Vital Materials has appointed Nick Boulton as its global sales and product manager, the company told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25. Boulton, who will be based in the United Kingdom in this role, holds over 30 years' experience in multiple roles across a variety of market segments including petrochemicals, fine chemicals pharmaceuticals...Read More

The aluminium market mainly shrugged off the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) long-awaited decision to remove sanctions imposed on producer UC Rusal on Sunday. The market said the removal of sanctions had been expected and therefore is already priced into the premium levels. But Rusal's next move will remain a crucial key to how the market develops in...Read More

Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange fell by almost 3% at the close of trading on Monday January 28, continuing to trade at less than $1,900 per tonne while the rest of the complex followed lower.Total aluminium volumes traded on the exchange were moderate, with 13,588 lots changing hands by the close, and while the metal's LME stock levels remained firmly above 1 million ton...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's Special Committee has removed the "temporary conditional suspension" on Rusal metal, allowing the warranting of all material dated before and after April 6, 2018, to resume, it said in a note to members on Monday January 28. The move comes after the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) decision to remove sanctions imposed on En+, UC Ru...Read More

Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange fell below its nearby support level of $1,900 per tonne during morning trading on Monday January 28, after the US removed sanctions on Russia's biggest aluminium producer, UC Rusal.First imposed on April 6, 2018, the United States' sanctions against the Russian producer spurred uncertainty in both the physical aluminium and alumina markets...Read More

The aluminium market mainly shrugged off the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) long-awaited decision to remove sanctions imposed on producer UC Rusal on Sunday. The market said the removal of sanctions had been expected and therefore is already priced into the premium levels. But Rusal's next move will remain a crucial key to how the market develops in...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have gone up after a large number of cargoes were booked from European, Baltic Sea and US origins, sources said on Monday January 28.Several deep-sea bookings from a variety of locations came to light late on Friday after the deadline for the indices that day.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) a...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 28 that are worth another look.Brazilian authorities and regulators are targeting Vale after the failure of the tailings dam at the global miner's C??rrego do Feij??o mine, at Brumadinho in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state. The iron ore miner had 11 billion Reais ($2.91 billion) blocked by loca...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has given the government of Greece two months to recover aid of ?,?135.8 million ($154.9 million) granted illegally to state-owned ferro-nickel producer Larco, or face the threat of court-imposed fines and financial penalties.On Thursday January 24, the EC sent a letter of formal notice to the Greek government demanding that it respond and demonstrate recovery of the a...Read More

The copper scrap discount in January has narrowed month on month for Chinese imports, mainly due to limited scrap availability following a drop in copper's outright price.No 2 copper scrap, which includes birch and cliff of 94-96% copper content, was being sold into the country at a discount of 24-30 cents per lb this month, Fastmarkets assessed. The spreads are smaller compared to 26-34 cents per...Read More

Sherritt International Corp expects to see an increase in both its nickel and cobalt production in 2019 after several factors including adverse weather conditions impacted output last year. The Toronto, Canada-based company operates two nickel operations, the Moa joint venture in Cuba and the Ambatovy joint venture in Madagascar, with a combined capacity of more than 80,000 tonnes per year of nick...Read More

Spot treatment charges (TCs) for zinc concentrates rose in January with the market continuing to trade at prices significantly higher than $200 per tonne.Fastmarkets assessed TCs for spot zinc concentrates at $210-240 per tonne on Friday January 25, up from $210-230 per tonne last month, reflecting a rise in the number of deals made at higher prices and a wider spread in trades.The spot zinc conce...Read More

The Comex copper price failed to maintain last week's momentum over the weekend, with the market awaiting fresh news on US and Chinese trade talks.Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 4.15 cents to trade at $2.6875 per lb on the morning of Monday January 28."Copper is trying to keep most of the gains...Read More

Asia led global crude steel output growth in 2018, accounting for 1.3 billion tonnes of production - an 8.33% increase - according to statistics published by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) last Friday January 25.Steelmakers across the world produced a total of 1.79 billion tonnes of crude steel last year, up 4.68% compared with 1.71 billion tonnes a year earlier. China, the world's large...Read More

The price for rebar imported to Singapore fell again on Monday January 28 due to ample supply from Ukraine. Fastmarkets MB assessed the import price for rebar in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - at $460 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday, narrowing downward from $460-470 per tonne cfr a week earlier. Some 100,000 tonnes of Ma...Read More

The import price for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil into Vietnam has risen in the past week on pre-holiday restocking and lower domestic supply. Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for HRC in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $495-500 per tonne cfr for the week ending Monday January 28, up $5-15 per ton...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Monday January 28 amid inactivity, but export prices rose slightly on low selling pressure. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,750 yuan ($550-556) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,740 yuan per tonne, unchangedMost downstream end users have stopped work to get an early start to the holiday for the Chinese New Year, which k...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Tuesday January 22 led by higher offer prices of mills amid limited need to sell before the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,760-3,770 yuan ($557-559) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,690-3,710 yuan per tonne, unchangedDomestic prices were little changed with trading remaining limited.A H...Read More

China's Hebei Iron & Steel will acquire Tata Steel's operations in Southeast Asia, increasing its footprint in Southeast Asia. Tata Steel subsidiary T S Global Holdings (TSGH) entered an agreement with a HBIS Group Co-controlled entity to divest its entire equity stake in NatSteel Holdings and 67.9% of Tata Steel (Thailand), according to a statement filed to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday Jan...Read More

Brazilian authorities and regulators are targeting Vale after the failure of the tailings dam at the global miner's C??rrego do Feij??o mine, at Brumadinho in the country's south-eastern Minas Gerais state.The Brazilian vice president, Hamilton Mour??o, called on Monday January 28 for everyone responsible for the failure of the tailings dam to be punished.He did not rule out changes to the company...Read More