China's rebar prices continued to rise on Friday November 15, though traders have started to become more cautious about the market losing its upward momentum.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,900 yuan ($550-555) per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,720 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneDemand was robust, especially in eastern China, amid continual gains...Read More

Buyers in the United States resumed pig iron purchases at higher prices in the week to Friday November 15, due to the improving scrap and hot-rolled coil markets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $323-327 per tonne, up from $320-325 per tonne a week earlier.Several bookings of Russia-origin pig iron were heard at $323-327 per tonne cfr f...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday, November 15.China The seaborne manganese ore price of low-grade material ticked up for the first time since August 30. Trading was light, however, and oversupply continued.The increase in the index for low-grade fob material also rose in response to falling freight rates. Freight rates are subtract...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was unable to close above nearby resistance amid low turnover on Friday November 15, while tin topped losses in a 1.2% downturn. Nickel's underlying price on the LME closed at $14,975 per tonne, failing to hold above the nearby $15,000 per tonne resistance level despite achieving an intraday high of $15,155 per tonne. Volumes traded in LME...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves. Read More

The vice president of China Nonferrous Industry Association (CNIA) has called for domestic producers to produce less alumina and undertake "rational investment on alumina new projects" to cool China's enthusiasm for production that began in 2018. Speaking during a CEO dialogue session at an Antaike aluminium conference in Qingdao on Thursday November 14, Shang Fushan said: "As we all know, after t...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange dropped below the nearby $15,000 per tonne support level during morning trading on Friday November 15, while there was another fresh inflow for aluminium. The LME outright nickel price was recently at $14,965 per tonne, dipping below $15,000 per tonne for the first time since August 7. Turnover in nickel was moderate over the morning, with...Read More

Lead stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses recorded the largest increase in percentage terms in the week ended Friday November 15, with the heavy metal's stocks now up by 79.3% since the beginning of the month.Deliverable SHFE lead stocks rose by 9,534 tonnes - 33% - week on week to 38,384 tonnes on Friday, with warehouses operated by Zhongchu Wuxi in Jiangsu registering the larg...Read More

There are cross currents flowing through broader markets, risk-on is still evident in equities, base metals are generally pulling back in countertrend moves from the stronger tone seen in October and early November and there is some nervousness around judging by the pick-up in demand for havens in recent days.Another record close for the S&P500.LME three-month nickel price down by around 20% from...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during the morning trading session on Friday November 15, with nickel giving the worst performance of the complex with a 2.7% drop.The most-traded February Nickel contract on the SHFE slumped to 118,250 yuan ($16,838) per tonne as at 10.08am Shanghai time, down by 3,310 yuan per tonne from Thursday's close of 121,560 yuan per to...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States went down slightly on Friday November 15, with some mills filling holes in their December order books at lowered prices, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $26.33 per hundredweight ($526.60 per short ton) on Friday, down by 0.3% from $26.41 per cwt on November 14 due to certain d...Read More

Cold-rolled coil and galvanized steel prices in the United States increased on Thursday November 14 due to a continued rebound in hot-rolled coil pricing, although sentiment about the current market was mixed.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US was at $36 per hundredweight ($720 per short ton) on Thursday, up by 1.4% from $35.50 per cwt the previous we...Read More

All equipment at the ArcelorMittal Italia flat steel plant in Taranto, southern Italy, will be idled by the middle of January 2020, the company confirmed on Friday November 15.This follows global steelmaker ArcelorMittal's decision, announced last week, to pull out of the deal for the plant.The steelmaker will put equipment on stand-by. Blast furnace (BF) No2 will be idled in the middle of Decembe...Read More

Brazilian slab export prices declined this week, though market participants are optimistic that demand is starting to recover.Offers for Brazilian slab to the United States were heard as low as $345 per tonne fob, and there was at least one offer made at $350-355 per tonne fob. Prices above $355 per tonne fob were considered not viable.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab exports, f...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland have increased over the past week in response to higher costs for scrap raw material, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 15.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 1,980-2,000 zloty ($508-513) per tonne on November 15, compared with 1,950-1,970 zloty per tonne ex-works last week.The assessment reflec...Read More

Domestic prices for secondary steel billet in India over the week to Friday November 15 fell by 400 rupees ($6) per tonne, with makers of long steel products reducing their purchases of semi-finished material on a lack of sustained demand for products such as rebar.The price of steel billet, domestic, exw India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on November 15 down by 400 rupees per tonne to 26,000-26,2...Read More

The CIS export billet price picked up at the end of the week on a booking to Turkey, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $380 per tonne on Friday November 15, up by $5 day-on-day.Russia's Abinsk Electric Steel Mill sold a cargo of billet to Turkey this week at $393 per tonne cfr, sources told Fastmarkets. According to various assessments,...Read More

Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD) on Friday shared details of its areas of focus and strategy for the near future. This includes the ramp-up of its South African Marsfontein operation, which produced its first diamonds from gravels and residual stockpiles, earlier this week.The company intends to start a pilot production plant in the Marange area of Zimbabwe, restore production at Thorny River, i...Read More

Diamond sales brought Angola revenues of $294.85-million during the third quarter of this year. This represented an 11.7% increase over the figure for the same period last year – or, in monetary terms, a rise of $30.7-million. This information was released in Luanda early this month by the State-owned Sociedade de Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (the Diamond Commercialis...Read More

Diamond sales brought Angola revenues of $294.85-million during the third quarter of this year. This represented an 11.7% increase over the figure for the same period last year – or, in monetary terms, a rise of $30.7-million. This information was released in Luanda early this month by the State-owned Sociedade de Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (the Diamond Commercialis...Read More