Prices for structural tubing in the United States rose slightly on Thursday March 5 after tube mills announced price increases, but uncertainty in the market has left buyers hesitant.Tube mills increased prices earlier this week for hollow structural sections and other welded products by $40 per ton ($2 per hundredweight) effective immediately due to increased substrate costs."The price is changin...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices narrowed upward in the week to Friday March 6 while negotiations for May-shipment volumes start at higher levels, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil rose to $470-475 per tonne on March 6, up from $460-475 per tonne the previous week.Companies are starting negotiations for May-shipment offers and offe...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices went down by 800 rupees ($11) per tonne in the week ended Friday March 6, with long-steel product makers slowing their purchases of semi-finished materials in expectation of further price falls.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on March 6 at 28,400-28,600 rupees ($385-388) per tonne, compared with last week's as...Read More
Flat steel prices were stable in Turkey in the week to Friday March 6, with only limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers were also uncertain about the direction of prices because of the global uncertainty caused by fears over spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). No cases have been announced yet in Turkey, but the outbreak has reached neighboring countries such as Greece and p...Read More
Canadian junior Star Diamond on Thursday started legal proceedings against Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC) to protect its interest in the Star-Orion South project, in Saskatchewan.Star Diamond last month flagged possible legal action over RTEC’s purported exercise in November 2019 of its four options under the option and joint venture agreement of June 2017, claiming that it did not comp...Read More
LONDON – As coronavirus cripples the Chinese economy, hardly anyone there is buying diamonds.Diamond sales in China have collapsed since the outbreak of the virus as shoppers stay home. De Beers, the biggest diamond miner, said sales fell by more than a third last week, from its first sale of the year in January.Advertisement“There’s been a full shutdown in China and other parts...Read More
The export pig iron market in Brazil moved higher during the week to Friday March 6 on tight availability because suppliers are fully booked for April.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, was $320-325 per tonne on Friday, up by $5 per tonne from $315-320 per tonne a week earlier."Suppliers from the south have had less pig iron available with April shi...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States has gone up further than was expected in the past seven days, driven by a booking from Russia, sources told Fastmarkets during the week ended Friday March 6.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $360-363 per tonne on Friday, up from $347-350 per tonne the week before.A booking of Russia-origin pig iron was done in t...Read More
Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesMICROMINE STRENGTHENS DATA MANAGEMENT SOLUTION WITH Geobank 2020SPONSOREDmicromineThe company posted a full-year loss attributable to shareholders of US$230.4 million, including a $105...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India trended downward this week, with a combination of factors dampening sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 6.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $302.54 per tonne on Friday, down from $305.66 per tonne one week ago.Deals for shredded were heard at $302 and $305 per tonne from UK and...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was steady in the week ended Friday March 6, marking four weeks of stability but ahead of an uncertain outcome in negotiations for monthly deliveries to British steelmakers from domestic suppliers this month, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter...Read More
The Turkish steel producers finished this week having made no deep-sea scrap bookings, but were expected to return to the market next week, sources said on Friday March 6.There have been no new bookings during March so far. The latest cargo was sold on February 24, and put the price of Baltic Sea- and US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) around $280 per tonne cfr.Suppliers, especially those in the US, contin...Read More
Without fresh major stimulus announcements, markets have turned risk-off again this morning, Friday March 6. Market participants had been expecting the People’s Bank of China to announce some further stimulus after the United States Federal Reserve’s emergency 50-basis-point rate cut on Tuesday, but nothing has been forthcoming. The spread and impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)...Read More
The export price for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States rose again in the week to Thursday March 5, on new sales.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $329-340 per tonne on Thursday, up from $320-327 per tonne a week earlier.The key driver of the market level was a pig iron sale from Russia to the United States...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped on Friday March 6 with traders becoming risk-averse ahead of the weekend, with concerns over the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus and its effect on the global economy overwhelming what market participants described as "not bad to healthy" physical demand for iron ore.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.19 per tonne, down by $2.38 per tonne...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices weakened on Friday March 6 amid a muted market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $158.41 per tonne, down $1.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $170.55 per tonne, down $3.68 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $141.51 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $152.50 per tonne, down $2.50...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was little moved during morning trading on Friday March 6, keeping firmly below $5,700 per tonne despite a fresh cancellation of more than 2,000 tonnes in LME-registered warehouses in Busan. Copper's outright price was recently seen at $5,647.50 per tonne, while turnover was high at more than 8,000 lots exchanged as of 9:45am London time. L...Read More
U.S. equity index futures moved lower again. S&P 500 futures dropped 87 points in response to increasing coronavirus concerns.Index futures recovered slightly following release of U.S. economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for February Non-farm Payrolls was a drop to 175,000 from an upwardly revised 273,000 in January. Actual was 273,000 Consensus for the February Unemployment Rate was a sli...Read More
Without fresh major stimulus announcements, markets have turned risk-off again this morning, Friday March 6. Market participants had been expecting the People's Bank of China to announce some further stimulus after the United States Federal Reserve's emergency 50-basis-point rate cut on Tuesday, but nothing has been forthcoming. The spread and impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) across Ita...Read More
With the exception of that for lead, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down during the morning trading session on Friday March 6 amid a persistent risk-off mood among investors.Risk appetite remains suppressed by news that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) continues to spread around the world, with nearly 100,000 people infected globally. This renewed pessimism overshadowed...Read More