U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures gained 36 points in pre-opening trade. Strength was trigger by strength in Far East equity markets. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.21% and the Nikkei Average advanced 2.41%. China is expected to announce its five year economic plan tomorrow.Berskshire Hathaway advanced $4.99 to $245.50 after releasing its annual report....Read More
Publication of Fastmarkets' assessment of blister copper refining charges (RCs) for February was delayed due to a reporter error.The price assessment for copper blister 98-99% RC, spot, cif China, is normally published on the last trading day of the month.The price should therefore have been published on Friday February 26. It was instead published on Monday March 1. The price was $160-170 per ton...Read More
UC Rusal has signed and started the drawdown of a loan worth 45 billion roubles ($603 million) from VTB and Gazprombank to fund the capital expenditure of its Taishet aluminium smelter (TaAZ), it said on Monday March 1. Under the terms of the syndicated loan agreement, VTB will provide 30 billion roubles and Gazprombank will provide 15 billion roubles over a period of up to 15 years. The funds rai...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up day on day on Monday March 1, supported by short supply, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?740 ($893.16) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?2 from ?,?738 per tonne on Friday.The index was up by ?,?15 per tonne week on week and ?,?26.67 per tonne...Read More
Turkey's total volume of flat steel exports fell by 33.55% year on year in January, despite a 202.30% increase in cold-rolled flat steel shipments, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The main reason for the decrease was the imposition of duties on Turkish hot-rolled coil in Europe, the country's largest export destination, which led to a sharp drop in hot-ro...Read More
Domestic prices for flat steel in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow were broadly stable over the past week, supported by cautiously optimistic sentiment amid rising exports and expected shortages because of maintenance at key suppliers, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 1. Hot-rolled sheet Trading activity in the region was subdued amid seasonally slow demand. Market participa...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow fell in the week to Monday March 1, due to seasonally slow demand and aggressive pricing by some producers, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia, was 50,000 roubles ($670) per tonne, including 20% value-added tax, on March 1, down by 4,000-...Read More
Turkey's flat steel import volumes decreased by 11.98% year on year in January 2021, according to the latest statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The country imported 637,818 tonnes of flat steel in January this year, compared with 724,601 tonnes a year ago. The main reason for decreasing imports was weak demand for imported steel in October 2020, when some of the bookings for...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to purchase deep-sea scrap at the end of the last week as a result of securing more steel sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday March 1.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $456 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis late on Friday February 26, but the cargo composition was not exposed by the parties.This transaction compares...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone up over the past week because of increasing imported scrap values, market sources said on Monday March 1.Prices for steel scrap imported into Turkey continued to rise after mills in the country booked a number of cargoes from Europe, the United States and the Baltic Sea region in the past week, supported by growing demand and rising prices for rebar and bill...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged on Monday March 1, with buyers from China showing little interest in purchasing cargoes.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.05 per tonne, up $1.32 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.81 per tonne, down $0.74 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $119.17 per tonne, down $0.10 per to...Read More
Iron ore prices dipped on Monday March 1, in line with finished steel prices, with sentiment potentially affected by the Chinese government's commitment to reduce emissions by cutting crude steel output in 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.55 per tonne,down $1.23 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.96 per tonne,down $1.31 p...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets rose in the week ended Friday February 26 amid strong demand for steel products in China and stricter measures to cut emissions ahead of the annual meetings of policymakers in Beijing this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $198.94 per tonne, up $6.33 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $222.08 per...Read More
Plans to raise export offers for Chinese hot-rolled coil this week have emerged despite a weakening of domestic prices for the flat steel product in China on Monday March 1.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,820-4,840 yuan ($744-747) per tonne, down 60 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said sellers in the city's spot market made price cuts on seeing the futures market weaken.The move e...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices softened on Monday March 1, though market participants expect end-user demand to pick up on positive data from the country's construction sector.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,610-4,650 yuan ($712-718) per tonne, widened downward by 10 yuan per tonneThe sub-index for new orders in the construction industry, which feeds into China's construction purchasing manager...Read More
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The London Metal Exchange lead price was up 1.5% and most other base metals prices were in positive territory following month-end profit-taking on Friday, while tin's price tumbled by 5% on the morning of Monday March 1. Lead's three-month price was up at $2,083.50 per tonne on Monday at 9am, following a 4.9% slump on Friday at 5pm to $2,052.50 per tonne. The price had reached $2,185 per tonne on...Read More
Recent sharp gains in the London Metal Exchange copper price has substantially raised import costs for Chinese participants, highlighting the country's lack of pricing power, an industry body warned.China's position as the world's top copper importer has left it vulnerable to rising procurement costs amid the metal's recent price rally, an official at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Associati...Read More
The more it drills the Windfall gold project in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Quebec, the more high grade results Osisko Mining (TSC:OSK) reports from the work. The latest uncut high grade was 342 grams gold per tonne over 2.5 metres, including 596 grams over 0.8 metre, from hole OSK-W-1432-W2. Even after being cut to 100 grams, the grade was 71.1 grams gold.Current infill drilling is focused on...Read More
Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN); OTCQX: IVPAF) put a record 338,000 tonnes of ore grading 5.5% copper on the pre-production stockpile at its Kamoa-Kakula copper project in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The tonnage was 13% more ore than was mined in January.The total tonnage milestone was reached despite the scheduled conveyor belt changeover to the permanent configuration at Kakula.In February the co...Read More