Slab export prices from Brazil increased this past week, but most negotiations were paused due to the threat of tariffs by the United States against imports of Brazilian steel.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab exports, fob Brazil, was $370-395 per tonne fob on Friday December 6, up from $360-380 per tonne fob on November 29.The upper end of the range reflected recent offers...Read More

CIS export billet gained $10 per tonne in the week to Friday December 6, with customers accepting deals at higher prices in response to rising scrap costs.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $400 per tonne fob Black Sea on Friday, against $390 per tonne fob on the same day last week.Sales of CIS-origin billet were done to North Africa...Read More

Indian importers have started booking hot-rolled coil after a break of three months, after the latest round of domestic price increases made HRC imports commercially viable.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel HRC, import, cfr main port India, was $480-485 per tonne on Friday December 6, compared with $450-455 per tonne last week. The latest assessment is based on South Korea-origin HRC import bookin...Read More

Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), increased in the week to Friday December 6, and most producers stopped accepting new orders because they are planning to raise prices further, sources told Fastmarkets.Steel prices have increased due to higher raw materials and hot-rolled coil prices, they added.Fastmarkets' daily inde...Read More

LSE-listed Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick looks forward to 2020 and is expecting higher diamond demand and prices.In a video interview distributed by the diamond miner on Wednesday, Elphick said 2019 had been a tough year for the diamond mining industry globally, as evidenced by major companies going into business rescue.AdvertisementFor example, some Trans Hex operations in South Africa had sh...Read More

The import pig iron market in the United States was calm during the week ended Friday December 6, but sentiment was positive due to an increase in scrap prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was at $330-340 per tonne on Friday, up from $325-326 per tonne a week earlier."Higher scrap [prices] will drive pig iron prices up, but it is a quest...Read More

The export pig iron market in the Commonwealth of Independent States was calm during the week ended Thursday December 5, with suppliers sold out and waiting for higher prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea was $305-310 per tonne on December 5, increasing by $5 per tonne week on week."Mills have nothing to sell for this ye...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap imported into India moved up again this week ahead of a seasonal slowdown for the European holiday season, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 6.Fastmarkets' steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva was $286.46 per tonne on Friday, up from $282.56 per tonne one week previous.One deal was heard for shredded material into India at $291 per tonne this w...Read More

The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK moved higher in the week ended Friday December 6, resuming price gains to a level last seen in late October after two consecutive weeks of stability.The market has been on a upward path in general during the quarter, against strengthening export prices from Europe into Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, which has resulted in more compet...Read More

Turkish steel producers stayed out of the deep-sea scrap market on Friday December 6 after booking several cargoes earlier in the week to push prices up by more than $10 per tonne since Monday, sources told Fastmarkets.No new cargoes have been booked or come to light during the last two days of the working week. On Monday, it emerged that a steel mill in the Marmara region had booked a U...Read More

Stability remained the theme of the seaborne coking coal market at the end of the week, with little interest in buying activity outside of China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.21 per tonne, down $0.58 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $147.22 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.33 per tonne, up $0.50 per tonne ...Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesHighlights from drilling at Heina Central include a new mineralised zone of 3.3g/t gold and 1.5% copper over 10.6m from 84m, parallel to the main zone.Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipExore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesArtemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesDark Horse could be 2020 bolterSPONSOREDdark horse resourcesNewcrest paid C$79.6 million (US$59.9 million) to lift its holdings after acquiring an initial 27.1% stake in 2018 for a $250 million investment. Th...Read More

Ron Mitchell, sales director at lithium producer Tianqi Lithium Corporation, has been appointed chairman of the London Metal Exchange's lithium committee. The LME announced it had established a lithium committee at the end of October, during LME week. The committee is intended to represent the views and interests of lithium stakeholders, while the exchange plans the launch of a lithium futures con...Read More

Asian equities and most of the base metals are in positive territory after United States President Donald Trump sounded more positive on a US-China trade deal when he said talks are "moving right along".With the news flow on trade ebbing and flowing, the day of reckoning is likely to be whether Trump follows through with his threat to put 15% tariffs on another $160 billion of Chinese imports from...Read More

Sir Brian Bender has seen three London Metal Exchange chief executive officers, the sale to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and a great number of other changes over more than nine years as the exchange's chairman, he told Fastmarkets in an interview, but the open outcry system will remain for as long as members support it. Bender was on holiday in Australia when a headhunter emailed to ask whether...Read More

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

Fastmarkets will maintain the frequency of publication of its European germanium metal and tellurium assessments and Chinese germanium dioxide assessment following a consultation.Fastmarkets will continue to publish these three price assessments on a twice-weekly basis on Wednesdays and Fridays. After receiving market feedback during a one-month consultation, Fastmarkets has decided to maintain th...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved higher following release of the November Employment Reports at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for November Non-farm Payrolls was an increase of 183,000 versus an upwardly revised gain of 156,000 in October. Actual was a gain of 266,000. November Unemployment Rate was expected...Read More

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