Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is to commission a new blast furnace (BF) to produce additional pig iron volumes to be used in its own steelmaking operations, the company told Fastmarkets this week.No pig iron sales are planned.The project, at MMK's steelmaking complex at Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, is expected to start in July 2021, with the start-up of the fu...Read More

We have a fine-sounding word for running with the herd: momentum. When the herd is running, those who buy what the herd is buying and sell what the herd is selling are trading momentum, which sounds so much more professional and high-brow than the noisy, dusty image of large mammals (and their trading machines) mindlessly running with the herd.We also have a fine-sounding phrase for anticipating w...Read More

Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday June 30 when concerns were raised about China's overall crude steel output for 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.08 per tonne, up by $1.75 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $217.85 per tonne, up by $2.91 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $180.95 per tonne, up by $1.33 per t...Read More

A shipment of 4,000 tonnes of imported scrap booked by major Chinese steelmaker Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS) cleared customs checks at Jingtang port in Tangshan, Hebei in early June, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30. This is their second cargo of Japanese heavy scrap (HS) since China officially eased restrictions on scrap imports in January 2021. Their first cargo of 2,092 tonnes cleared...Read More

BHP announced in 2018 that the depletion of its 80-million-tonnes-per-year Yandi mine in its Western Australia iron ore operations would begin from the second half of 2021. Fastmarkets explores how the low-grade fines landscape will adapt to the loss of this key brand. 1. How will the market move forward? Some traders believe the depletion of the Yandi mine will most likely prompt market participa...Read More

- U.S. Gold Corp. drilled 4,440 feet (approx. 1,353 meters) in 2 holes- Drilling successfully identified targeted structure, host stratigraphy and Carlin-style alteration at similar depths to current mining operations along the Carlin Gold Belt- Strength of alteration and anomalous geochemistry warrants additional explorationELKO, Nev., June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Gold Corp. (NASDAQ: USAU...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices remained flat on Wednesday June 30 on weak demand while the futures price gained.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,860-4,880 yuan ($752-755) per tonne, unchanged day on dayThe purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the steel industry was 45.1 points in June, down by 1 point from May, according to the China Federation...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices across China's domestic market moved higher on Wednesday June 30, supported by futures prices that are underpinned by expectations of lower production for the rest of this year. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,420-5,460 yuan ($839-845) per tonne, up by 10-30 yuan per tonne from 5,390-5,450 yuan. The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange resumed its r...Read More

Prices were largely unchanged on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Wednesday June 30, with the exception of lead which continued its steady rise, reaching a new year-to-date high of $2,340 per tonne during early trading."Today is the last trading day in June," Malcom Freeman, director at Kingdom Futures Limited, said. "So the question is will the funds and speculative players who appear...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday June 30.Key drivers Trading activity is in stasis, with market participants considering the potential impact of the recently announced export duties on ferro-alloys from Russia, which are effective from August 1 until the end of the year. A few small deals were reported for both alloy and scrap within the current price ranges. Ferro...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 transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed...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 grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at...Read More

The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) 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 hydroxide p...Read More

The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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...Read More

News that several major producers had withdrawn from spot trading due to supply shortages has further strengthened China's spot ferro-chrome market, sending spot prices in the week to Tuesday June 29 to their highest point since April."With continuing energy controls in Inner Mongolia in June, our production has been increasingly disrupted due to tightened power restrictions," Jietie Ferroalloy sa...Read More

Asian steel scrap imports fluctuated wildly from territory to territory in 2020, with South Korea and Bangladesh reporting decreases while Taiwan and Vietnam recorded increases.Japan, Asia's largest steel scrap supplier, exported 9.39 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last year - over a fifth more than in 2019.Vietnam became the single largest importer of Japanese scrap last year; at...Read More

Drilling at Callinex Mines' (TSXV: CNX; US-OTC: CCLXF) Rainbow deposit in Manitoba has returned wide intersections of high-grade copper.Drill hole PBM-129-W2 hit a broad interval of 67 metres grading 2.73% copper, 0.13 grams gold per tonne, 3.46 grams silver per tonne and 0.12% zinc (2.89% copper equivalent), starting from 776 metres downhole, including 2.5 metres of 17.6% copper, 0.49 grams gold...Read More

New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG; US-OTC; NFGFF) has found a new high-grade zone at its 100%-owned Queensway gold project in Newfoundland, 15 km west of Gander.The discovery hole, NFGC-21-241, intersected 5.25 metres grading 430.17 grams gold per tonne starting from 207.85 metres. A second hole, NFGC-21-171, returned 4.85 metres grading 10.36 grams gold from 223.45 metres.New Found Gold has named the ne...Read More

Worldwide gold and copper production growth will resume in all earnest following the stop-start nature of Covid-19 disruption that miners have experienced at times during the past 18 months, two new reports by Fitch Country risk and Industry Research show.For gold, Fitch expects production growth in 2021 to achieve its fastest rate in three years. Over the medium-term (2021 to 2025), global mine p...Read More

Swiss-based multinational miner Glencore (LSE: GLEN) has disclosed US$5.7 billion in taxes, royalties and other government payments in 2020.The diversified mining house says the covid-19 pandemic caused major production outages across the portfolio last year amid softer commodity prices: the result, lower payments to host nations compared with the 2019 total of US$7.7 billion.The group's effective...Read More