The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday November 13.The three-month lead price dropped almost 2% during the London Metal Exchange closing trade session on Monday November 12. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:Sluggish demand could lead to softer spot copper premiums in China next year, Arc Resources general m...Read More

Prices for special bar quality (SBQ) steel products in the United States have risen again, moving up by $0.50 per hundredweight ($10 per short ton) due to increasing raw material costs while market participants eye an early 2019 mill hike. Fastmarket AMM assessed the price for 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon) hot-rolled bar at $46.50 per cwt ($930 per ton) on Friday November 9, up 16.3% from $40...Read More

The price for steel plate in the United States continues to gain ground but sources are increasingly questioning whether it might be at or near a peak.Fastmarkets AMM assessed cut-to-length plate at $49.50 per hundredweight ($990 per short ton) on Friday November 9, up 1% from $49 per cwt previously and up 59.7% from $31 per cwt a year ago.The plate price last weighed in at $49.50 per cw...Read More

Operations at Kazakhstan steelmaker ArcelorMittal Temirtau were partly suspended on Saturday November 10 due to an explosion in a gas pipeline, the company has said."An accident investigation will take at least three weeks. After that, we will resume production," ArcelorMittal Temirtau's chief operating officer, Vadim Basin, said on Monday November 12. "A complete investigation and production rest...Read More

The rate at which the European Commission's import safeguard quotas for wire rod and rebar are filling up is still accelerating, and may give domestic long steel producers an opportunity to raise their prices in the next few weeks despite lukewarm demand.The European quotas were introduced in mid-July in response to the imposition by the United States of wide-ranging import tariffs on industrial g...Read More

Fastmarkets launched its daily US Midwest Hot-Rolled Coil Index on Monday November 12.Fastmarkets believes that increasing the frequency of its hot-rolled coil index to daily from weekly is a useful and necessary addition to the company's suite of steel and ferrous scrap prices in response to unprecedented steel market volatility. The price proposal notice was updated on&n...Read More

The consolidation of South Africa's chrome industry that has taken place since 2015 translates into better-underpinned ferro-chrome prices overall, Afarak chief operating officer Danko Koncar said at Fastmarkets MB's 34th International Ferro-alloys Conference, held in Lisbon November 11-13.Ferro-chrome prices hit multi-year lows in 2015, and four South African ferro-chrome plants were taken offlin...Read More

Australian lithium-spodumene producer Altura secured a binding offtake agreement with Chinese lithium producer Ganfeng International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium, on Friday November 9.Altura will supply 70,000 tonnes per year of lithium spodumene, min 6%, from 2019 until the end of 2021. The price of the material will range from a minimum of $550 per tonne to a maximum of $950 per...Read More

The black tungsten concentrate price in China moved down on low buying interest from downstream consumers, while the ammonium paratungstate (APT) market was quiet with little spot business concluded and the market awaiting further direction. Concentrates price edges down amid softening market  APT prices in both China and Europe remained stable  Ferro-tungsten price flat in Europe on goo...Read More

Canada's Standard Lithium Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global specialty chemical company Lanxess Corp to commercially produce battery grade lithium in Arkansas in the United States.The goal of the agreement, which may lead to a joint venture, is to develop commercial opportunities related to the production, marketing and sale of battery grade lithium products.The project...Read More

The ferrous scrap market in the United States enjoyed a second month of recovery in November, with participants convinced that more upside is on the horizon for the coming months. "December will be up and January will be up again. This is a four-month upward swing. The question is how much. A $5-[per-gross]-ton increase wouldn't mean or do much and $30 [per] ton is too much for one...Read More

Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices have increased slightly over the past week, while ship scrap prices were stable, sources said on Monday November 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle (DKP grade) ferrous scrap was TRY1,800-1,940 ($329-354) per tonne delivered, narrowing upward from last week's TRY1,750-1,940 per tonne.The reason...Read More

Physical iron ore prices weakened amid thin trading on Monday November 12 following drops in the steel market and news that BHP has resumed rail operations after last week's incident in Australia.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $76.05 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.15 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.85 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.15 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $...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 transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, tender, 178,522 tonnes of...Read More

Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal surged on Monday November 12 after end users submitted higher bids for them.Two cargoes of such materials were traded at $226-229 per tonne fob Australia, various market sources told Fastmarkets during the day."The market will stay around this level, especially since the buyers were end users," a Beijing-based trading source said.Meanwhile, premium mid-...Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Monday November 12, with nickel, zinc and lead prices pressured by a fresh 2018 high in the US dollar index, while copper and tin futures found support. The three-month zinc price fell by 1.8% over the morning, edging back below $2,500 per tonne amid continued stock drawdowns and fresh cancelations. Total LME zinc s...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai on Friday November 9.China The Chinese grade-553 silicon export price edges down last week on increased spot material amid weak demand. Despite concerns of production curtailment in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces during dry season, some off grade 553 cargo has entered the market and been accepted by consumers, which put the Chinese grade-...Read More

London-listed NQ Minerals has shipped its first lead, gold and silver concentrates from its Hellyer operation to Traxys Europe under an offtake agreement signed in August.The company said that the shipment from its polymetallic operation in Tasmania, Australia, is also its first ever from the site.Traxys' payment has been received, inaugurating the first operational cash flow generated by the Hell...Read More

Global antimony markets continued to trade at a lower price in both China and Europe amid sustained weak demand, with buyers cautious of placing orders on the anticipation of further price declines.In China, Fastmarkets' price assessment for MMTA standard grade-II antimony, delivered, duty-paid, was at 50,000-50,500 yuan ($7,186-7,257) per tonne on Wednesday November 7, down 1% from 50,500-51,000...Read More

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday November 12.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Monday, dragged down by a strong dollar and negative sentiment surrounding the ongoing trade spat between the United States and China. Only zinc managed to buck the downward...Read More