Sales of steel slab by Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), increased in January-March 2020 mainly on shipments to its Northen European joint venture - NLMK Belgium Holdings (NBH) - according to an operational report released by the company on Wednesday April 15.The company's slab sales came to 1.67 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2020, up by 11% compared with 1.497 millio...Read More

Italian flat steel re-rollers have resumed their operations after the stoppages requested by authorities to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 15.On March 21, the Italian government ordered the closure until April 3 of all non-essential production operations in the country, including steelmaking, as part of the measures to battle the pan...Read More

The price of mesh-quality steel wire rod in Europe was unchanged this week amid a quiet market, with buying being limited by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 15.This week in Northern Europe, trading was reported to be slow, with demand from end-users diminished by the quarantine measures that have been imposed.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment fo...Read More

Prices for hollow steel sections in Europe were unchanged this week because trading activity failed to revive after the Easter weekend break, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 15.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?590-610 ($646-668) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.Last week, it was reported that mil...Read More

Editor's Note: Mining Journal is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to Mining Journal, click hereThe company is facing pressure from the government in Zambia over the closure of its majority-owned Mopani Copper Mines.Glencore said its 73.1%-owned Mopani had transitio...Read More

Metals and wider markets are mixed this morning, Wednesday April 15, while traders brace for more economic and corporate data that will start to show the economic hit that the global economy has suffered. Banks in the United States started to report dismal earnings and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the global economy faces the biggest slowdown since the Great Depression of the...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market has gone quiet again after the recent upturn, with material supply being limited, while buyers were struggling with weak demand for finished steel, sources said on Wednesday April 15.The daily scrap indices went up by more than $15 per tonne on Tuesday, after deals for United States- and Baltic Sea-origin cargoes were heard at $255-257 per tonne cfr for HMS...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices were largely steady on Wednesday April 15 amid robust port prices and expectations of improving margins for Chinese mills, and despite persistent supply jitters.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.86 per tonne, down by $0.16 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.48 per tonne, down by $0.26 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices rose on Wednesday April 15 due to active trading in China, though demand from countries such as Japan was heard to be weak amid production cuts implemented by mills.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $130.32 per tonne, down $0.27 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $141.77 per tonne, up $3.14 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $118.01...Read More

No market has been left untouched by the escalating coronavirus pandemic, but iron ore prices have proved relatively buoyant for the past two months compared with the price plunges we have seen in other commodities.While copper and aluminium prices fell to four-year lows, the iron ore benchmark only dipped to a three-month low. The iron ore benchmark first dipped to nearly $80 per tonne in the beg...Read More

Export prices for bulk cargoes of Japanese scrap have increased by ?1000 ($9) per tonne over the past week after higher transactions were closed in Southeast Asian markets, trading sources told Fastmarkets.After six straight weeks of price decreases, Japanese export scrap prices rebounded on Wednesday April 15 amid continued demand from mills in Taiwan and Vietnam, and tighter ferrous scrap suppl...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 71 points in pre-opening trade.Equity index futures moved slightly lower following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for March Retail Sales was a drop of 8.0% versus a decline of 0.5% in February. Actual was a drop of 8.5%. Excluding auto sales consensus for March Retail Sales was a drop of 5.0% versu...Read More

The Asian ferrous supply chain is emerging from a slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of the rest of the world, with demand recovering quicker here than in other regions.Key markets for flat and semi-finished steel as well as ferrous scrap in Asia are seeing prices being supported.This is in line with projections made by the International Monetary Fund about how emerging and developing...Read More

China's domestic rebar market was mixed on Wednesday April 15 amid fluctuating futures, with prices in the eastern region falling while those in the north picked up. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,460 yuan ($486-490) per tonne, down by 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,430-3,460 yuan per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonne Spot prices in eastern China dropped after rebar futures fell...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices fell on Wednesday April 15 with sentiment dampened by losses in the futures market, while exporters awaited opportunities to sell to overseas buyers after suppliers in other regions raised their offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,320-3,330 yuan ($471-472) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,220 yuan per tonne, narrowing d...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium price was the only metal to trade up from the previous day's close during the morning session on Wednesday April 15, with a 20,000-tonne fresh inflow of material failing to cap gains in its futures price. The LME three-month aluminium price was trading up a marginal $10 per tonne at $1,513.50 per tonne during morning trading from the $1,503.50-per-to...Read More

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

Metals and wider markets are mixed this morning, Wednesday April 15, while traders brace for more economic and corporate data that will start to show the economic hit that the global economy has suffered. Banks in the United States started to report dismal earnings and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the global economy faces the biggest slowdown since the Great Depression of the...Read More

South Korea's two largest steelmakers plan to slash their intake of import scrap over the coming months amid weak finished steel demand, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Major steel producer Posco will halt its buying of import and domestic ferrous scrap for the next two months, according to four sources dealing in the South Korea scrap market. While overall steel demand is struggling in South...Read More