A summary of production figures and financial results from Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) for the first quarter of 2020, as stated in its earnings report published on Thursday May 14.In brief CSN's hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and galvanized domestic steel sales fell year on year in the first quarter of 2020, but tinplate and long steel sales were up in the sa...Read More

China's crude steel output was largely flat in April, but finished steel production significantly increased to exceed 100 million tonnes, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday May 15.Steel outputAprilCrude steel: 85.03 million tonnes, up by 0.2% from a year earlier and up by 7.7% month on monthHot metal: 72.02 million tonnes, down 1.2%...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will try to apply price increases to flat steel products next month, to compensate for the recent loss of value of the local currency."With the current value of the dollar [versus the Brazilian Real], a price increase is unavoidable; it is a matter of survival," commercial director Luis Martinez said during the company's first-quarter earn...Read More

A diversified portfolio may well prove to be a winning ticket for metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto. This is in stark contrast to the global financial crisis of 2008-09, when an across-the-board hit to demand broadly left diversified miners in the same position as pure-play operators, Tom Albanese said. "When the...Read More

Export prices of Brazil-origin slab increased week on week amid recent deals and offers to China as well as increased raw material costs.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $335-350 per tonne on Friday May 15, up by $5 from $330-345 per tonne the week previous.Chinese customers recently purchased material, sources said, with deals being heard at a minimum...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to another casualty: the mega mine. The volatility created by crises like Covid-19 is adding a layer of uncertainty to the development of large-scale projects that take a decade or more to progress and are highly capital intensive, according to Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.This means that mining projects are likely to be deve...Read More

Alcoa Corp has called on the aluminium industry to assess the cost effectiveness of its smelting capacity and make cuts where appropriate - or face a ratcheting up of inventories and a protracted period of low prices. Roy Harvey, the US producer's chief executive officer, said that while curtailments were costly, both financially and in terms of job losses, they were more than necessary at this mo...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.54% to close at $5,181.50 per tonne on Friday May 15.All the base metals remained under pressure on Friday and despite copper reaching an intraday high of $5,272 per tonne, it failed to maintain momentum and closed below the $5,200-per-tonne threshold with a turnover of just under 14,000 lots.Total copper stocks stood at 278,750 t...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rose again on Friday May 15, supported by demand for crude steel production and increases in swaps and futures markets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.65 per tonne, up $1.48 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.33 per tonne, up $1.83 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $79.63 per tonne, up $1.25 per tonne....Read More

Fastmarkets' Shanghai benchmark copper premium surged to its highest level since September 2015 on May 15, with traders looking for overseas material to tap arbitrage gains. sources said. Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade-A cathode premium, cif Shanghai at $95-120 per tonne on May 15 Friday, compared with $95-115 per tonne the day before. The premium, widely used by the copper industry fo...Read More

Import prices for flat-rolled steel were either stable or higher in South America during the week to Friday May 15, with Chinese mills presenting more expensive offers while customer interest remained lackluster amid lockdowns due to Covid-19."There were no consultations for potential imports in the past few weeks in Brazil," a trader source said. "I call clients and they don't even want to listen...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 15.China The UG2 chrome ore market rose once again after Chinese alloy producers with low stocks accepted higher offers. Import charge chrome prices moved up on supply tightness affecting availability. Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices climbed up on bullish sentiment following increases in...Read More

Most secondary aluminium alloy prices in the United States, including the benchmark A380.1, edged down on Thursday May 14, with producers expecting a slow recovery in demand despite automakers restarting production this month.Fastmarkets assessed aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest at 66-67 cents per lb on May 14, narrowing downward by a penny from 66-68 cents per lb one week...Read More

The stainless sector in the United States and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region will consume 13% less nickel this year, while that in China will fall by just 4% versus 2019, according to Nornickel. Nornickel expects the stainless sector - the key end market for nickel - in the US to log a 13% drop in demand for the metal this year, far exceeding the 6% global decline vers...Read More

The US Midwest aluminium premium declined on the high end of its range on Friday May 15, with participants valuating the premium lower while demand in this market remains frail.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9.5 cents per lb on Friday, down by a half-cent on the top end of the range from 8-10 cents per lb previously, where the premium had held since April 24...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to another casualty: the mega mine. The volatility created by crises like Covid-19 is adding a layer of uncertainty to the development of large-scale projects that take a decade or more to progress and are highly capital intensive, according to Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.This means that mining projects are likely to be deve...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.54% to close at $5,181.50 per tonne on Friday May 15.All the base metals remained under pressure on Friday and despite copper reaching an intraday high of $5,272 per tonne, it failed to maintain momentum and closed below the $5,200-per-tonne threshold with a turnover of just under 14,000 lots.Total copper stocks stood at 278,750 t...Read More

Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) on the spot market were now at their lowest level for the past eight months.Fastmarkets' copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific, dropped to $49.60 per tonne/4.96 cents per lb on Friday May 15. This was the first time the index has dipped below $50 per tonne/5 cents per lb since September last year.The index was calculated at $50.40...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States inched up after small-volume deals at higher prices were reported to Fastmarkets, while most market participants indicated pricing had not changed much week on week.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $24.69 per hundredweight ($493.80 per short ton) on Friday May 15, up by 1.7% from $24.28 per cwt a day earlier...Read More