Minerals Council South Africa was in the process of developing a draft exploration strategy to present to the Council for Geosciences (CGS) and the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE), Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter told attendees of the Afriforesight Future of Metals Conference earlier this month.The Minerals Council has also established an Exploration Leadership Forum to assist...Read More

The Brazilian export price for pig iron has fallen over the past week on poor sentiment among buyers due to weakness in the scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 30. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil was $310-320 per tonne on Friday, down from $325-327 per tonne last week.Sources from the buy side estimated a workable market l...Read More

The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron scrap, which hit a ten-week run of stability this week, is set to drop in the near term amid weakening demand for feed from steel producers in Europe, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was flat week-on-week at ?80-100 ($98-122) per tonne on Friday Augu...Read More

Alloy steel scrap prices in the UK domestic market widened upwards this week on a nickel price surge on Friday August 30, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices had been largely flat throughout the week in reflection of a stable nickel market. On Friday morning, however, nickel prices started to increase quickly and continued through the day. By Friday's close, the three-month nickel price on the Lo...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 increase...Read More

The deep-sea scrap market was quiet on Friday August 30 because of a public holiday in Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets. The Victory Day holiday means that all Turkey-based market participants have been absent from the market and traders...Read More

Prices for ferrous scrap imported into India were expected to fall due to the decline of prices in the international market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 30.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $291.20 per tonne on Friday, down from $292.71 per tonne on August 23.Offers of shredded scrap from Europe and the UK have...Read More

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