ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS India) is the latest steelmaker in the country to confirm it is reducing production rates due to the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown in the country."AMNS operations are running at very low capacity, with minimum staff inside its facilities," a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 26 without revealing details on which units had been&...Read More

India's JSW Steel expects a significant reduction in its capacity utilization rates during the country's 21-day lockdown following its move to suspend or scale down operations across various locations, it said on Thursday March 26."The company has taken the decision to scale down/suspend production to support the cause of containment of the Covid-19 pandemic, notwithstanding the exception to manuf...Read More

Two-time Vale president Eliezer Batista diesLeadershipLook beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources The company said yesterday the updated resource comprised an indicated 97.6 million tonnes grading 0.33% total copper an...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe Chilean government agency, ENAMI, wants the ore for processing at its nearby Vallenar processing plant, with the agreement reportedly "safeguarding" 400 jobs.Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price declined during morning trading on Thursday March 26, with price action consolidating near the $4,800-per-tonne support level amid mild turnover, while tin futures failed to hold gains in a 2.4% downturn. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently at $4,803 per tonne, down by 1.5% from Wednesday's closing price of $4,855 per tonne, while turn...Read More

China's domestic rebar market was steady on Thursday March 26, with sellers keeping prices flat despite rising output in view of lower stock. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,470-3,500 yuan ($488-492) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,380-3,400 yuan per tonne, unchanged End-user demand increased gradually over the past couple of weeks, which drew down steel mills' inventories, sourc...Read More

Governments' massive efforts to support economies have provided some relief to markets and sentiment, but with the novel coronavirus (nCoV 2019) pandemic still spreading rapidly throughout Europe, the United States and elsewhere, there is still just too much uncertainty for markets to settle down.In line with this, the countertrend move of recent days is showing signs of running out of steam this...Read More

Governments’ massive efforts to support economies have provided some relief to markets and sentiment, but with the novel coronavirus (nCoV 2019) pandemic still spreading rapidly throughout Europe, the United States and elsewhere, there is still just too much uncertainty for markets to settle down.In line with this, the countertrend move of recent days is showing signs of running out of steam...Read More

The spread of the Covid-19 virus is forcing shutdowns and a reassessment of consumers' cobalt requirements. Prices of cobalt - metal, intermediates and salts - have so far taken a hit amid concerns of a general, global economic slowdown caused by the virus; a slower uptake in electric vehicle usage; and disrupted demand from the aerospace sector. But lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of the v...Read More

Canada-based ferro-titanium producer Metalliage is urging local authorities to allow the company to return to production, arguing the alloy maker provides an essential service, after the provincial government of Quebec ordered non-essential services to shutdown for three weeks effective midnight March 24.The move follows international efforts to limit the spread and impact of the coronavirus (2019...Read More

The Ambatovy Nickel Project (Ambatovy) will temporarily stop operations due to national restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Madagascar. "In Bolivia and Madagascar, all-day or night curfews have been imposed and public transportation has been suspended. Considering the impact of these measures, including difficulties of securing access to the operation...Read More

The price of antimony in China's domestic market fell for a fourth consecutive week on Wednesday March 25, with suppliers lowering their offer prices amid weakening market sentiment in response to a significant reduction in overseas demand.Fastmarkets' price assessment for antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China was 37,000-38,000 yuan ($5,214-5,355) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 1,000 yuan p...Read More

The 21-day lockdown in South Africa and resulting disruption to shipping cobalt raw materials from Durban to Chinese ports have managed to slow the cobalt sulfate price downturn in China, with producers who were eager to destock pausing midweek, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co base is, exw China was 45,000-47,000 yuan ($6,341- 6,623) per tonne on Wednesday Ma...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 43 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures recovered slightly following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was a jump to 1,500,000 from 281,000 last week. Actual was 3,283,000. Consensus for third estimate of fourth quarter GDP was unchanged from the third quarter at an annu...Read More

Stainless steel prices in China fell over the past week amid lower raw material costs and a worsening novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic. A slump in the London Metal Exchange's nickel price was a major factor that led steelmakers to reduce their asking prices, sources said. The three-month nickel contract on the LME ended Wednesday March 25's trading session at $11,251 per tonne, down by $254-...Read More

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China's electric-arc furnace (EAF) mills have gradually raised their production rates in the past three weeks following stronger demand for steel products.But this higher output is unlikely to lower billet imports into the country, according to market sources. They expect this trade flow to persist as long as the arbitrage window stays open.Production rates for EAFs - which largely produce long st...Read More

The hot metal cost for blast furnace-based steel production in Asia reached almost $320 per tonne in February, supported by high iron ore and coking coal prices despite the onset of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic in China.The high raw materials costs caused hot metal-steel spreads to reach a low of $137.98 per tonne and $110.39 per tonne for hot-rolled coil and rebar respectively even...Read More

As the science continues to evolve around the transmission of the deadly coronavirus, the 23,000 people who attended the Prospectors & Developers' Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto on March 1-4 can only watch and wait.PDAC confirmed the first case of infection on March 11, stating that an attendee had tested positive for the virus after returning to his home in Sudbury. The conven...Read More

Barrick Gold (TSE: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) has unveiled a 10-year gold production plan in which it aims to maintain production levels of approximately 5 million oz. gold per year between 2020 and 2029. The plan is based on its current operating asset portfolio, sustaining projects in progress, and implementing exploration and mineral resource management initiatives. It does not include additional asset o...Read More