Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ended Friday August 28.China The seaborne manganese ore low-grade index was only slightly changed amid low liquidity while market participants had underlying concerns about growing inventories in China. The seaborne price for high-grade ore rose with one producer successfully raising prices, indicating less conce...Read More
Company news EMEAGem Diamonds announces the recovery of a 442ct Type II white diamond from its Letseng mine in Lesotho amid a severely depressed diamond market.Eurasian Resources Group reveals its programme, Momentum-ON, helping the company's employees and their families during COVID-19 by encouraging young people to develop entrepreneurial skills.Ganfeng Lithium reports a difficult first ha...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrates treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RC) index stayed largely flat at its multi-year low level from a week ago.The spot market has been relatively quiet this week with smelters buying a handful of clean concentrates parcels in the high $40s, while some deals, with tonnages extending into the fourth quarter this year and first quarter next year, are said to be...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The key global scrap markets improved in terms of both sentiment and prices in the week to Friday August 28, after Turkey resumed its deep-sea cargo purchases following a three-week hiatus.Turkey continues to book deep-sea cargoesUS sees liquid activity in spot export marketVietnamese buyers remain keen on bulk cargoes from US West CoastTaiwanese buyers see slowdown in price upswingIndia sentiment...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The European and United States battery-grade lithium carbonate price fell by 2.9% week on week on Thursday August 27 amid continued poor demand conditions, while the Chinese and seaborne Asian markets held.European, US battery-grade lithium carbonate market dropped 2.9%, ending six weeks of stability. China's battery-grade lithium prices held, with participants waiting for clues on market directio...Read More
Stalking the grasslands and deserts of southern Africa, there's a killer on the prowl.It's a wild cat - the wildest of wild.It's not only the world's deadliest feline but this wild cat is also the single most successful solitary hunter on the planet. And its hunting success can actually teach us a lot about successful investing.I'm not talking about a lion or a tiger. This cat catches its prey fou...Read More
China's Ganfeng Lithium has finalized the acquisition of a majority stake in Minera Exar, the company jointly owned with Argentinian miner Lithium Americas, for the development of the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project in Argentina, Lithium Americas said on Friday August 28.Minera Exar owns 100% of the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project located in Jujuy province in northwest Argentina. Following the com...Read More
South American flat-rolled steel import prices ended the week on Friday August 28 showing no clear trend because deals for October-shipment cargoes were very scarce, and customers were still waiting to hear offers for November shipments.Demand was improving in the region from recent lows caused by Covid-19-related restrictions, but market participants believed that consumption had yet to return to...Read More
Indian steel mills were likely to increase their domestic hot-rolled coil prices by about 2,000-3,000 rupees ($27-41) per tonne in September, with local demand for the commodity continuing to grow, Fastmarkets heard on Friday August 28.Officials from two Indian private-sector mills have confirmed that they have already given guidance to their dealers to impose a 2,000-3,000 rupees per tonne price...Read More
Prices for steel hot-rolled coil in the Turkish market increased slightly over the week to Friday August 28, although demand was only moderate, sources have told Fastmarkets.Market participants were not expecting prices to fall because the holiday season was nearing its end and global prices were increasing.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS,...Read More
Prices for domestic steel beams in the United States were flat on Thursday August 27, while prices for imported products fell for a second month in a row on weakening demand, sources said.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel beams 8 x 8-inch, fob mill US held at $35.25 per hundredweight ($705 per short ton) on Thursday, unchanged for a fourth consecutive month.Most sources reported that demand was st...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were flat in the week to Friday August 28 in a quiet market, but buyers expected producers to offer higher prices starting from next week, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' latest price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, remained at 1,900-1,940 zloty ($509-520) per tonne on August 28, unchanged so far this month.Tradin...Read More
High production costs have been supporting China's domestic rebar market for the past couple of weeks, with prices in the eastern region unchanged on Friday August 28 despite slower trading.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,640-3,670 yuan ($528-533) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 3,620-3,650 yuan per tonne, down by 30-40 yuan per tonne High prices for raw materi...Read More
After five months of roaring demand for pig iron in China, market sources have started to doubt whether buying activity there will continue. In March, when the steel industry in Europe and the United States had only started to face the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, China began to recover, resuming normal operating rates and starting to absorb almost all available spot pig iron volumes from the...Read More
Brazil's pig iron export market was active during the week to Friday August 28 amid new sales to China.Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil at $340-350 per tonne on Friday, widening from $343-348 per tonne one week earlier. ...Read More
Negotiations resumed in the import pig iron market in the United States during the week to Friday August 28, but no deals have yet been concluded.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US rose to $355-360 per tonne on Friday, up by $15 from $340-345 per tonne a week before."All key buyers appeared in...Read More
In this edition of the Insider, group publisher James Woodburn talks to financial expert and economist Jim Rickards about his thoughts on COVID-19 and the long-term impact on the global economy. They go into the details of how COVID-19 spread, the government response of lockdown as well as what the central bank monetary policy and growing money supply means for the future of the global economy. Ji...Read More