The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been in wait-and-see mode over the past week, with market participants expecting clarity to emerge in the price trend by the middle of April.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron was stable over the week at $340-350 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 4.Offers for this material hav...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices remained flat on Friday April 5, with trading activity limited by a public holiday in China.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $92.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $92.02 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $95.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $82.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unch...Read More
The absence of Chinese market participants due to a public holiday kept seaborne coking coal prices largely stable on Friday April 5.A May-loading cargo of branded materials was traded at $202 per tonne fob Australia on Global Coal, sources told Fastmarkets during the day.Offers trended downward throughout the day on the trading platform. A cargo of unbranded materials, for instance, was offered a...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly rangebound during morning trading on Friday April 5, with a national holiday in China prompting quiet Asian trading while continued strength in the US dollar above the psychological level of 97 was also limiting commodity investment. Zinc's three-month price continued to find support above the $2,900-per-tonne level amid near record lows...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Friday April 5, while trading has been quiet due to a public holiday in China. Nickel and tin were both up by 0.2%, aluminium was down by 0.3% and the rest were either unchanged or either side of unchanged - with copper flat at $6,450 per tonne. Prices for the red metal are holding up relatively well i...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday April 5:Minor metalsAntimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $7,000-7,300 per tonne from $7,100-7,450Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $6,900-7,200 per tonne from $7,050-7,450Chromium MB free...Read More
As the minor metals industry prepares to gather in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the annual Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference on April 9-11, Fastmarkets outlines some of the key topics likely to dominate discussions this year. Where is the bottom for minor metals prices? This time last year, the minor metals industry was heading into the conference with optimism because prices were tradi...Read More
European stainless steel mills were pushing for increases to the price of grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheet and were likely to be successful because of reduced competition from imported tonnages out of Asia, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 5.Mills were seeking price increases beyond those which were dictated by the higher monthly alloy surcharges for April.Grade-304 CR sheet surcharges for...Read More
Electricity cuts in Taiwan in May and June, as well as ample offers from Europe, the United States and Japan dampened ferrous scrap prices in Asia this week.Steady demand in Vietnam and South Korea failed to generate any upward momentum for prices, with sellers being more willing to lower them to offload their cargoes.Buyers now expect the downtrend to continue and are putting off their procuremen...Read More
Canada-based miner Sigma Lithium Resources has signed a deal with Mitsui & Co. to raise a significant amount of the capital expenditures it needs to construct the concentration plant at its spodumene operations in Brazil, the company said on Friday April 5.The company will receive a pre-payment of $30 million for up to 55,000 tonnes of lithium concentrates over six years, with rights to a suppleme...Read More
Antofagasta Minerals, a subsidiary of London-headquartered Antofagasta plc, has secured $1.3 billion in financing for the expansion of its Los Pelambres refined copper unit, 300km north of Santiago in Chile.Antofagasta Minerals aims to increase its annual copper concentrate production at the unit by 40,000 tonnes during the first year of operations, ramping up to an extra 70,000 tonnes p...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at the close of trading on Thursday April 4, with an uptick in the dollar index capping upward moves while a marginal uptick in LME stocks this morning also provided a headwind to price action. The dollar index reached a high of 97.34 over the day's trading, spurring unfavorable conditions for commodity investment. The ind...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to hold onto Wednesday's increase with a stronger US dollar weighing on the base metals complex on Thursday April 4. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 3.85 cents to $2.9100 per lb. Hopes of an imminent trade deal between the United States and China boosted sentiment across commodities markets, including t...Read More
Manganese ore exports from South Africa increased by 14% year on year to reach a record 1.61 million tonnes in March, shipping data shows.The total also represents a 13% increase compared with February 2019. The vast bulk of material went to China, which accepted just over 1 million tonnes, also a 14% year-on-year increase and an 11% month-on-month...Read More
Fastmarkets is extending the consultation period for its proposal to revise the frequency and specification of its copper concentrate treatment & refining charges (TC/RC) index until April 19.With regard to the frequency, responses to the original consultation agreed that the market is in need of a weekly index.In terms of the specification, the consultation on the base and range of concentra...Read More
Metals traders in Switzerland are feeling the brunt of a pullback from trade financing activities by banker Credit Suisse, after a 2018 deal turned sour and left the bank less keen to be exposed to the high-risk, low-margin commodities business.The Zurich-based bank is a principal supplier of financing to Switzerland's commodities trading community, from crude oil to copper concentrates to alumini...Read More
With the annual Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference kicking off on Tuesday April 9 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fastmarkets looks at the price moves in the minor metals complex since last year's conference. There is a general bearish mood in the minor metals complex heading into the conference this year in contrast to last year's multi-year highs set in most of the markets. Most of the min...Read More
Cobalt market participants have been keeping an eye out for potential non-industrial buying, such as stockpiling from China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB), since global metal prices slid to two-year lows at the beginning of this year.A spotlight has been cast on the Chinese bureau ever since it carried out extensive research into major Chinese producers' products and output in the first quarter of t...Read More
Participants in the long steel market in the European Union were hoping for price stability through April after recent sluggish demand and cautious buying activity, sources within the sector told Fastmarkets this week."The Spanish market is weak in price terms but consumption is improving," one trader said. "European mills have been more aggressive [in terms of price] so there has not been much im...Read More