this morning, Friday August 21, with all of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange firmer, as were most Asian-Pacific equities, although they are firmer within consolidation patterns.But after the accelerated gains at the start of the week, with the S&P 500 regaining all the losses suffered from the coronavirus hit and with the base metals now on average...Read More

The price of alumina in China rose this week amid a bout of panic buying among participants, who worried that reduced supply in the seaborne market after a disruption at Hydro's Alunorte refinery in Brazil would in turn affect the Chinese domestic market.Hydro announced on Tuesday August 18 that it had halted operation of the pipeline transporting bauxite from its Paragominas bauxite mine to the A...Read More

88 Energy (ASX:88E) Prepares for Billion Barrel Farm OutSPONSORED88 energyLithium no quiet place for AVZSPONSOREDavz mineralsScoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.Element 25's Butcherbird on songSPONSOREDelement 25The company reported a net loss after tax of US$182.7 million, including a loss of $158 million attributable to equity holders, due...Read More

Prices for cold-roll and galvanized steel sheet in the United States climbed for the second straight week after buyers sensed a bottom in pricing and helped the mills fill order books for the remainder of the third quarter. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US rose to $32.50 per hundredweight ($650 per short ton) on Thursday August 20, up by 1.6% from $...Read More

Liberty Steel Group has resumed operations at one of its blast furnaces at its Ostrava steelworks after nearly four months of downtime, the company said on Friday August 21. Liberty has restarted blast furnace (BF) No 2 at its plant in Ostrava in the Czech Republic on Friday and plans to gradually ramp up production to adapt to market demand, a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets. The BF wa...Read More

The domestic price of hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up on Friday August 21 after producers announced a rise in offers, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?433.75 ($513.83) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?1.87 from ?,?431.88 per tonne on Thursday.The index was also up by ?,?14.58 per tonne week on...Read More

Turkish prices in the domestic market for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were mostly stable in the week to August 21, with demand remaining weak because of the holiday season, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment of steel HDG, domestic, exw Turkey was unchanged at $660-670 per tonne on Friday.Turkish producers were offering HDG at $660-680 per tonne ex-wor...Read More

Markets were for the most part upbeat this morning, Friday August 21, with all of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange firmer, as were most Asian-Pacific equities, although they are firmer within consolidation patterns.But after the accelerated gains at the start of the week, with the S&P 500 regaining all the losses suffered from the coronavirus hit and with the base metals now on average...Read More

Liberty Ostrava, part of the Liberty Steel Group, will install two hybrid furnaces at its integrated steel mill in the Czech Republic as part of the company's Greensteel plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030, it said on Thursday August 20.It has received approval from the country's ministry of environment for its Environmental Impact Assessment of the implementation of new low-carbon technologies...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 17 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US 75.62 cents following release of Canada's June Retail Sales report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 24.5% versus a gain of 18.7% in May. Actual was an increase of 23.7%. Excluding auto sales, consensus was an increase of 15.0%...Read More

UK inter-merchant spot prices for light iron scrap increased in the week to Friday August 21 on tight availability, due to falling scrap generation in recent months while domestic and export demand has remained steady, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was  ?95-105 ($125-138) per tonne...Read More

The import pig iron market in the United States was quiet during the week to Friday August 21, but buyers are expected to start restocking soon, according to market sources.Fastmarkets' price assessment of pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was unmoved week on week at $340-345 per tonne on Friday, with no activity reported. "The US will need to buy at some point, but for now they...Read More

Asian import scrap prices continued to rise in the week to Friday August 21 amid solid demand in Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea, but buyers in Turkey remained away from the market while the Indian market softened.Turkish mills face weak lira, low long-steel demand, and want lower scrap pricesUS export markets quiet with lack of recent sales from East CoastVietnamese import scrap prices benefit fr...Read More

Brazil's pig iron export market was quiet during the week to Friday August 21, but suppliers remain optimistic amid full order books, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil at $343-348 per tonne on Friday, up from $340 per tonne one week earlier.Almost no...Read More

The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK edged up this week on higher nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap, 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?840-850 ($1,104-1,117) per tonne on Friday, up by ?10-20 per tonne from ?820-840 per tonne a week ago.The daily official three-month nick...Read More

Turkish steel producers have ended a second consecutive working week with no deep-sea scrap bookings due to poor demand for their long steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21.The most recent deep-sea bookings were heard on August 7 for United States- and Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $285 per tonne cfr.Since then, the Turkish mills have paused their scrap purchases as d...Read More