Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have declined over the past month in line with a fall in international scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 16.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill Italy, was ?,?200-205 ($220-226) per tonne in the middle of October, compared with ?,?210-230 per tonne in the middle...Read More

The year is 1921...America is less than three years removed from triumph on the Western Front. The twenties are set to roar... and the Jazz Age is in swing.Warren Gamaliel Harding sits at the presidential desk. And the nation is sunk in depression...U.S. industrial production plunged 31% between 1920 and 1921. Stock prices plummeted 46%. And corporate profits, a crushing 92%.Unemployment ran as hi...Read More

Seaborne mid-grade iron ore prices, as represented by Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% fines, cfr Qingdao, fell below the $90 per tonne mark on Wednesday October 16 for the first time since September 3, due to a rapid downturn in the futures markets.Fastmarkets' iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.86 per tonne, down $5.14 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall on Thursday October 17, with sentiment hurt by a continual weakening of rebar futures despite a drop in inventory levels for the flat steel product.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,510 yuan ($493-495) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneMills lowered their offers in the...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in eastern China continued to trend downward on Thursday October 17 amid weakening end-user demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,620-3,640 yuan ($510-513) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,570-3,600 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading houses in eastern China were actively selling rebar on expectations that supply in the region would increase...Read More

Stainless steel prices in China continued to rise over the past week on higher production costs due to elevated nickel prices.Prices for the alloying metal had remained at relatively high levels following the recent move by Indonesia to bring forward its ban on nickel ore exports to 2020 from 2022."Stainless steel prices have maintained an uptrend despite the recent dip in nickel prices because mi...Read More

Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gave a largely subdued performance during the morning trading session on Thursday October 17, amid persistent macroeconomic uncertainty that continues to weigh on the complex.A general sense of uncertainty and bearishness in global markets is keeping investors cautious this morning, with the SHFE base metals exhibiting mixed movements as a result.Factor...Read More

British ferro-alloys producer FE Mottram, the biggest producer of ferro-titanium in Europe, has restarted production after a fire damaged its plant in April, according to an industry source. The company had intended to restart production in the third quarter of this year. FE Mottram, which is owned by Belgium-based ferro-alloys and metals trader Metraco, stopped production at its plant in She...Read More

Oriole's deepening footprint in West Africa is paying offSPONSOREDoriole resourcesPoster South Africa mine regeneration on trackSPONSOREDorion mineralsSilver Mines times Bowdens to perfectionSPONSOREDsilver mines limitedAfrica's rising resource nationalism ups stakes for minersSPONSOREDverisk maplecroftTwo weeks ago, my From the Capital column was about uranium company valuations.Read More

Key data from the Wednesday October 16 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers The price for cobalt metal in China's domestic market edged down this week amid caution from spot buyers following a slump in local futures prices. But persistent tightness for certain domestic brands of the blue metal limited the price decline. In battery raw materials,...Read More

Oriole's deepening footprint in West Africa is paying offSPONSOREDoriole resourcesPoster South Africa mine regeneration on trackSPONSOREDorion mineralsSilver Mines times Bowdens to perfectionSPONSOREDsilver mines limitedAfrica's rising resource nationalism ups stakes for minersSPONSOREDverisk maplecroftIt's been a few decades now since I hung up my rugby boots, but the moaning and groaning...Read More

U.S. Vanadium, a private company in which venture capital firm Elysee Development Corp. (TSXV: ELC) has a 15% stake, is acquiring a Russian-owned production plant in Hot Springs, Ark., that produces vanadium pentoxide.Russian steel producer, Evraz, purchased the plant in 2007."I cannot speak to why they were interested in selling it," Jim Sims, a spokesman for U.S. Vanadium, tells The Northern Min...Read More

Nemaska Lithium (TSX: NMX, US-OTC: NMKEF) plans to lay off 64 employees, or about half of its staff, after financing delays for its Whabouchi project in Quebec."This difficult decision comes after a rigorous review of the current situation and is aimed at both the optimization of current cash flow and the continuation of the project," the company said in an Oct. 15 release.Nemaska Lithium - which...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 16 that are worth another look.Slab shipments to foreign subsidiaries and affiliates of Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), fell by 43% year on year in the third quarter of 2019.A strike kicked off on October 16 at Antofagasta's Antucoya copper project after workers could not reach an agreement...Read More

Chaarat Gold CEO Artem Volynets joins the podcast this week for a feature interview with acting editor-in-chief Trish Saywell. Volynets discusses the challenges, strategies and opportunities of mining in the former Soviet Union.Artem VolynetsCEO, Chaarat GoldArtem Volynets joined Chaarat Gold as a non-executive director in March 2018 and is now the company's CEO. He made a name for himself as the...Read More

Oriole's deepening footprint in West Africa is paying offSPONSOREDoriole resourcesPoster South Africa mine regeneration on trackSPONSOREDorion mineralsSilver Mines times Bowdens to perfectionSPONSOREDsilver mines limitedAfrica's rising resource nationalism ups stakes for minersSPONSOREDverisk maplecroftThis is the same Andersson, we are reminded, who was a key adviser to the Russian govern...Read More

An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves. Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 16.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market has stabilized losses this week amid a pick-up in traded tonnages, both on a prompt and longer term basis, with sectors such as cored wire and chemicals showing firmer demand than other steel production areas. The spot ferro-titanium price was unchanged at $4.40-4.60 per kg delivered...Read More

China's ferro-silicon market has been stable since participants returned from a week-long national holiday in the country on October 1-7, with prices hemmed between tighter supply amid production cuts and weaker demand.In Europe, prices increased for the first time since the start of August amid supply worries after a recent announcement of cuts to domestic production combined with low trader stoc...Read More

The US ferrous scrap export market was quiet in the week to Wednesday October 16; prices were stable on both coasts, but sellers expect their local docks to increase prices in line with Turkish bulk prices, which inched upward in the latest transactions.No cargoes were sold from the United States in the past seven days, which left Fastmarkets' steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob New Yor...Read More