Vale Canada - subsidiary of Brazilian multi-metal miner Vale - and Australian zinc producer New Century Resources have failed to reach an agreement in the latter's 95% acquisition of Vale New Caledonia (VNC), the former announced on Tuesday September 8.The announcement brings the exclusivity period under which the prospective sale was being negotiated between the two entities to an end after negot...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month zinc price lagged in morning trading on Tuesday September 8, tumbling by some 2% despite a widening in its forward curve, while fresh concerns of US-Sino trade tensions and rising coronavirus cases pushed the complex lower. Total global coronavirus cases are now at more than 27 million, with total deaths now at 887,526, World Health Organisation (WHO) data sho...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady week on week while mills increased asking prices in the aftermath of their late-August round of increase notifications. There was no consensus over mills' near-term ability to collect their announced plate price increases in full during a period of exceptionally weak demand for the item. A jump in scrap input costs eventually may tip t...Read More

CIS-based producers of steel wire rod and rebar have continued to raise their offer prices for foreign customers, with support from rising raw materials costs and finished long steel prices in competitors' markets, particularly Turkey, as well as a supportive domestic market in Russia.Demand in the major outlets has not, however, been strong enough to drive full acceptance of the new round of pric...Read More

The price of steel rebar imported to the United Arab Emirates increased this week because of high production costs, market sources said on Tuesday September 8.Domestic rebarSince August 17, producers in the UAE have been offering rebar at 1,800-1,830 dirhams ($490-498) per tonne ex-works for September production, with deals heard over the past week at 1,730...Read More

Some flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia moved up again this week, although demand was moderate, sources told Fastmarkets over the week to Tuesday September 8.Some deals for flat steel imports were heard done at higher levels over the assessment week, which sources said were primarily for restocking purposes, Fastmarkets heard.UAEOffer prices for hot-rolled coil (...Read More

Steel slab exporters from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are testing the market with a new round of offer increases, supported by the continuing uptrend in the raw materials and finished flat steel products sectors, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday September 8.A Russian producer shipping material from the country's Far East ports was heard to have agreed several deals last week around $4...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices performed in line with our expectations in August, with US domestic HRC prices finding a floor in July as forecast before they rose in August. US HRC prices averaged $522 per tonne in August, which compares with our forecast price of $518 per tonne. Based on an improving demand outlook and ris...Read More

Crude Oil ETN (USO) moved below $26.82 extending an intermediate downtrend. Energy SPDRs (XLE) moved below $34.24 completing a Head & Shoulders pattern. Chevron (CVX), a Dow Jones Industrial stock moved below $80.35 completing a Head & Shoulders pattern. S&P Oil and Gas Exploration SPDRs moved below $47.19 completing a Head & Shoulders pattern.First Trust Natural Gas ETF (FCG) move...Read More

Iron ore prices in seaborne markets and ports were relatively stable on Tuesday September 8, while stricter sintering restrictions and market expectations of port congestion relief weakened bullish sentiment, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $129.12 per tonne, up $0.01 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $129.16 per tonne, down $0.28 per tonne58% Fe...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices changed marginally on Tuesday September 8, while there was one transaction in the fob market during the day while the cfr market was muted, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.47 per tonne, up $0.42 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.60 per tonne, down $0.28 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $86.76...Read More

Japanese blast furnace(BF)-based steel mills have been using more scrap in their basic oxygen furnaces in recent weeks due to a rise in steel production and high costs for iron ore, market participants told Fastmarkets.BFs in the country cut steel production drastically in the first half of 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic battering demand in the automotive and manufacturing sector.The index for J...Read More

China's coking coal import quotas have changed the dynamics of the seaborne market, making the trading of the steelmaking raw material more risky, time-consuming and expensive for traders.What was typically a month-long process for a vessel carrying Australian coking coal to deliver to China has stretched to at least four months after import quotas became scarcer and port restrictions became tight...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil producers kept export offers stable on Tuesday September 8 despite a weakening of domestic prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,980-4,020 yuan ($583-589) yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said trading activity had thinned during the day in comparison with Monday, with buyers being reluctant to place orders amid falling futures.A second S...Read More

The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process...Read More

The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard...Read More

China's domestic magnesium prices softened in the past week on high supply, a lack of local demand and a subdued overseas market despite a gradually recovering world economy.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for magnesium 99.9%, exw China was 12,500-12,600 yuan ($1,827-1,841) per tonne on Friday September 4, down by 100 yuan per tonne from 12,600-12,700 yuan per tonne a week earlier. This also...Read More

Vanadium product prices in China fell in the week to Friday September 4, after local suppliers reduced their offers in an attempt to secure deals amid abundant supplies and aggressive bids, sources told Fastmarkets. Alloy prices slide on aggressive bids from mills After postponing procurement activities in the week to August 28, many Chinese mills returned to the market last week to purc...Read More

In one of the world's driest deserts, the battle for water is heating up.Mining companies sifting northern Chile's Atacama Desert for copper, lithium, and other minerals are increasingly finding water is their most precious resource.Vital to processes such as concentrating and leaching, miners typically extract the water they need from aquifers located high in the Andes Mountains having obtained t...Read More

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; NYSE: US-OTC: IVPAF) has published the results of an independent definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its Kakula project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which says the asset could become the world's second-largest copper mining complex.Kakula, the first underground mine planned at the Kamoa-Kakula concession, is forecast to generate six million tonnes of m...Read More