Sales of passenger cars in Europe fell by 22.34% year on year in June 2020, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline.New car sales in Europe totaled 949,722 vehicles in June 2020, down from 1,222,942 units sold in the corresponding month of 2019, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Thursday July 16."However,...Read More

Turkish export prices for steel rebar and wire rod have increased over the past week due to rising costs for imported scrap, but the demand for finished materials was still weak, sources said on Thursday July 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $415-420 per tonne on Thursday, up from last week's figure of $400-410 per tonne f...Read More

Turkey's Tosyali Holding is set to start the process of reviving steelmaking in Cassinga in southwest Angola, Africa.The Angolan government approved Tosyali's investment in the Cassinga Integrated Iron & Steel project in 2019, the company said on Friday July 10.Operations...Read More

Seaborne premium coking coal prices fell further on Thursday July 16, largely due to China's strict import restrictions and with market participants split over the future direction of the steelmaking raw material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT:  $109.22 per tonne, down $1.63 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $117.96 per ton...Read More

India imported 9.26 million tonnes of coking coal in the April-June quarter of 2020, according to local media reports. This was down by 28.3% from the corresponding period last year.In June alone, the country imported 2.84 million tonnes of coking coal, down by 10.7% month on month.Total imports of all kinds of coal came to 48.84...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices went down further on Thursday July 16 with few deals done in the seaborne market and persistent concerns of weak demand due to floods in southern China, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.30 per tonne, down $0.68 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $113.05 per tonne, down $1.06 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prolonged flooding in China could limit the use of construction steel and drag down demand for steel rebar in the short term, which in turn could damp the demand for iron ore. So far, it has been reported that steel mills in the affected regions have continued to operate as normal. The floods have, however, caused a few days...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:Upward momentum in US domestic sheet steel prices came to a halt in the second half of June, wiping out earlier gains. Although the prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) increased on a monthly average basis, the d...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil inventory levels rose in the past week due to the arrival of imports, but prices were largely stable on Thursday July 16 amid steady buying.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,900 yuan ($555-558) per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonneSellers were mainly asking for 3,890-3,900 yuan per tonne on Thursday morning, but prices weakened slightly in the afternoon...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices fell further on Thursday July 16 amid high stock levels in the spot market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,590 yuan ($509-513) per tonne, down by 20-30 yuan per tonneHeavy rain and high summer temperatures sapped demand for rebar in the past week, which resulted in higher inventory levels in the market.Spot markets in China had 8.42 million tonnes of rebar...Read More

The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed...Read More

The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' July 15 pricing session in Europe.Key drivers The global cadmium market is still paralyzed, with demand from India - the main buyer worldwide - at minimal levels since the pandemic started. Some sources expect renewed activity by early August, they told Fastmarkets. But with several Indian states reimposing partial lockdowns while coronavirus cases in the country near on...Read More

Key data from the July 15 pricing session in London and Shanghai. Key drivers:Cobalt hydroxide payables moved up in the first half of this week with buyers still holding out from making offers in light of tight spot availability and softening standard-grade benchmark metal prices, against...Read More

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) announced that it will reduce power supply to townships near the Porgera gold mine to save costs.The company said in a statement from mine operator Barrick (Niugini) Ltd that "due to necessary cost reductions" electricity the mine provides free to nearby communities would only be supplied for 12 hours a day starting on July 17.In May, Barrick cut its original 20...Read More

Silver investment demand is exploding in recent months, skyrocketing higher in wildly-unprecedented fashion! That has catapulted silver sharply higher since mid-March's COVID-19-lockdown stock panic. Accelerating even in this usually-weak summer season, the massive capital inflows deluging into silver show no signs of abating. This is very bullish for silver, yet most traders remain unaware it is...Read More

We are in a period of high inflation. Even though the CPI states that inflation is low, the truth remains that we are suffering from this dilemma. If you know where to look, there are a few benchmarks that demonstrate that there is more inflation than the official index seems to indicate.Think of it this way. You are standing in an elevator without any windows with a few friends. The elevator is o...Read More

Ready or not, a market crash is coming. It’s always coming, though. Nobody knows when it’ll hit, how bad it’ll be, or what the recovery will look like. But those who try to time it, predict its severity, or the “shape” of the ensuing recovery could find themselves being completely wrong and will be left behind should this unpredictable market zig as they zag.The best...Read More

The 2020 iX3. Image: BMWGerman luxury vehicle maker BMW this week signed a $2.3 billion long-term deal with Swedish battery maker Northvolt, the latest of such deals, as European carmakers try to compete with Tesla in the burgeoning electric vehicle market. Managem owns Bou-Azzer, the only primary cobalt mine in the world and in operation since 1930.Tesla's gigafactories and battery technology...Read More

Mines and energy minister Bento Albuquerque. Image courtesy of Wikipedia The positive performance of Brazilian mining, even with the ongoing pandemic, reflects expectations of improvement in the country's economy, said Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque on Thursday.Talking to investors on an e-mineracao symposium, the minister said revenue from mineral production in H1 2020 was 1% hig...Read More