Stronger demand for molybdic oxide in Europe this week has pushed prices to a three and a half year high, with ferro-molybdenum prices increasing to a range also unseen for three and a half years.Molybdenum drummed molybdic oxide prices were last assessed at $11.40-11.65 per lb, in-warehouse Rotterdam on Wednesday January 17. The market was previously assessed at $11.05-11.30 per lb on Friday Janu...Read More

Key data from Metal Bulletin's Wednesday January 17 pricing session in China.Molybdenum concentrate MB Chinese free market, 45% Mo, in-warehouse China, RMB/mtuKey drivers: - Supply continues to be tight, and low selling interest underpins the tightness. - Demand from steel mills for ferro-molybdenum is good given a robust steel market. - Further price increases for ferro-molybdenum in internationa...Read More

Key data from Metal Bulletin's Wednesday January 17 pricing session in China.Tungsten concentrates 65% WO3 in warehouse China RMB/tonne Key drivers: - Low operation rates at ammonium paratungstate (APT) smelters in China's Jiangxi province have slowed demand for tungsten concentrates. - Increased selling appetite with participants looking to square their books ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Yea...Read More

Exporters of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)-origin pig iron have held high prices on low material availability, while buyers are in wait-and-see mode amid high stocks. "Mills are sold out till March, thus they can offer [a] high price and wait until some buyer will accept it," one trader told Metal Bulletin. Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CI...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices saw marginal gains on Thursday January 18 with Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index nudging up amid rising port prices and a stronger futures market. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore IndexToday: $74.87 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: Up by $0.36 per tonne per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.64 per tonne Metal Bulletin's...Read More

The gap between cfr China and fob Australia prices for premium hard coking coal appears to be narrowing, with offers on the latter basis continuing to drop.A cargo of premium hard coking coal is being offered around $230 per tonne fob Australia, compared with $235 per tonne fob earlier this week, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday January 18. Cargoes of premium products were also heard...Read More

The downward momentum in the seaborne iron ore market slowed on Thursday January 18 with strengthening port prices.Key drivers Rising port prices and stronger futures curves on all ferrous products have bolstered seaborne iron ore prices from further slides. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe fines index has been dropping since it hit a five-month-high near to $80 per tonne last Thursday. Only high grade fin...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 oreRio Tinto, tender, 190,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, sold at $73.01 per tonne cfr China, laycan February...Read More

China's ferrous futures ended morning trading little changed from their opening prices again on Thursday January 18. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,834 ($596) per tonne, down 3 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,846 yuan per tonne, down 1 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange...Read More

BHP has lowered the guidance for its metallurgical coal output in its 2018 financial year ending June 30 amid production issues at its Broadmeadow and Blackwater mines in Queensland, Australia.It now expects to produce 41-43 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material, instead of the previously forecast 44-46 million tonnes.The miner disclosed its updated guidance in its latest production repor...Read More

US aluminium company Alcoa attributed a loss for the fourth quarter of 2017 to the closure of some operations and higher costs.The company reported a net loss of $196 million, primarily due to the shuttering of its Rockdale Operations site in Texas and the divestment of its Portovesme aluminium smelter in Italy. The quarterly results include $391 million worth of special items, which include both...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has appointed Robin Martin as its new head of market development, the exchange said. Robin is currently managing director for market infrastructure at the World Gold Council (WGC). He joined the organisation in November 2012. In July 2017, the LME and the WGC teamed up to launch LMEprecious which introduced...Read More

Swiss special and stainless steel producer Schmolz + Bickenbach (S+B) has increased the value of its bid to acquire a substantial part of French speciality steelmaker Asco Industries (Ascometal), it said late on Thursday January 18.S+B's has bid a total of ?,?195 million ($238.61 million) for Ascometal, including an ?,?82 million investment in the production facilities over the next four years, it...Read More

Robust nickel prices appear to be providing some support to East Asia's stainless steel market amid persistently weak demand.Chinese producers are raising their offers for both stainless cold-rolled coil and hot-rolled sheet due to higher prices for nickel this month, despite soft demand and low bids from buyers.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange is averaging at $12,649 p...Read More

An Italian professor at the Politecnico di Milano says that there could be an iron throne right below the apex of the Pyramid of Cheops, located in in the Giza pyramid complex, Egypt.If there is such an artifact, says Professor of Archaeoastronomy Giulio Magli, it would not be melted iron but meteoritic iron, that is, fallen from the sky in the form of iron meteorites. Such mineral is distinguisha...Read More

TransCanada Corp. (TSX, NYSE:TRP) said Thursday it had gathered strong commercial support for its $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline, adding it would continue to secure additional long-term contracts before it decides when it will start work on the project.The Calgary-based company added that after finishing an open season that allowed shippers to commit to space in the proposed pipeline, it secure...Read More

Wood Mackenzie sees copper demand increasing significatively over global supply in the next decade and, together with it, miners' need for reliable sources of water."As constant and high demand for copper leads to resources running out, copper grades will progressively diminish. As a result, water demand will increase because it will be necessary to process more material to obtain the same amount...Read More

Chile's environmental authority - SMA - has ordered the definitive closure of Barrick Gold's (TSX, NYSE:ABX) already halted Pascua-Lama project, but lowered the fine for violations to 7 billion pesos ($11.5 million) from the previous $16 million it had charged the company."Given the nature and the size of the breaches that the company committed, there is the conviction that total and definitive...Read More

Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill (TSX, NYSE:TRQ) has declared force majeure at its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia, following protests by Chinese coal haulers that have interrupted shipments near the border.In a note released Wednesday night, the Vancouver-based miner said that earlier this month protestors used a large number of vehicles to block the main access road...Read More

Canada's Torex Gold Resources (TSX: TXG) announced this week that a team of unionized employees and management has been gradually restarting priority areas of its El Lim??n-Guajes mine, located in the state of Guerrero and one of the richest open-pit gold deposits in Mexico.In an official statement, the Toronto-based miner said that more employees will be called back as additional sections of the...Read More