Production at South32's Hillside aluminium smelter in South Africa increased by 3,000 tonnes to a record 715,000 tonnes during its 2019 financial year ended June 30, 2019, the producer said on Thursday July 18. Sales at the smelter increased by 4% in the June 2019 quarter to 191,000 tonnes from 183,000 tonnes in the same quarter in 2018. "We achieved record annual production at Hillside... Th...Read More
A summary of Anglo American's production results for the second quarter of 2019 following the company's results report released on Thursday July 18. IN BRIEF: Anglo American produced 159,100 tonnes of copper concentrates in the second quarter of 2019, up by 1% from the 158,000 tonnes produced in the same period of 2018, mainly due to the strong performance of Los Bronces and Collahuasi mines...Read More
Aluminium producer Alcoa reported a net loss of $402 million in its 2019 second quarter results on Wednesday July 17. A majority of the net loss stems from its $319 million special item divestiture of Alcoa's 25.1% stake in the Ma'aden Rolling Co in Saudi Arabia. The company incurred an additional loss of $81 million in other special items as well. "We successfully divested our minority inter...Read More
A tentative bottom to ferrous scrap prices in the United States and a steadying in hot-rolled coil, combined with mill product hikes, led to a widening in the spread between the two products this month.Fastmarkets' steel scrap No1 busheling index, delivered Midwest mill, settled at $275.27 per gross ton on Wednesday July 10, the fourth consecutive monthly decline and off from $281.7...Read More
Steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States have fallen to pre-Section 232 levels, with import prices also declining due to fresh offers from Europe. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US, widened downward to $31.50-32.50 per hundredweight ($630-650 per short ton) on Wednesday July 17 from $32-32.50 per cwt two weeks earlier, with the price also down by 9.9% fr...Read More
The rebar and wire rod prices in Turkey's domestic markets have softened over the past week due to sluggish demand in the slow summer period, sources said on Thursday July 18.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was TRY3,070-3,100 ($538-544) per tonne on Thursday, including 18% VAT, down from last week's TRY3,100-3,130 per tonne.The prices w...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices have gone down slightly over the past week in line with the limited demand for the materials, sources said on Thursday July 18.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) export, fob main port Turkey, was $450-460 per tonne on an actual weight basis on July 18, down from last week's $455-465 per tonne.The mills in Turkey have generally re...Read More
The price of steel billet imported into Egypt decreased in the week to Thursday July 18 because of lower offers and bids, while demand remained poor because of uncertainty about the application of import duties."Offer prices have fallen but there are no bookings because of the uncertainty about safeguard duties," a local market source told Fastmarkets.In April, Egypt imposed a temporary additional...Read More
The export price for CIS-origin steel billet has tumbled with several new bookings done at lower prices, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday July 18.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $420 per tonne on July 18, down from $425 per tonne the day before. The price was in the range of $422-423 per...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Southern Europe fell over the past week due to a lack of buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand is expected to decrease further in August due to seasonal factors such as scheduled maintenances at the mills, they added.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel, domestic, plate 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?490-510 ($550-572) per tonne ex...Read More
Anglo American has raised its full 2019 production guidance for its Minas Rio operations in Brazil, but has cut its output estimate for the Kumba operations in South Africa.Full 2019 production guidance for Anglo American's Minas Rio operations in Brazil have been increased to 19-21 million tonnes, up from its previous estimate of 18-20 million tonnes, according to a second-qua...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to fall on Thursday July 18 with market participants becoming cautious about rising steel inventories and weaker prices in China.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.90 per tonne, down $1.37 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.82 per tonne, down $1.37 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for...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, 190,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, traded at the August average of a 62% Fe index at a premium of $5.50 per tonne, laycan August 5-14.BHP, Beijing...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices remained largely muted on Thursday July 18, with trading activity confined to the cfr China segment despite mounting concerns about import restrictions at ports in the country.Two cargoes of premium mid-vol hard coking coal were traded at around $185 per tonne cfr China, sources told Fastmarkets during the day. The cargoes were heard to have been sold by traders despite...Read More
Fastmarkets will change a portion of the specifications of its fob DBCT and cfr Jingtang hard coking coal indices to align with those for materials typically sold in this segment of the seaborne spot market.These changes incorporate feedback obtained from the market during a month-long consultation. They will now be applied from Thursday August 1, instead of Friday July 19 as stated in the previou...Read More
Optimism among China's hot-rolled coil exporters led to them resisting the pressure to lower their prices on Thursday July 18 despite a retreat in the domestic market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,900 yuan ($564-567) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,840-3,860 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonneSpot prices weakened across the country with t...Read More
China's domestic rebar market lost its upward momentum on Thursday July 18 amid declining futures, with expectations of a supply drop ahead of the country's National Day celebrations in October providing some support.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-4,000 yuan ($577-582) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,900-3,930 yuan per tonne, unchangedSteelmaking restrictions...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange increased during morning trading on Thursday July 18, with its price action continuing to ascend amid a continued drawdown of LME stocks. Reaching an intra-morning high of $14,910 per tonne, nickel futures are now making a significant approach toward $15,000 per tonne, a level it has not surpassed since June 2018.Turnover in nickel remained h...Read More
Turkey's Kar Madencilik has started producing primary pure magnesium metal (grade min 99.95%) at a smelter rented from Esan Eczacibasi, now called Kar Magnesium Smelter. Kar Madencilik entered an agreement to rent the smelter in February 2018 for a period of 10 years. The smelter, covering a 30,000 square meter closed area and consisting of seven different units, stopped production at the end of 2...Read More
Misplaced optimism seems to be driving gains in the London Metal Exchange's three-month nickel price, especially amidst weak global economic growth and ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China; granted there is growing concern over nickel supply from Indonesia but this remains a long-term play.Fresh global economic jitters, escalating US-China trade tensions negatively affect equ...Read More