The UK government has agreed to provide long steel producer British Steel a loan worth ?120 million ($156 million) to cover the annual bill from the EU for the company's carbon emissions, government business secretary Greg Clark told the UK Parliament on Wednesday May 1."British Steel approached my department earlier this year to explain that the absence of the expected 2019 free allowances left...Read More

Steel H-beam prices in Northern and Southern Europe moved down this week on lower feedstock costs and weaker demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 1.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe moved down to ?,?590-625 ($661-700) per tonne delivered on May 1, from ?,?590-635 per tonne delivered on April 24.High stock leve...Read More

The Northern European domestic price for mesh-quality wire rod has widened downwards by ?,?5 per tonne week-on-week, amid low demand, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 1. Fastmarkets' weekly domestic price assessment for mesh-quality wire rod in Northern Europe was ?,?525-550 ($588-616) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, down from ?,?530-550 per tonne on April 24. "Dem...Read More

The price range for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe moved down week-on-week amid low demand and reduced market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe was ?,?530-545 ($594-611) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, down from ?,?535-550 per tonne delivered on April 24.  A number of countri...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe was unchanged over the past week, amid continued low market activity, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe was ?,?500-510 ($560-571) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, unchanged from April 24. "There has been only a little business in...Read More

Chinese steel plate export prices dropped in the past week as mills chased orders amid sparse trading.Fastmarkets MB's assessment for June shipments of commercial-grade, chromium-added plate was $540-547 per tonne fob for the week ended Tuesday April 30, down $3-5 per tonne from $545-550 per tonne fob the week prior.An eastern China-based trader sold some plate of small tonnages (less than 1,000 t...Read More

The stainless steel scrap market in the United States took another major step downward on Tuesday April 30, with prices for the 300-series grades dropping across the board while those for the chrome grades appeared poised to fall in the third quarter. "Domestics have softened, I think they would like to drop more, but the flow will stop," one dealer said, indicating that earlier attempts to drop p...Read More

Turkish steel mills stayed silent on Wednesday May 1, due to a public holiday in Turkey and across much of Europe, with no new deals heard, sources told Fastmarkets.Those who were still active in the market described it as "closed" given the low level of trading.Yesterday the Fastmarkets' daily scrap indices fell by $4.49 per tonne for material from Northern European and the United State...Read More

Trading in the base metals on the London Metal Exchange has been extremely quiet on the morning of Wednesday May 1, with much of Asia closed for holidays. Only 561 lots had traded as of 6.16 am London time compared with 4,202 lots at a similar time on Tuesday.May Day holiday in Asia and across much of Europe expected to subdued tradingOil prices ease after attempted coup in Venezuela stallsFederal...Read More

London Metal Exchange base metals were generally trending down in the morning session on May 1, while market activity will be limited by national holidays in Europe and China and poor economic performance globally.All eyes were on the LME aluminium three-month contract on April 30, which reached an intraday low of $1,795 per tonne, its lowest since January 13, 2017, when the price was trading at p...Read More

Benchmark prices for cobalt metal continued to recover through April 2019, although lackluster gains for cobalt sulfate were a sign of continued oversupply at points along the supply chain.Price movesThe benchmark standard-grade cobalt prices showed a month-on-month increase in April for the first time since October, with consumers and traders starting to restock, and producers facing less urgency...Read More

The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday May 1:Minor metalsCobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $17-18 per lb from $17-17.80Cobalt Sulfate, Co...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Key data from the Wednesday May 1 pricing session in Europe.Key drivers The European ferro-titanium held at present prices for the third week in a row, with scrap markets steady for the second consecutive week, while supply worries underpinned market sentiment in the week to Wednesday May 1.There is no sign of a return to production at UK producer FE Mottram after a fire at the company's plant in...Read More

AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group recorded a modest increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) at its Critical Materials division for the first quarter of 2019, helped by strong performances in vanadium, chrome and antimony. The division generated Ebitda of $31.2 million, up 1% compared with the first quarter of 2018, the Amsterdam-listed group said on Wednesd...Read More

The latest ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe, Vietnam and China, with blue tungsten oxide (BTO) and yellow tungsten oxide (YTO) deals taken into consideration.To view the latest price assessments, please follow the links below: China - APT, fob China- Ferro-tungsten,...Read More

The latest ferro-vanadium and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe and China.To view the latest price assessments, follow the links below: Europe - Ferro-vanadium, delivered duty-paid in Europe, $ per kg V - Vanadium pentoxide, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $ per lb V2O5 China...Read More

The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday May 1:Aluminium scrapGroup 1 pure 99% & litho: ?1,260-1,310 per tonne from ?1,300-1,350Clean HE9 extrusions: ?1,260-1,310 per tonne from ?1,300-1,350Loose...Read More

Zane Simon, Eddie Mercado, and Victor Rodriguez return to breakdown this week's Bellator Birmingham fight card. With picks, odds & analysis for the major fights of the night. The main attraction features a bout between Lightweights Brent Primus vs Tim 'The Experiment' Wilde. Wilde is currently the 10th ranked of 352 active UK/Ireland Pro Lightweights and Primus has only lost one of his last nine p...Read More

As we know, Gold and the US Dollar have an inverse relationship. Gold is priced in US Dollars and the drivers of each are similar (from an inverse point of view). Over long-term periods both trend in the same direction but the magnitude of the moves can vary and be quite different.The standard inverse relationship has not been a perfect one in recent months or years.In the chart below we plot Gold...Read More