Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco and the Federation of Copper Workers (FTC) - which represents all unions related to the miner - entered into an agreement on Friday March 20 to maintain some level of production in the company during the state of emergency declared by the federal government.While copper output will be adversely affected to some degree during the lockdown, workers and man...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index retreated during the week to Friday March 20 from its one-year high, reflecting expectations about falling supply from South American producers.A weekly brief on the Fastmarkets' copper concentrate index: The copper concentrate TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific was calculated at $66.70 per tonne/6.67 cents per lb on Friday, d...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday March 20.China Seaborne manganese ore prices rose as concern of potential supply disruptions due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) sparked buying interest.Portside prices climbed after traders...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK fell almost 19% over the week, marking an abrupt end to five weeks of stability, as major shredders cut their buying prices on expected weaker demand for steel from UK-based carmakers, sources told Fastmarkets.The move also follows a dramatic fall in European steel scrap export prices into Turkey this week which saw the market move down...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in Europe and the UK decreased this week because traders expect the coronavirus outbreak to substantially weaken demand in the coming weeks and months, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?700-750 ($808-866) per tonne on March 20, down by ?30-40 per tonn...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India has continued to fall after changes in exchange rates made imports unviable, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $291 per tonne on Friday, down from $297.50 per tonne one week earlier.There were no deals heard for shredded material in the week, but offe...Read More
Asian Pacific equity indices are firmer this morning, Friday March 20, as are many of the base metals and all of the precious metals, but given the worst no doubt lies ahead in terms of weaker demand for non-household consumables in Europe and the United States, the current upturn may be a countertrend move or a two-thirds-of-the-way-down pause.We say two thirds of the way down because most of the...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday March 20.China Seaborne manganese ore prices rose as concern of potential supply disruptions due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) sparked buying interest.Portside prices climbed after traders...Read More
Domestic prices in the north of Europe were unchanged day on day on Friday March 20 after a decrease the previous day, sources have told Fastmakets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was stable day on day at ?,?470.00 ($507.28) per tonne on Friday. This followed a drop of ?,?7.31 per tonne day on day on March 19. ...Read More
Liberty Steel Group will halt operations at its Dudelange-Liege steelmaking sites tomorrow, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday, March 20.Liberty Steel Group will halt operations at its Dudelange-Liege steelmaking sites tomorrow, the company told Fastmarkets on Friday, March 20.A spokesman confirmed that all three Liberty Liege-Dudelange production sites - at Fl?(C)mal...Read More
Automotive manufacturers in Europe have announced production suspensions at sites across the continent caused by supply chain issues and problems created by the measures taken by governments to restrict the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic.Jaguar Land Rover UKJaguar Land Rover (JLR) will suspend production at its manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom from today owing to growin...Read More
Sentiment in the deep-sea scrap market has become even poorer following the sharp downturn in Turkish import prices amid the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, sources said on Friday March 20.The Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings for April shipment cargoes, sending prices down by almost $24 per tonne on March 18.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Can...Read More
Rebar prices in Poland have started to increase despite flat scrap values because the Polish zloty has lost ground against the euro, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20.Trading in the Polish rebar markets was relatively active this week. Distributors and prefabricators were building up stocks to secure rebar availability in the event of production disruptions related to the 2019-nCoV coron...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Friday March 20 supported by strong demand in the spot market, although futures moved down. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,530 yuan ($495-500) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,380-3,430 yuan per tonne, unchangedEnd-user demand remained stable over the day while traders were actively restocking, which prevented rebar prices from declinin...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States has weakened further due to the general economic slowdown caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Friday March 20.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $330-340 per tonne on Friday, down from $345-350 per tonne a week ago."Scrap prices will go down...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK fell almost 19% over the week, marking an abrupt end to five weeks of stability, as major shredders cut their buying prices on expected weaker demand for steel from UK-based carmakers, sources told Fastmarkets.The move also follows a dramatic fall in European steel scrap export prices into Turkey this week which saw the market move down...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from Brazil softened during the week ended Friday March 20 because of the weakness of the country's Real and lower demand in the domestic market.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $315-320 per tonne on Friday, down from $320-325 per tonne a week before."A weak Real supports pig iron producers, which are focusin...Read More