European distributors of flat steel products reported a 3.6% year-on-year drop in shipment volumes in January-October 2019, Eurometal said this week.And multi-product distributor shipments in the region fell by 4.8% year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year, Eurometal said, with declines reported for most products and only rebar registering an...Read More

Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil in Southern Europe increased over the week, supported by reduced availability of domestic material and rising import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 18.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, ex-works Southern Europe, was ?,?430-440 ($479-491) per tonne on December 18, up by ?,?1...Read More

Broader markets are generally weaker this morning, Wednesday December 18, with equities in Asia mainly lower, metals mixed and havens little changed.In Europe, fear that a hard Brexit has not vanished is weighing on sentiment, especially in sterling, while a lack of detail on the United States-China trade deal has made it difficult for markets to see further follow-through buying. Equities in Asia...Read More

(Updates with closing prices) By Peter Hobson LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices dipped from theprevious session's 7-month high on Wednesday as data showingrecord Chinese production of the metal helped persuade investorsto pause for breath after a rapid rally.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)did not trade in closing rings, but was bid down 0.5% at $6,172a tonne after touchi...Read More

Turkish steel mills made no deep-sea bookings for a second day, while prices remained firm, sources said on Wednesday December 18.Turkish steel mills made no deep-sea bookings for a second day, while prices remained firm, sources said on Wednesday December 18.At the beginning of the week, two Baltic Sea cargoes were sold at $299-300 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).Some suppliers were heard offer...Read More

Seaborne prices for hard coking coal rose in the cfr China segment on Wednesday December 18 while those for premium products were largely stable, with support coming from a pickup in China's domestic market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $135.67 per tonne, up $1.51 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $147.33 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122....Read More

Seaborne prices for mid-grade iron ore came under some pressure on Wednesday December 18, with steelmakers in China continuing to show a preference for materials sold at Chinese ports.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.20 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.29 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93...Read More

Anglo American has begun iron ore blending operations at a port in China, following the lead of other global miners.The miner has held a ceremony to celebrate completion of its first batch of "AAAF Blended Sinter Feed" at the port of Caofeidian in northern China's steel hub of Tangshan city, Fastmarkets learnt on Tuesday December 17.AAAF stands...Read More

Indonesian ferrous scrap demand should continue to grow in 2020 despite the new rules imposed by authorities."The new regulations should be smoothed out over the next couple of months and containerized scrap shipments should resume within the first half of the year," Hoffman Iron & Steel chief executive Phil Hoffman told Fastmarkets.He was referring to the new regulations enacted by the Indonesian...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at 76.06 following release of Canada's November Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for November CPI was a decline of 0.1% versus an increase of 0.3% in October. Actual was a decline of 0.1%. FedEx dropped $10.70 to $152.53 after repo...Read More

The contango in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month aluminium spread widened in morning trading on Wednesday December 18 after a further 43,725 tonnes flowed into LME-approved global sheds. Some 14,650 tonnes of material were put back into warehouses in Johor while a greater 29,085 tonnes were delivered into warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, the third day of significant inflows into regio...Read More

Yesterday we likened the economy to an overswollen tick, obese with blood.Rather than blood, the economy is obese with debt.Like our ludicrously engorged arachnid, the economy cannot much expand. It is impossibly loaded down... and groans under the burden, horribly swaybacked.The economy will continue to wallow - unless it can shake off the weight.But how can it?Today we blow the dust off an ancie...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept their offers high on Wednesday December 18 despite sliding domestic prices amid a limited supply of cheaper goods from other parts of the world in the international market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,880 yuan ($553-554) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices...Read More

Broader markets are generally weaker this morning, Wednesday December 18, with equities in Asia mainly lower, metals mixed and havens little changed.In Europe, fear that a hard Brexit has not vanished is weighing on sentiment, especially in sterling, while a lack of detail on the United States-China trade deal has made it difficult for markets to see further follow-through buying. Equities in Asia...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 18.Key driversThe price range of alloy has narrowed over the past week, with the low end moving up as sources reported deals done towards the upper end and with previous lows disappearing.Producers and traders are preparing for renewed demand in January in expectation of consumers in the steel sector and other usage areas.T...Read More

Cronimet Group has hired Martin Stepper, the former head of ferro-alloys at Thyssenkrupp, the company told Fastmarkets on December 18.Stepper will start in his new role as head of the...Read More

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - With prices down nearly 10% in 2019, now is not an easy time for zinc miners. Measured from the highs hit from March to April, the metal - used mostly to galvanize steel and as an alloy - is down more than 20%. That's officially a bear market.Zinc's fortune compares with that of nickel, which despite a sharp correction recently, finished 2019 up about one-third. On-again off-ag...Read More

The Atacama Environmental Assessment Commission has approved the environmental impact study on Gold Fields' (NYSE: GFI) Salares Norte project in northern Chile - paving the way for the company to proceed with a construction decision in the first half of 2020.Capital costs for the open-pit project are estimated at US$834 million in a feasibility study completed in late 2018, and the company says it...Read More

Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin (TSX: CEE; LON: CEY) has accused Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV) of making it difficult for the company to assess the value of a potential business combination unless it agrees to extending a firm offer deadline.The London-listed gold miner said that since Endeavour was not engaging in a "proper manner," it would not ask U.K. regulators for an extension to a Dec. 31 b...Read More

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