Swedish state-owned iron ore producer LKAB reopened one of its plants on Friday June 19 following a temporary closure on Tuesday caused by Covid-19 quarantine measures. About 60 workers at LKAB's Malmberget site in G??llivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, of whom half have been diagnosed as carriers of the virus, stayed at home this week, the company said on Friday. This meant there were not en...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market at the end of the week in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Steelmakers in the country have been quiet most of the week, having booked only two deep-sea cargoes on Monday, with most of the market participants believing that prices have reached a peak.On Monday...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has fined warehouse operator Istim ?30,000 ($37,120) for breaching clauses of its warehouse agreement, the exchange said in a notice to members on Friday June 19. Between September 12 and December 9, 2019, Istim erroneously instructed its London agent to issue primary aluminium warrants containing incorrect brand names and/or shapes on five separate occasions, the LME sa...Read More
Uncertainty in the aluminium market and poor nearby demand have pushed participants on to exchanges, fueling more liquidity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's aluminium European duty-paid contract (EDP). The duty-paid futures contract, based on the Fastmarkets P1020 duty-paid aluminium premium, had 15,522 lots of open interest as of the end of trading on Thursday June 18, compared with 11,6...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices dropped slightly on Friday June 19 on a transaction of premium mid-volatility hard coking coal material at a lower price, while concerns over China's import restrictions constrained Chinese demand, putting pressure on seaborne prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.20 per tonne, down $0.02 per tonne Premium hard coking...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Friday June 19 on robust trading, which motivated importers to raise their bids.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,750-3,770 yuan ($529-532) per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,650-3,680 yuan per tonne, up 50-70 yuan per tonneSources reported that trading activity in eastern China had picke...Read More
The three-month LME zinc price pushed up in morning trading on Friday June 19 and is now making a steady approach toward the $2,100 per tonne threshold, while more fresh cancellations kept copper's price elevated. Zinc's underlying price on the London Metal Exchange was recently trading at $2,085 per tonne, making further gains after reaching a four-month high of $2,052 per tonne at Thursday'...Read More
Markets were mixed again this morning, Friday June 19, while participants wait to see if second waves of Covid-19 are going to derail the V-shaped recovery in asset markets.Needless to say the V-shaped recoveries in prices seem to be ignoring the current depressed state of demand and the forecasts for 2020. Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly firmer this morning, while pre-market major wester...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London on Friday June 19. Key drivers Discounts of up to 10% are readily available on a formula basis which has contributed to spot market quietness, but has also put pressure on sellers to consider numbers at or below the bottom of the range. ...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade 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 it applies.Fastmarkets assessed cobalt standard grade, in-whs...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade 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 it applies.Fastmarkets...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
Producers and consumers of stainless steel in Europe are operating with very thin margins that leave little room for changes to prices.The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged throughout this week in sluggish trading conditions, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19. With demand for stainless steel subdued because of the effects on the regional and global eco...Read More
The European Commission (EC) will skip the implementation of provisional measures into an anti-subsidy case on hot-rolled (HR) flat stainless steel originating from China and Indonesia, Fastmarkets understands. "The Commission informs interested parties that it will not impose provisional measures. The investigation will be continued," the EC said on June 18.The provisional measures were supposed...Read More
The price of 18/8 stainless steel scrap in the UK domestic market moved up this week because of higher nickel costs and tight supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?800-830 ($998-1,036) per tonne on Friday, up by ?20-30 per tonne week on week. On the London Metal Exchange...Read More
The price of containerized ferrous scrap imports into India dipped this week after a change in sentiment following the continued pause on trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $282.25 per tonne on Friday, down from $285.89 per tonne one week previous.This is the first downward movement since Ma...Read More
Spot demand for imported ferrous scrap in key Asian market Vietnam slowed in the week to Friday June 19 after buyers noted a dip in prices from the middle of the week. Offers for bulk Japanese H2 cargoes were at $275-280 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam at the start of the week and had fallen to $270 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam on Friday. There was a transaction at $270 per tonne cfr Vietnam in t...Read More
Taiwanese buyers of containerized ferrous scrap slowed down their purchases of imports this week amid falling offers and increased supply. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $252-253 per tonne on Friday June 19, unchanged from Thursday but up by $2-3 per tonne from $250 per tonne cfr Taiwan on...Read More
The second day of the Canadian Mining Symposium (CMS) on June 17 had a golden theme, with the afternoon session featuring Condor Gold (TSX: COG; LSE: CNR), PearTree Financial Services, Equinox Gold (TSX; EQX: NYSE-AM; EQX), and B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE-AM: BTG).Anthony Vaccaro, group publisher of The Northern Miner and head of global mining for Glacier Resource Innovation Group, opened the session b...Read More