The Turkish steel producers have broken their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets with prices increasing sharply, sources said on Thursday May 23.Four steel mills booked deep-sea cargoes from various sources late on Wednesday and on Thursday.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $310 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $315 per...Read More

Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday May 27. After that, because of the UK's Spring bank holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Wednesday May 29. Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower during morning trading on Thursday May 23, with continued trade friction between the United States and China fueling risk-off sentiment while tight nearby spreads failed to attract fresh inflows. "Today has started in much the same mode with the metals losing ground in the Asian session," Kingdom Futures director and chief executive Malcol...Read More

Greek aluminium and copper producer ElvalHalcor reported a dip in profits for the first quarter of 2019 due to weak aluminium prices, according to a trading update published on Wednesday May 22.The company, a subsidiary of Belgium-based holding company Viohalco, reported gross profit of ?,?40.4 million ($45 million) for the first quarter, down by 6% from ?,?43 million in January-March 2018.ElvalHa...Read More

Energy storage in mobility and stationary storage applications will increase annual copper demand by 2.3 million tonnes by 2029, according to an analyst at research and consulting firm IDTechEx.Na Jiao said that total cumulative copper demand in energy storage over the next decade will be just over nine million tonnes. Energy storage - and battery technology in particular - is often seen as having...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday May 23 that are worth another look.South32's decision to review the future of its manganese alloy assets comes as little surprise to fellow manganese alloy producers because they are likely to be considering similar options. The United States' reduction of tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25% from 50% last week will only par...Read More

Crude steel production in Argentina dropped by 9.09% year on year in April, according to figures released by national steel association Acero Argentino on Wednesday May 22.Argentina produced 420,900 tonnes of crude steel in April, down from 463,000 tonnes in the same period a year earlier.Activity in most steel-consuming sectors in Argentina remained weak last month, but some signs of optimism are...Read More

Brazilian steel demand decreased further in April, demonstrated by lower volumes of flat-rolled products sold in the market and despite a recovery in the long-rolled market, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday May 23. Steel demand has now fallen for two consecutive months, following a drop of 1.6% in March. Steel apparent consumption was 1.67 million tonnes in April,...Read More

The weakening of Turkey's lira against the US dollar has pushed up the domestic prices for rebar and wire rod despite sluggish demand over the past week, sources said on Thursday May 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey on Thursday was TRY3,330-3,420 ($547-561) per tonne ex-works, up from last week's TRY3,250-3,350 per tonne ex-works.The mills in the Izmir region we...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices went through corrections on Thursday May 23 after jumping to more than $105 per tonne cfr China a day earlier, but Chinese steelmakers' demand for the material remained robust.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $103.79 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.99 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $101.98 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $1.99 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-L...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 transactions: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, Global Ore, three 170,000-tonne shipments of 62% Fe Pilbara...Read More

Ex-China seaborne coking coal spot prices fell further on the back of a lower offer, while in China bullish sentiment kept prices largely firm.In the ex-China market, a cargo of branded materials was offered at $207 per tonne fob Australia during the day on trading platform Global Coal, $1 per tonne down from a day earlier."The descent in the screen offer is in line with the market situation. Our...Read More

The continued consolidation of the Indian steel industry is a "right step" in restoring growth and credibility to the domestic markets, Nathani Group's Zain Nathani said at the BIR 2019's World Recycling Convention & Exhibition in Singapore this week.The vice-president of BIR's ferrous division said bankrupt mills such as Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy, Essar Steel and Usha Martin have all f...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Thursday May 23, with nickel leading the charge lower amid persistent macroeconomic uncertainty and strength in the dollar.Ongoing trade tensions between China and the United States and concerns that a prolonged spat between the two may hamper global economic growth continued to exert downward pressure o...Read More

The Chinese domestic cobalt sulfate price hit a fresh low for 2019 mid-week amid persistent selling pressure among producers who are mostly struggling to break even, sources said.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for Chinese cobalt sulfate fell to 44,500-45,500 yuan ($6,444-6,589) per tonne on Wednesday May 22, down from 46,000-48,000 yuan per tonne previously. This placed the assessment at its...Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices widened upward over the past week amid continued strong demand fromend users. The Fastmarkets MB domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,000-14,300 yuan ($2,027-2,070) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday May 22, widening up 200 yuan per tonne from a week earlier......Read More

The United States' reduction of tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25% from 50% last week will only partially reopen the US market to Turkish mills, who should avoid raising prices if they are to successfully regain a share in that market, several sources told Fastmarkets this week. The US has lowered its tariffs on steel imports from Turkey to 25% effective Friday May 17. Duties had been at...Read More

This is big, really big. I can't say that it's a surprise that Glencore might want to partner with First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V: FCC) / (QTCQX: FTSSF), but it would be by far the best possible outcome for management's strategic review of its 100%-owned refinery in Ontario. Shareholders & prospective investors were understandably growing nervous about First Cobalt's ability to deliver the restart fund...Read More

After peaking at a record high of over US$1,600 an ounce in late March, 2019 precious metal palladium has come off the boil, losing almost 18%. This has impacted palladium miners, with Canada's largest North American Palladium (TSX:PDL) losing 4.5% over the last year.Improving outlook for palladiumThe decline in the value of palladium has gone against many analysts' forecasts, where it was predict...Read More

If you’re invested in precious metals or mining stocks, you’ll want to pay attention.Sandstorm Gold (TSX:SSL)(NYSE:SAND) is a metals streaming company. That means it provides financing to mining companies so that they can get their projects into production.In exchange for the upfront financing, Sandstorm secures a certain percentage of the output at a fixed (often very discounted) pri...Read More