Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Wednesday January 9, with a continued uptrend in copper, nickel and tin futures topping gains while a softer US dollar index continues to support commodity investment. Climbing furthest over the afternoon, the three-month copper price appreciated just shy of 1% during afternoon trading, closing at its hig...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday January 9 that are worth another look.Asian steel markets are in for another tumultuous year judging by the rate at which new developments are expected to spring up in 2019.In the United States, the chairs of seven committees in the House of Representatives requested that the US Treasury Department delay the terminat...Read More
Lead-zinc producer Recylex must bring forward maintenance at its Nordenham lead smelter due to the advanced deterioration of the main furnace there, the company said.The refractory bricks of its main furnace have worn out since it was connected to the new reduction furnace in June last year, Recyclex, Europe's third largest lead producer, said on Tuesday January 8. To connect with the reduction fu...Read More
Steve Cotton has been appointed chief executive officer of Aqua Metals in addition to his existing role as company president, the California, US-based firm said. Cotton was also appointed to the company's board of directors as its seventh director.The company is developing AquaRefining technology designed...Read More
Quiet market conditions while the United States and Europe emerged from Christmas holidays and while China prepares for its Spring Festival have kept nickel premiums largely unchanged.But rates on briquettes are showing some signs of downward pressure, market participants said this week. US briquette rate dips but LME drawdowns continue European premiums unchanged, excess briquettes reported ...Read More
The US copper price increased during midweek trading this morning in the US, amid a softer dollar and positive trade talks between the United States and China.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.30 cents to $2.6690 per lb. Trade talks between the world's economic powers continued for a third consecutive day earlier this morn...Read More
Greece's state-owned ferro-nickel company Larco is to cut production by 20% as part of an agreement with the country's government to pay down debts and stay in operation. George Stathakis, Greece's Minister of the Environment and Energy, told Fastmarkets that the deal, reached this week, will also see Larco pay four million euros per month to the Public Power Company (PPC) for electricity consumpt...Read More
Steel producers in Egypt will benefit from higher steel demand and low rates of imports in 2019, George Matta, chief marketing officer of Ezz Steel, said at Fastmarkets' North Africa Steel Summit in Dubai in December.Egypt is the largest steel-consuming country in the North Africa region and, in the long term, the share of its steel consumption that is supplied by imported steel products may start...Read More
Prices for hollow steel sections in Europe remained flat on Wednesday January 9 while market participants digested the news about a revised import quota regime for the region.Fastmarkets' domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe remained at ?,?635-650 ($727-744) per tonne delivered on Wednesday.Less than 5,000 tonnes remains to be allo...Read More
Domestic prices for steel beams in Europe remained unchanged again on Wednesday January 9, with the market slow to return to trading after the New Year break, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was unchanged at ?,?620-645 ($710-739) per tonne on January 9.In December, mills had been pu...Read More
PolarX builds bigger, richer Zackly pictureSPONSOREDpolar x limitedThe Toronto-based company said the step was part one of a staged expansion plan outlined in a July 2018 preliminary economic assessment aimed at increasing the production rate to 5,000t/d by 2020.Installation of a refurbished mill, a 1,250kv electrical substation, secondary crusher and a hydrocyclone cluster that allows f...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe remained stable on Wednesday January 9, with buyers still deterred from purchasing any material for now.The European Commission's recent import quota proposal has not yet convinced buyers that now is time to commit to volumes.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe remained at ?,?520-540 ($595-618)...Read More
European prices for mesh-quality wire rod stayed flat across the continent on Wednesday January 9, with continuing doubts over imports even after the European Commission issued a proposal for its 2019 quotas late last week.Fastmarkets MB's weekly domestic price assessments for mesh-quality wire rod in both Southern and Northern Europe stayed at ?,?540-560 ($618-641) per tonne delivered on Wednesda...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat on Wednesday January 9, although the European Commission's recent proposal for 2019 steel import tariffs has removed some of the uncertainty in the market. Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at $540-560 ($618-641) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with no new deals reporte...Read More
Turkish steel mills were absent from the deep-sea market on Wednesday January 9, with no bookings recorded and no change in prices, sources told Fastmarkets. On January 8, three steel producers booked four deep-sea cargoes from the United States and Europe at steady prices and then started to watch the finished steel markets.A long steel producer in Izmir was said to be selling 50,000 tonnes...Read More
Physical iron ore markets weakened on Wednesday January 9 following downward corrections in futures and steel prices.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $73.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $74.04 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $75.68 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.52 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $...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 oreVale, Global Ore, 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, traded at the February average of the MB...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market remained in a slump on Wednesday January 9, sources told Fastmarkets.Some 25,000 tonnes of a mid-vol premium coking coal traded around $196-197 per tonne fob Australia.A southern Chinese mill source attributed the pessimism in the market to "poor car sales and weakness in the real estate sector"."For every transaction done, the next [trade] will be even lower like r...Read More
Demand for ferrous scrap in some Asia markets was higher mid-week because South Korea and Vietnam were actively seeking import cargoes from the United States and Japan.A major South Korean steel mill booked a 32,000-tonne scrap cargo from the United States on Monday January 7 based on a price of $311 per tonne cfr for heavy melting scrap 1. It paid $316 per tonne, or a $5 per tonne premium, for 29...Read More