The advent of blockchain and other digital ledger technologies cannot be ignored, and they will play a much greater role in the financial markets in the next five years, according to the heads of several of the world's commodities exchanges.Matthew Chamberlain, chief executive officer of the London Metal Exchange, told Fastmarkets that the blockchain route for the LME would probably be pursued thr...Read More

Brazilian imports of flat steel products increased year on year in February 2019, mainly due to an improved performance by the flat steel sector, while long steel imports increased slightly in the same comparison.The country imported 91,208 tonnes of flat steel products in February, up by 62.73% from 56,049 tonnes a year before, according to figures recently released by the country's foreign trade...Read More

Steel beam prices in the European market have gone up this week following continuing rises in the costs of feedstock materials, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe went up by ?,?5 per tonne to ?,?610-640 ($688-721) per tonne delivered on March 13, from ?,?610-635 per tonne deliv...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe pushed higher on Wednesday March 13, with producers starting to find some traction in their efforts to raise prices against a background of high raw material costs.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe narrowed upward to ?,?515-520 ($581-586) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, from ?,?510-520 per tonn...Read More

The price range for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat on Wednesday March 13 following a slight increase last week, with producers maintaining pressure on prices against what they see as a strong fundamental backdrop.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at ?,?540-550 ($609-620) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with thin deman...Read More

The Turkish steel mills hve taken a break from deep-sea scrap purchasing activity because of the increasing offer prices they are getting, sources said on Wednesday March 13.The producers in the country have been buying deep-sea scrap from various sources at a slow pace for a while, but were still cautious due to the weakness of finished steel demand.Only two UK cargoes have been sold so far this...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreBHP, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 80,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Jimblebar fines, traded at the April...Read More

Iron ore prices experienced some fluctuation on Wednesday March 13 following ups and downs in the futures markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.78 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $83.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $86.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.65 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $74....Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices softened on Wednesday March 13, with a trade on the Global Coal trading platform taking some market participants by surprise.A May-laycan cargo of premium hard coking coal in the branded segment was traded at $204 per tonne fob Australia, while a bid for an April-laycan shipment in the same segment was made on the platform at around $212 per tonne fob Australia during t...Read More

Australian rail freight operator Aurizon expects repair works on its rail infrastructure and overhead lines that suffered damage from a train derailment at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) earlier this month to be completed by Friday March 15."At approximately 3.50pm, Sunday March 10, an empty Pacific National train derailed as it exited Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. No one was injured in the...Read More

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has seen a "tremendous uptick" in iron ore futures trading activity due to supply concerns following the deadly breach at one of Vale's tailings dams earlier this year."There is suddenly a big squeeze on high-quality iron ore," the exchange's head of derivatives, Michael Syn, said in response to a question from Fastmarkets at an SGX press briefing at the 44th Annual In...Read More

Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange could hit as high as $8,000 per tonne this year, Marex Spectron's head of market analytics Guy Wolf told delegates at Fastmarkets' International Copper Conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday March 13."My view is that we could see copper's three-month price on the LME move past $7,500 per tonne and reach $8,000 per tonne this year," Wolf said."I...Read More

The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday March 13:Minor metalsAntimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 46,000-46,500 yuan per tonne from 47,000-48,000 yuanCobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $14.20-14.90 per lb from $14.60-15.75Cobalt MB free market standard grade, $/lb:...Read More

After the ferro-alloys industry gathered in Hong Kong this week for Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys conference, our reporters present 10 of the key things we learned. 1. Vanadium is likely to regain momentum in 2019... Many market participants at the conference were bullish about ferro-vanadium in 2019, citing robust demand as a result of the revised rebar standard in China, which mandated an incr...Read More

The manganese ore market is likely to remain stable over 2019 after the previous two years of volatility, though profitability is liable to shrink, according to panelists at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-alloys conference in Hong Kong on Monday March 11."The market is less volatile compared to the last two years because while supply has gone up, demand has gone up too," Lei Fei, China Minmetals Corpora...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Wednesday March 13, with copper, aluminium, nickel and zinc down by an average of 0.2%, while lead was up by 0.6% and tin was little changed. Three-month copper was recently quoted at $6,451 per tonne, off by 0.3% compared with Tuesday's close at $6,468 per tonne.Volume was slightly below average with 6,482 lots t...Read More

Key data from the Wednesday March 13 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers  The recent rally in the European ferro-titanium price shows no sign of ending, with buying inquiries reported from within Europe and beyond, such as the United States. Renewed consumer demand for second-quarter delivery settlements has combined with short covering for both prompt and longer term demand amid a potenti...Read More

Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia softened over the past week due to a slowdown in trading activity, amid thin buying interest and a weakening nickel market.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil in East Asia was $2,050-2,150 per tonne cif on Wednesday March 13, widening downward by $10 per tonne from $2,060-2,150 per t...Read More

The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday March 13:Aluminium scrapCommercial pure cuttings: ?970-1,000 per tonne from ?980-1,020Aluminium ingotLM24 pressure diecasting ingot: ?1,360-1,410 per tonne...Read More

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a visit to the annual convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto on March 5, 2019, for a sit-in interview conducted by outgoing PDAC president Glenn Mullan.Below is a full transcript of the 20-minute interview, edited for clarity. Topics that Trudeau and Mullan discussed included technological innovation, sustainab...Read More