Australian miner South32 increased its manganese ore operating margin to 64% in the six months to December 31, 2018, it revealed in its half-yearly results presentation on Thursday February 14.Manganese ore generated the company's highest operating margin during the period, the first half of its 2018-19 financial year. This was up from 60% for the corresponding months of the 2017-18 year.In compar...Read More

The copper industry's next major mine is a step closer to bringing its first tonnes to market.First Quantum has started crushing and milling ore at its Cobre Panama mine, which is targeting 150,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate production this year, starting in the first quarter.The mine, which is set to ramp up to 270,000-300,000 tonnes per year in 2020 and 350,000 tpy...Read More

Key data from the Wednesday February 13 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers The cobalt sulfate price, Co 20.5% min, China ex-works price dropped midweek amid few spot activities after the Chinese New Year holiday on February 4-10. Weak spot demand is likely to last until late February or early March because some consumers will not resume business until after the Lantern Festival on...Read More

The suspension of cobalt production at Chambishi could provide some respite to falling cobalt prices but it should not be confused with the eventual departure of Chambishi broken cathodes from the market, according to sources spoken to by Fastmarkets. ERG has temporarily halted production at Chambishi in Zambia due to a lack of feedstock, which it sources from Boss Mining and Frontier Mine in...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet on Thursday February 14, but market participants expected prices to soften due to limited demand and weak finished steel markets in the country, sources said.There was talk in the market about a Baltic Sea cargo sold at $326 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), but there was no confirmation of this transaction at the time of publication.Market...Read More

UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in February have jumped in general by about ?20 ($26) per tonne, depending on grade, due to persistent weakness in export prices to the key destination of Turkey, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 13.The move followed a uniform price drop of ?15-20 per tonne in January settlements, after an earlier drop of ?20 per tonne in December. The...Read More

The US copper price failed to rebound on Thursday morning in the United States, while market participants hold back from being too optimistic about recent developments in US and Chinese trade talks.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.65 cents to $2.7665 per lb.Positive sentiment surrounding US-China trade is also beginning to man...Read More

Key data from the Wednesday February 13 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers The cobalt sulfate price, Co 20.5% min, China ex-works price dropped midweek amid few spot activities after the Chinese New Year holiday on February 4-10. Weak spot demand is likely to last until late February or early March because some consumers will not resume business until after the Lantern Festival on...Read More

Production of copper and cobalt has been suspended at the Chambishi refinery in Zambia due to constrained supply of imported feedstock. The suspension follows the introduction of a new 5% duty on cobalt and copper concentrates imported into Zambia that came into effect this year. The Chambishi refinery processes feed from ERG's Boss Mining and Frontier Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "In...Read More

Trade log for cobalt sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are yuan per tonne on an ex-works basis.The cobalt sulfate, Co 20.5% min, China ex-works, adjustment to the low-grade cobalt low-end price at Co 20.5% basis is on a $ per lb basis.Fastmarkets MB prices Click here for Fastmarket MB's price assessment for coba...Read More

Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Europe have been largely stable over the past seven days but are expected to rise soon, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Transaction prices are expected to slowly rise, supported by upward momentum in hot-rolled coil feedstock prices, according to market participants, after some European steelmakers - including ArcelorMittal...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil in Europe have been largely stable over the past week, but were expected to increase with support from the definitive measures applied after a regional safeguard investigation, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 14.The European Commission (EC) has imposed definitive safeguard measures on a list of imported steel products, in the form...Read More

Domestic buyers of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Northern Europe have been resisting attempts to raise offer prices this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 14.Transaction prices, however, were expected to rise in the near future, supported by higher offers for imported coil and increases in raw material costs, according to market participants."Prices have stabilized. The mills [in Nort...Read More

Steel billet import prices in Egypt increased this week with deals being done at higher levels in the wake of rising global scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $485-495 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $460-470 per tonne cfr last week.Billet producers in the CIS sold material to Egypt...Read More

Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have gone up in line with increasing scrap costs over the past week, while demand remained sluggish, sources said on Thursday February 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,180-3,250 ($604-618) per tonne ex-works, including 18% VAT, on February 14 up from the TRY3,079-3,150 per tonne last week.The local rebar price...Read More

Turkish rebar export prices have continued to rise in line with rising scrap costs, but steel mills are still struggling to sell material due to poor demand and trade barriers, sources said on Thursday February 14.Mills in Turkey raised their offers to $510-515 per tonne fob this week on an actual weight basis from last week's $490-500 per tonne, but there were only a few small cargoes, sold...Read More

The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) strengthened further during the week ended Thursday February 14 because buyers in the United States, the key outlet, started to accept higher offer prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron was $335-340 per tonne fob Black Sea on February 14, up from $325-335 per tonne fob Black...Read More

Detailed data for Chinese trade is still not available, but there are indications that the East Asian country may have become the biggest importer of pig iron in Asia last year, according to Fastmarkets' research team.We pointed out in June last year that the Chinese import pig iron market might revive to fill the widening gap between iron and steel production in China, alongside ferrous scrap.Hon...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet on Thursday February 14, but market participants expected prices to soften due to limited demand and weak finished steel markets in the country, sources said.There was talk in the market about a Baltic Sea cargo sold at $326 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), but there was no confirmation of this transaction at the time of publication.Market...Read More

Steel billet prices in Turkey increased over the past week due to strong demand in both the domestic and export markets, along with rising scrap import costs, sources said on Thursday February 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic billet in Turkey was $480-490 per tonne ex-works, up from $460 per tonne.Several domestic billet sales were heard over the past week, sources said.A steel...Read More