Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
A preliminary trade agreement between the United States and China has done little to change the outlook for industrial minerals and minor metals, with no sign of a reversal for tariffs on Chinese material and no firm commitments on Chinese purchases. The US has agreed to pause new tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for China signing a deal containing a number of commitments, including $200 billi...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have tumbled with news of a fresh sale heard after negative signs emerged in the United States' export markets, sources said on Thursday January 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo of 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $295 per tonne cfr, which would put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $288 per tonne.The previous US cargo sold into Turkey was boo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 16 that are worth another look.Trading activity in the Iranian export market for steel billet and slab slowed down in the week ended Wednesday January 15, with the United States tightening its sanctions against a number of the Middle Eastern country's major steelmakers amid increased tension between the two nations.Fres...Read More
Representatives from the United States, European Union and Japan have agreed to jointly work toward strengthening existing World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on market-distorting industrial subsidies, a move welcomed by aluminium trade groups that have long sought to tackle Chinese overcapacity.Specifically, trade ministers from the three regions discussed the need to strengthen existi...Read More
A summary of Brazilian multi-base metal producer Nexa Resources' production and sales results in 2019 and production and sales guidance for zinc, copper and lead for 2020-2022. Falling zinc grades in treated ore put pressure on overall mining production in 2019, although 2019 full-year guidance was met for all metals. Zinc metal sales volumes increased on higher contribution from Peru's Caja...Read More
China Nonferrous Mining Corp's (CNMC) Lualaba copper smelter has commenced operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with an estimated output of 100,000 tonnes of copper this year, Fastmarkets has learned. The smelter started production at the start of 2020, a source close to the matter told Fastmarkets. The 120,000 tonne-per-year capacity smelter is the only major copper smelter in the...Read More
The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday January 16, with price action breaking past the $2,000-per-tonne resistance level against strong volumes, while zinc futures followed higher. Lead's outright price on the LME was recently at $2,026.50 per tonne, while morning trading volumes were high with over 2,100 lots exchanged as of 9:30am Lo...Read More
South32 has maintained its production guidance for its Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters for its 2020 financial year, despite the first half being affected by South African power outages. Aluminium At Hillside, aluminium saleable production increased by 1% to 362,000 tonnes in the first half of South32's financial year ended December 31, 2019, attributed to the smelter continuing to test...Read More
Copper production at the Deziwa copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially come online in January 2020, following successful trial operations in December 2019, sources told Fastmarkets this week. And the project is expected to start production of cobalt in late first quarter, they added. Deziwa is operated by Soci?(C)t?(C) Minere de Deziwa (Somdez), a j...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices have slipped on fears that domestic mills' recent attempts to lift tags might fail as a result of lower scrap prices, increased slab supplies and weaker demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil price, fob mill US was calculated at $30.75 per hundredweight ($615 per short ton) on Thursday January 16, down by 0.5% from $30.91 per cwt on Wednesday January 15 but up by...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has backtracked on an end-use monitoring procedure which was applied as part of its safeguard measures on imports of hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) destined for the automotive industry, it said on Wednesday January 15.The HDG safeguard was among a raft of such measures that concerned 26 steel product categories, with any imports that exceeded a specific quota becomin...Read More
Polished trading stable with selective demand. Dealers focused on filling US orders as jewelers begin post-holiday inventory replacement. Mixed results from the season, with record e-commerce sales driving growth. Signet Jewelers Nov.-Dec. revenue -1% to $1.8B. Rising expectations for Jan. 25 Chinese New Year as US and China sign trade deal. Chow Tai Fook 3Q China sales +17%, Hong Kong -38%. China...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Signet Jewelers increased during the holiday season, prompting the retailer to raise its full-year outlook.Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - increased 1.6% for the nine weeks ending January 4, while total revenue slipped 1% to $1.82 billion. E-commerce revenue grew 14% to $252.3 million, the company said Thursday. "We delivered holiday sa...Read More
Demand for passenger cars in Europe moved up by a remarkable 21.65% year-on-year in December 2019, making it the fourth consecutive month of growth.New car sales in Europe totalled 1,215,076 vehicles in December last year, compared with 998,791 units sold in the corresponding month of 2018, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA)...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales rose 6% in the first half of its fiscal year amid strong growth in holiday purchasing and a successful launch of lab-grown diamond jewelry.Group revenue climbed to AUD 327.3 million ($226.3 million) as higher sales in October and November outweighed weak consumer sentiment at the beginning of December, the jeweler reported Wednesday. Same-store sales - at branches...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's diamond trade declined in 2019 as excess supply led to slower demand for rough and polished, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre said Wednesday.Polished exports fell 13% to $9.93 billion, their lowest level since 2009, Rapaport records showed, while rough imports and exports both slumped 26%. Total trading was also the weakest in a decade, sliding 19% to $37.1 billion."Manu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has sold Botswana's largest diamond to Louis Vuitton in a rare move that will see the fashion house partner with an Antwerp manufacturer to polish the stone.The mining company will receive an up-front payment for the 1,758-carat Sewel?? rough and retain a 50% interest in the final polished, it said in a statement Wednesday. While the diamond is of variable qua...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Oil demand growth has been weak in 2019, with the OPEC+ group surprisingly extending their cuts by a further 500 kbd through to end of Q1 in 2020. In spite of that, fears of sustained weak demand growth have restricted Brent to mid US...Read More