A weekly brief on the Fastmarkets copper concentrate index. Fastmarkets copper concentrates TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific rose to $54.8 per...Read More

Base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses largely fell in the week to Friday December 27.The largest weak-on-week decrease in deliverable stocks was in zinc - they fell by 4,587 tonnes or 16.35% to 28,054 tonnes. The Quansheng Logistics warehouse...Read More

The price of alumina in China edged higher this week, breaking a run of 14 consecutive weekly declines, on reports of substantial production cuts in the country.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment of alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China stood at 2,330-2,460 yuan ($333-352) per tonne on Friday December 27, up by 30-40 yuan per tonne or 1.5% from 2,300-2,420 yuan per tonne a week earlier, when th...Read More

Nickel and tin dipped in the morning trading session on the London Metal Exchange on Friday December 27 but the rest of the base metals were firm after the Christmas break"While the LME was away yesterday it's fair to say little happened in its absence. Prices have started the day as a mixed bag," Kingdom Futures CEO Malcolm Freeman said in a morning note. The LME three-month nickel price fell fur...Read More

The domestic price of hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe held steady on Friday December 27 from the previous day, which market sources attributed to holiday-thinned activity.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe was unchanged at ?,?439.39 ($487.46) per tonne on Friday in slow market conditions.The calculation of the index was based on the latest...Read More

Flat-rolled steel import prices were mostly unchanged in South America in the week to Friday December 27 amid a market lull resulting from the year-end holidays.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel plate import, cfr main ports South America at $520-530 per tonne on Friday, up from $510-525 per tonne a week before. While countries in the region's Pacific Coast did not get new offers for China-o...Read More

Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) decreased in the week to Friday December 27, a reflection of typically modest demand around the end of the year, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic pricesDemand in Turkey's local market was moderate because buyers had placed their orders earlier in December. Most producers have filled the...Read More

Prices for steel billet and rebar in Egypt were stable in the week ended Friday December 27 in subdued year-end trading conditions when demand is typically weak, sources told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers were offering rebar at E ?10,000-10,580 ($622-658) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT, unchanged since...Read More

Some Turkish hot-rolled coil producers increased their prices again during the week ended Friday December 27 but market activity was subdued because of the usual year-end slowdown.Raw material prices, especially those of scrap, have continued to increase recently. Fastmarkets' daily index of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was $303.39 per tonne on December 24, rising f...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil market was largely stable on Friday December 27, though some mills have started to take export orders at lower prices amid thin trading.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,910 yuan ($557-559) per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading activity was reported as stable during the day amid sus...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices increased on Friday December 27 on a pick-up in demand ahead of the weekend. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,640-3,670 yuan ($520-524) per tonne, up 10-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,500-3,530 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneBuyers encouraged by the gains in the futures market in the past couple of days raised their procurement rates. The...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet at the end of the week because of the traditionally slower Christmas holiday period, sources said on Friday December 27.The most recent deep-sea scrap cargo was sold on December 20 at $303 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea region.The market has been moribund...Read More

Vale has entered into an agreement to sell its 25% stake in Chinese coal producer Henan Longyu Energy Resources Co to Yongmei Group for 1.07 billion yuan ($152 million), the Brazilian mining company said on Friday December 27.Longyu operates two coal mines in the Chinese province of Henan, producing around 3.4 million tonnes per year of metallurgical and thermal coal, Vale added. The buyer, Yongme...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Friday December 27 because of trades heard at higher levels.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.51 per tonne, up $0.88 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.60 per tonne, up $0.88 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.65 per tonne, up $1.04 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $77.73 per tonne, up...Read More

Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market was robust this week despite it being the end of the year, with over 800,000 tonnes of premium products changing hands.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.25 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $148.77 per tonne, up $0.82 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchangedHard...Read More

Liquidity in the Asian ferrous scrap market thinned this week due to year-end holidays, with some buying heard in Taiwan and Vietnam, albeit involving small quantities. Sellers in the United States are on their Christmas vacation while those in Japan kept prices stable.VietnamFastmarkets' price assessment for bulk shipments of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $300-305 per tonne cfr on...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade. The TSX 60 Index is expected to open at an all-time high this morning. Previous all-time high was 1,024.47 ObservationsThe CRB Index and its related ETN broke above 16.26 to a new high yesterday.Strength in the CRB Index yesterday is attributed mainly to strength in precious metal pr...Read More

An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More

Shawn Ryan's White Gold (TSXV: WGO) has data from more than 400,000 Yukon soil samples, but one collected in the 2019 field season stood out by an order of magnitude."It actually kicked at over 100,000 parts per billion [ppb] gold," Ryan said. "That's right off the Richter scale for the ICP machines ... we said, 'the machine's broken.'"So they tried it again and again and again. Then we decided to...Read More

As 2019 draws to a close, we take a look at the most-clicked stories on our website this year, in descending order.No. 1: Interview: The LME's new cobalt contractBy Anthony Milewski, Special to The Northern Miner, April 11, 2019An interview by Cobalt 27 Capital chairman Anthony Milewski with the London Metal Exchange's Product Development department to discuss the LME's electric-vehicle battery m...Read More