Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part little changed to firmer this morning, Monday September 21, with only December nickel in Shanghai showing a loss.But with Asian-Pacific equities and pre-market major western equity index futures weaker, the metals may face headwinds today.Dollar, US treasuries and gold all consolidating, waiti...Read More

Turkish steel mills remained out of the deep-sea scrap import markets amid firm stock levels and weak finished long steel demand, sources said on Monday September 21.The country's steelmakers have been absent from the market since September 9, when the last bookings were made at a price level of $301 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis. Some suppliers then tried to increase their offers to $...Read More

American International Group (AIG), an S&P 100 stock moved below $27.67 setting an intermediate downtrend. Exelon (EXC), an S&P 100 stock moved below $34.15 setting an intermediate downtrend.Europe iShares (IEV) moved below $42.30 completing a double top pattern.Italy iShares (EWI) moved below $24.56 completing a double top patternAustralia iShares (EWA) moved below $19.69 completing a sho...Read More

Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will launch an initial public offering (IPO) of its mining division stock to fund a $6-billion expansion plan that will increase capacity to 108 million tonnes per year (tpy) by 2033, the company said on Monday September 21.In addition to expanding the capacity of its CSN Minera????o subsidiary from 33 million tpy, mostly...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have remained largely stable over the past week amid steady import values, sources said on Monday September 21.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was 2,040-2,270 lira ($268-299) per tonne on Monday, unchanged week-on-week."Imported scrap prices have remained on a sideways track in the past couple of wee...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob index jumped on Monday September 21 due to bullish sentiment in the market, with traders in China also being positive about the material's performance in the cfr market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.79 per tonne, up by $5.84 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $135.84 per tonne, up by $1.43 per tonneHard coking co...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Monday September 21 as a result of stricter environmental restrictions being imposed on steelmakers in the hub of Tangshan, trade sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.82 per tonne, down $5.08 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $120.05 per tonne, down $4.97 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cf...Read More

Seaborne iron ore pellet prices continued outperforming iron ore concentrate in the week to Friday September 18, but with the end of sintering restrictions in China, demand for both has how begun to fall back.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $135.56 per tonne, down $2.17 per tonne65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $147.25 per tonne, up $0.65 per tonneKe...Read More

China's domestic ferrous scrap prices lost their upward momentum over the past week amid a weakening of the downstream steel market, snapping three weeks of increases for the steelmaking raw material.But market participants are not expecting scrap prices to decrease further until China's week-long break from October 1 to mark its National Day.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap he...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices weakened on Monday September 21 amid thin trading, which led a mill in eastern China to lower its export offer for the flat steel product, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,860 yuan ($567-570) yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneTrading was inactive on Monday amid losses in the futures market, according to sources.Sellers in the...Read More

PRIVATE BLOG - Gold for the Week of 9/21/2020Private blog posts are exclusively available to Socrates subscribers. To sign-up for Socrates or to learn more, please visit Ask-Socrates.com.https://ask-socrates.com/Read More

Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part little changed to firmer this morning, Monday September 21, with only December nickel in Shanghai showing a loss.But with Asian-Pacific equities and pre-market major western equity index futures weaker, the metals may face headwinds today.Dollar, US treasuries and gold all consolidating, waiti...Read More

Iron ore prices rebounded on Friday September 18 amid active trading in the seaborne market and in ports, while low-grade fines performed well on solid demand.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.90 per tonne, up $2.54 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $125.02 per tonne, up $2.43 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $115.46 per tonne, up $3.18...Read More

Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday September 18. Key drivers  Sellers were reluctant to offer below $175 per kg and some deals were achieved at the top of end of the new range, pushing the assessment to its highest in 18 months.  Chinese price rises had driven the European assessment up since early September, but domestic Chinese suppliers reduced their offer pric...Read More

The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process...Read More

The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the...Read More

Cobalt hydroxide prices and payables continued to firm last week as suppliers successfully held out for higher numbers amid optimism derived from China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) stockpiling drive, and interest from consumers and the trade to restock.Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide index, 30% min Co, cif China was calculated at $11.94 per lb on Friday September 18, up 0.7% from $11.86 per lb on Se...Read More

Key data from the pricing session in the Shanghai on Friday September 18.Key drivers China's bismuth market weakens amid low buying interest; more participants have withdrawn from the market and are choosing to wait and see how prices will perform, while only demand from downstream industries remains stable. Producers continue to hold...Read More

Seaborne prices for both low- and high-grade manganese ore in China edged down in the week to Friday September 18 due to weakening sentiment caused by falling portside ore and futures alloy prices. Fastmarkets' manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin was $4.29 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on September 18, down by 3 cents, or 0.7%, from $4.32 per dmtu a week ago. The corresponding ma...Read More

Portside prices for both low and high grades of manganese ore in China ticked downward in the week ended Friday September 18 after some ore traders lowered their offer prices to attract sales when the number of inquiries from domestic alloy smelters failed to meet expectations, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' manganese ore port index, base 37% Mn, range 35-39%, fot Tianjin, China...Read More