Physical iron ore prices rose on Friday August 30 on news that China was willing to proceed with negotiations to resolve its trade war with the United States.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.66 per tonne, up by $3.19 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.04 per tonne, up by $3.19 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.69 per tonne, up by $2....Read More

Large price falls in the Asian ferrous scrap market this week have kept buyers away, with most market sources saying they expect more price falls to come in the near term. There were bids from South Korea for bulk cargoes, but no transaction were heard to be concluded. Vietnamese buyers did not exhibit interest for US-origin bulk HMS cargoes due to an abundant supply of alternatives from Japan, Eu...Read More

According to ASX and JSE-listed Orion's BFS, the project has an NPV post-tax of A$408 million (using an 8% discount rate), and an IRR of 33%, while payback occurs 2.9 years from first production. Peak funding was estimated at A$378 million. Orion has a 70% stake in the project with BEE companies holding 20%."We are showing a compelling investment case to establish a financially robust mine with an...Read More

Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal moved up on Friday August 30, recovering most of the losses suffered earlier this week and underlining a gap between low-vol and mid-vol cargoes in the segment.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.01 per tonne, up $5.01 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.0...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 16 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for July Personal Income was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.4% in June. Actual was an increase of 0.1%. Consensus for July Personal Spending was an increase of 0.5% versus a gain o...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices picked up some strength on Friday August 30 amid heightened trading activity in response to gains in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,540-3,590 yuan ($495-502) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneTraders raised their prices slightly after rebar futures rose during the day. The...Read More

Markets are once again consolidating in the morning of Friday August 30, waiting to see how the United States responds to China's comments that it wants to make a trade deal.While any deal would likely turn sentiment bullish quickly, it does look as though the market is skeptical that anything will come of this. We should be braced for an active day because the next wave of US tariff increases on...Read More

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

Fastmarkets is proposing to make changes to the specifications of two cobalt hydroxide assessments it initially launched in February 2019.The two assessments are the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low end), and the cobalt hydroxide index 30% Co min, cif China, $/Ib. Following an initial consultation among market par...Read More

The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday August 30:Minor metalsBismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 40,000-41,000 yuan per tonne from 40,000-41,500 yuanChromium alumino-thermic 99% min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $6,800-7,200 from $6,900-7,200Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb: $17.00-18.00 per lb from $16.85-17.65Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More

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

Southwestern China's Kunming Intermediate People's court will auction all of the 28,336 tonnes of ammonium paratunsgate (APT) held by the collapsed Fanya Metal Exchange in mid September, according to an official notice seen by Fastmarkets on Friday August 30.The volume of APT ingots is equivalent to about three months of Chinese output and will be put up for auction from 10am Beijing time on Septe...Read More

QUESTION: Marty,living in Europe where the talk about the elimination of cash is loud I am asking myself what is planned for foreign currencies, e.g. USD, one holds in cash at home? They can ?t forbid it because foreign exchange is needed for traveling.Even when they forbid it, there must be the possibility to change them to the new “national cryptocurrency” at the official exchange ra...Read More

A nickel plant at the Ramu nickel-cobalt project in northeast Papua New Guinea, is still in full operation following the discovery of waste spilling into the nearby Basamuk Bay, according to media reports. Authorities are carrying out investigations into the spillage that was discovered over the weekend and Ramu could face compensation claims and possibly closure after investigation, Reuters repor...Read More

The monthly European alloy steel surcharges for September have surged upward from the August levels on higher nickel prices, Fastmarkets heard on Friday August 30.Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 alloy surcharge, domestic, Europe, rose to ?,?1,519-1,557 ($1,681-1,724) per tonne, according to data released by Outokumpu, Acerinox and Aperam. This was an increase of ?,?1...Read More

Grade-304 stainless steel flat product prices in Europe widened upwards this week, while mills confirmed that alloy surcharges for September would increase substantially, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 30. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,300-2,350 ($2,546-2,601) per tonne on...Read More

Fastmarkets MB has corrected its monthly values for European grade-304 stainless steel alloy surcharges, which were published incorrectly on Friday August 30. The Fastmarkets stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe price assessment was originally published at ?,?1,889-1,934 per tonne. This has now been corrected to ?,?1,519-1,557 per tonne. The Fastmarkets...Read More

The Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT) celebrated the grand opening of its new laboratory facilities at Colorado School of Mines this week. Members of the industry-academia consortium joined Mines leadership, state officials and guests Aug. 26 at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering. Among the new ADAPT fac...Read More

High-grade silver assays are boosting Kootenay Silver's (TSXV: KTN; US-OTC: KOOYF) confidence in its Columba silver project in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The property is located 25 km south of the city of Nuevo Casas Grandes, with a population of 55,000.Highlights from four drill holes included 1,070 grams silver per tonne over 1 metre within a broader interval of 3 metres grading 516 grams s...Read More

Gold erased early losses to trade slightly higher on Friday and was headed for its biggest monthly gain in over three years as concerns about a slowdown in global growth and hopes for rate cuts by ...Read full newsRead More