Sherritt International Corp is to exit the Ambatovy joint venture in Madagascar, but its decision will not affect nickel or cobalt production at the mine, the Canadian company confirmed to Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10. The Canadian miner announced on February 26 that it would not fund its 12% stake in the Ambatovy JV, with Japan's Sumitomo Corp and South Korea's Korea Resources Corp (Kores...Read More
Three-month prices of base metals trading on the London Metal Exchange rebounded at the close on Tuesday March 10 due to suggestions that the worst of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China may be over. "Although the start of the new trading week was all out bearish, bargain-hunting activity prevails today and LME base metals look to be paring losses," Fastmarkets research analyst Andy Farida...Read More
A falling aluminium price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange below production costs has weakened sentiment for China's alumina market, sources told Fastmarkets this week. Market participants had been bullish about the Chinese alumina price due to reduced production during the height of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country early this year. Smelters had removed almost 6 milli...Read More
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed a new contract with Vietnamese state-owned company Vinacomin for the supply of alumina to the United Arab Emirates until 2023. The agreement means EGA will continue to buy up to 300,000 tonnes per year of alumina from Vinacomin. This deal extends an agreement that EGA and Vinacomin signed in late 2017 which was due to expire at the end of this year. https...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange improved during morning trading on Tuesday March 10, recouping losses made in Monday's decline in a 3% rally, while the rest of the complex followed higher. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,920 per tonne, climbing from a morning low of $12,570 per tonne.Turnover in nickel was high this morning, with more than 5,000 lot...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States have rebounded following a steep drop at the beginning of the week, but prices remain closer to the $29-per-hundredweight ($580-per-short-ton) level than the $30-per-cwt level that characterized the spot market just a week ago.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $28.89 per hundredweight ($577.80 per ton) on...Read More
The recent extension of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus quarantine area to all of Italy has resulted in trading activity falling to nearly zero and has caused some minor disruptions to deliveries, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.But production has not been affected by the tougher measures, market participants said.On March 9, Italian authorities ordered a lockdown of whole country in an att...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Visit the store to purchase these latest reports: Coronavirus to further depress global LNG marketsRise in Covid-19 leads to fall in China's refinery runsCoronavirus pushes China’s copper demand into negative growthThe impa...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.On Friday 15th February 2019, Vale announced there was a fire affecting a conveyor belt system at its distribution centre in Malaysia. Vale anticipate this will result in a 10 to 15 day halt in operations and note that a planned 10 da...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have dropped day on day following a decline in import offers and the risks related to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak in Italy, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?481.07 ($549.54) per tonne on Tuesday, down by ?,?3.55 per tonne day on day fr...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.What does tight oil have in common with Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet's Google stocks (known as FAANG stocks)? Answer: tight oil is arguably the upstream equivalent of these tech sector leaders. It's the hot investment...Read More
Customers in some of the major outlet markets for CIS-origin steel slab have reduced their bids significantly in the past week due to the drop in demand and uncertainty in the global market caused by the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus.No indications of fresh offers were heard from CIS producers on Tuesday March 10 because mills were said to be assessing the market.A source in Italy expected n...Read More
A summary of full year 2019 financial results for German metals distributor Kl??ckner & Co SE. In brief: The company cites falling steel prices and weak demand for a drop in earnings. Shipments and sales both fell across all segments of the business. Full year 2019 results Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda)...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The coronavirus is casting a shadow across commodity markets. It has undermined China’s economic sentiment, putting the country's growth outlook at risk. The full scale and impact of the outbreak remain to be seen, but it is cer...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The MJSA Expo and JA New York Spring events have both been canceled at five days' notice, because of coronavirus fears in New York.The MJSA Expo, the longest-running jewelry trade show in the USA, which last year attracted 3,000 buyers, says it hopes to announce new dates soon.JA New York Spring, which attracts 600 jewelry brands, designers and suppliers, says it has two...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.2020 will see lead transition into a market surplus after several years of significant deficit, according to Wood Mackenzie.Despite total exchange stocks of refined metal remaining near historical lows, softening demand has damaged se...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Star Diamond Corporation is to sue Rio Tinto over a joint venture, accusing it of "bad faith predatory practices".The two Canadian companies joined forces in 2017 to establish Star-Orion South, the first commercial diamond in Saskatchewan province.But Star Diamond, the smaller partner in the agreement, claims Rio Tinto has overspent on exploration, failed to share "any meaningful d...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.India's renewables target of 175 GW capacity (100 GW of solar and 75 GW of wind) by 2022 is an ambitious endeavour. Even with significant cost declines, Wood Mackenzie expects about 76% of the target to be met by 2022 and this would s...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.All eyes will be on the Indonesian nickel market in 2020.The knives may be out for the country’s nascent stainless industry but the staggering potential for expansion in NPI may reduce the impact of the nickel ore export ban to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa, Russia's leading diamond miner, today blamed weak demand for a 21 per cent drop in revenue and a 31 per cent slump in net profit for 2019.It released financial results days after announcing it would cut supply to match the falling demand due to the coronavirus epidemic.Sales were down 12 per cent because of "weaker demand in the rough and polished diamonds market," Alr...Read More