Electric vehicles (EVs) are forecast to reach cost and functional parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2025. Theoretically, this should create the global tipping point for mass market EV adoption, along with the development of the associated charging infrastructure required to accompany the growth.In practice, it is not quite as straightforward.A recent report by investment res...Read More
Market participants in both China and Europe have been taking a wait-and-see approach to procurement in the run-up to the auctions of four cargoes of minor metals formerly held by the Fanya Metal Exchange. On October 11, Southwestern China's Kunming Intermediate People's Court announced germanium, gallium, tellurium and selenium stocks will be auctioned over a 24-hour period starting at 10am...Read More
The whereabouts of minor metal stocks held by the now defunct Fanya Metals Exchange has been a weight on the outlook of minor metals prices and contract negotiations since the exchange collapsed in 2015. The whereabouts of minor metal stocks held by the now defunct Fanya Metals Exchange has been a weight on the outlook of minor metals prices and contract negotiations since the exchange collapsed i...Read More
Market participants in both China and Europe have been taking a wait-and-see approach to procurement in the run-up to the auctions of four cargoes of minor metals formerly held by the Fanya Metal Exchange. On October 11, Southwestern China's Kunming Intermediate People's Court announced germanium, gallium, tellurium and selenium stocks will be auctioned over a 24-hour period starting at 10am...Read More
The alumina price on a fob Australia basis has stabilized just below $280 per tonne in the week ending Friday October 18, after a flurry of deals over the past week. Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $278.25 per tonne on Friday, down from $277.14 per tonne on Thursday. It has hovered between $277 and 278 per tonne over the past week. Key drivers: ...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK-origin light iron scrap was steady in the week ended Friday October 18, extending a run of stability into a third week amid a recovery in European steel scrap export prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?60-80 ($77-102) per tonne on Friday. The market is around where it was when...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap bookings for November shipments at steady prices, sources said on Friday October 18.Steel mills in the country had resumed their deep-sea purchases on Thursday October 17 with slightly higher prices amid tight supply.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a UK cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $240 per tonne cfr.Ano...Read More
An increase in copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) so far this month reflects a drop in the number of spot deals ahead of annual contract negotiations that are set to start during the annual London Metal Exchange Week gathering. With major smelters well stocked, bids are close to the new quarterly price floor set by the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT). Traders, meanwhile...Read More
Stakeholders have been trying to alter the perception of South Africa’s mining sector from that of a “sunset industry” to a “sunrise industry”, but such a transition inherently depends on the country’s mineral potential, states the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). “This applies not only to our traditional base of precious metals, d...Read More
Three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, with the exception of tin and lead, were buoyed by a weaker US dollar to close up at the afternoon kerb on Friday October 18.The LME three-month copper price finally began to make gains, closing up 1.1% at $5,806 tonnes from yesterday's $5,739 per tonne close. Much has been made of copper futures' lack of reaction to tightening...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 maplecroftDugald River produced 47,296 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate, 32% above the previous...Read More
The alumina price on a fob Australia basis has stabilized just below $280 per tonne in the week ending Friday October 18, after a flurry of deals over the past week. Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $278.25 per tonne on Friday, down from $277.14 per tonne on Thursday. It has hovered between $277 and 278 per tonne over the past week. Key drivers: ...Read More
Base metal stock movements in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were mixed in the week to Friday October 18, with lead stocks gaining the most in percentage terms, followed by copper while aluminium and zinc inventories fell marginally. Lead stocks rose by 25.2% or 3,936 tonnes in the seven days from October 11 to 19,558 tonnes. The largest inflow in lead inventories was registered at...Read More
China has approved a fifth round of copper scrap import quotas to allow an additional 57,365 tonnes of copper scrap into the country by the end of this year, the environment ministry said on Friday October 18. The latest quota, larger than the fourth round of 31,658 tonnes, but still smaller than the third one of 87,680 tonnes, brings the total volume of copper scrap imports allowed in the second...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was subdued during the morning trading session on Friday October 18 despite significant outflows and a large fresh cancelation of material.The LME three-month copper price recently traded up a marginal $5 per tonne - or 0.08% - at $5,744 per tonne compared with Thursday's close, failing to be supported by inventory movements.A net outflow of 6,700...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly up during the morning trading session on Friday October 18, after a possible Brexit deal and moderately bullish headlines on United States-China trade talks helped boost sentiment.Tin gave the best performance of the complex in terms of percentage gains, with market participants continuing to digest the news that China's Yunnan Tin C...Read More
US cold-rolled coil and galvanized base prices have fallen to their lowest point in three-and-a-half years, with prices for value-added products catching up to declines already seen in the hot-rolled coil market.Prices for both products have also declined for the fourth week in a row.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob US mill, fell to $34 per hundredweight ($680 p...Read More
Export prices of Brazilian slab have fallen as renewed bids and a decrease in flat steel prices in the United States has led to lower sentiment.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, fell to $360-365 per tonne fob on Friday October 18, from $370-380 per tonne fob the previous week.The US market was quiet until last week, as buyers avoided committing to d...Read More
Indian local secondary steel billet prices rose by 400 rupees ($6) per tonne over the past week after a rise in finished long product prices and in expectation of production cuts by billet manufacturers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 18.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet domestic, ex-works India, was up by 400 rupees per tonne to 26,600-26,800 rupees per tonne...Read More
Demand for flat steel was still soft in Turkey in the week ended Friday October 18 because of falling steel prices globally, but sentiment was better than in previous weeks because of the halting of a Turkish military operation in Syria.International politics have a significant bearing on trade in the region at the moment. US President Donald Trump has been widely criticized for his decision to wi...Read More