Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday April 25, with the upward price action capped by broad strength in the US dollar index, while fresh cancelations fail to galvanize lackluster price action. Copper's three-month price fell to a low of $6,355 per tonne over the afternoon, its lowest price since March 27 amid an uptick in the US doll...Read More

Comex copper prices failed to maintain the previous day's gains amid a surging dollar on Thursday April 25, which is putting downward pressure on most of the base metals prices. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 3.8 cents to $2.8720 per lb. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price direction over the past few weeks, with...Read More

A summary of Nornickel's production results for the first quarter of 2019 between January and March.IN BRIEF: First-quarter copper production for 2019 was up 13% year on year to 127,000 tonnes as a result of a production ramp-up at the Bystrinsky (Chita Copper) Project in Chita, Sibera.2019 first-quarter nickel production exceeded that of 2018...Read More

Australia-based King Island Scheelite has signed an offtake agreement for tungsten concentrate with Austrian producer of refined tungsten Wolfram Bergbau und Hutten AG (WBH), it announced this month. The offtake agreement is for the delivery of 140,000 metric tonne units (mtu) of tungsten trioxide in concentrate, or 1,400 tonnes of tungsten trioxide over a four-year period. This equates to the exp...Read More

Falling UG2 chrome ore prices in April have been partly caused by ferro-chrome smelters in China selling their raw material back to the market, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' UG2 chrome ore index, cif China, has dropped every week so far in April and stands at $169 per tonne as of Tuesday April 23, down from $186 per tonne on March 29. The smelters are understood to have bought too much ma...Read More

OM Manganese will spend as much as A$7.3 million ($5.2 million) to establish a manganese ore joint venture in Western Australia with copper-gold-manganese explorer Bryah Resources.Under the agreement, OM Manganese, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Australia-listed mining and metallurgical group OM Holdings (OMH), can earn an interest in as much as 70% of the mineral rights at the Bryah Basin...Read More

Alloy-grade cobalt prices maintained their premium over standard-grade during the first half of this week amid a limited supply of cut cathode for spot market inquiries. Fastmarkets assessed the standard-grade cobalt price at $15.90-16.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Wednesday April 24, up 1.5% from the previous week's assessment. Alloy-grade metal continued to trade at a premium but saw sli...Read More

China National Corporation for Overseas Economic Cooperation (CCOEC) won 34.64 tonnes of indium in Fanya Metal Exchange's second auction - ended at 10am Beijing time on Thursday April 25 - Fastmarkets understands from the official auction result posted on the Alibaba judicial online platform.As the only bidder at the auction, CCOEC took the indium at a price of 37.4112 million yuan ($5.57 million)...Read More

The Turkish steel producers have continued their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets because of the low levels of demand for finished steel in both the export and domestic markets, sources said on Thursday April 25.Some suppliers in the Baltic Sea region were offering HMS 1&2 (80:20) at prices around $310 per tonne cfr, but the mills were not willing to buy any scrap cargoes before selling some...Read More

Major Chinese steelmaker Maanshan Iron & Steel (Magang) hopes to lead the overhaul of the Chinese ferrous scrap market by pioneering a domestic pilot project, group vice president Chen Zhaoqi said at the 12th China International Metal Recycling Conference 2019 in Zhuhai, China on April 25.Magang is planning 10 million tonnes per year of new ferrous scrap capacity across 10 ferrous scrap processing...Read More

Japan has increased its ferrous scrap exports to non-traditional markets on expectations of an oversupply of ferrous scrap from 2020 after the current wave of demand from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ends, Genkichi Ando, chairman of the international network committee from the Japan Iron & Steel Recycling Institute, said this week.Japan started ferrous scrap exports to countries such as Bangladesh...Read More

A summary of Nornickel's production results for the first quarter of 2019 between January and March.IN BRIEF: First-quarter copper production for 2019 was up 13% year on year to 127,000 tonnes as a result of a production ramp-up at the Bystrinsky (Chita Copper) Project in Chita, Sibera.2019 first-quarter nickel production exceeded that of 2018...Read More

Alloy-grade cobalt prices maintained their premium over standard-grade during the first half of this week amid a limited supply of cut cathode for spot market inquiries. Fastmarkets assessed the standard-grade cobalt price at $15.90-16.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Wednesday April 24, up 1.5% from the previous week's assessment. Alloy-grade metal continued to trade at a premium but saw sli...Read More

Chinese cobalt sulfate prices were unchanged mid-week after their retreat on Friday April 19, but waning buyer interest and concerns over the surplus dynamics of key raw material cobalt hydroxide will continue to weigh on cobalt sulfate prices, market participants told Fastmarkets MB.Fastmarkets MB assessed the Chinese cobalt sulfate price at 51,000-54,000 yuan ($7,587- 8,033) per tonne on April 2...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters lowered their prices on Thursday April 25 despite domestic prices remaining largely unchanged, partly due to limited trading activity.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,000 yuan ($594-595) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,900-3,920 yuan per tonne, unchangedAlthough prices were stable nationwide, trading was limited, with market part...Read More

The import price for steel billet in Egypt fell in the week to Thursday April 25, on declining demand caused by uncertainty over the imposition of import duties.Demand for imported rebar was also down and domestic rebar prices increased as a result.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $445-450 per tonne cfr on Thursday, falling from $450-455 per tonne cfr l...Read More

Domestic long steel prices in Turkey have increased despite sluggish demand with the country's lira weakening against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday April 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,240-3,340 ($552-569) per tonne ex-works on Thursday, up from the TRY3,220-3,290 per tonne of last week.The mills in the Izmir region were offering rebar to th...Read More

Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have remained stable over the past week with demand limited by trade blockages in the major markets, sources said on Thursday April 25.Turkish steel producers were offering rebar for export at $480-485 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, while a few customers were bidding less than $475 per tonne.Fastmarkets' weekly price...Read More

The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has fallen into a lull for late April-early May holidays in the United States, Europe and the CIS, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 25.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron was $330-340 per tonne fob Black Sea on Thursday, down by $5 per tonne week on week.No trading activity was...Read More

Swedish iron-ore pellet producer LKAB expects continued strong demand for iron ore pellets for the remainder of 2019, it said on Thursday April 25."Prices for iron ore with a high iron content and for highly upgraded iron ore [products], such as LKAB's iron ore pellets, are at the same time continuing to increase, relative to iron ore with a lower iron content," LKAB said.Fastmarkets' MB 65% Fe Br...Read More