Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States tumbled, partially catching up with the accelerating downturn in pricing for hot-rolled coil substrate, which has declined by more than 8% from its peak two months ago. Fastmarkets' weekly pricing assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US skidded to $104 per hundredweight ($2,080 per short ton) on Thursday Novembe...Read More
Most base metals futures prices continued to rise in early trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday November 19, following a strong performance at the close on Thursday."A weaker [United States] dollar and constructive US macro data provided some support [to base metal prices]," ED&F Man commodity research head Edward Meir said.The three-month aluminium price led the complex, increasing by 2...Read More
The price of secondary steel billet in the Indian domestic market fell by 1,500 rupees ($20) per tonne over the week ended Friday November 19, with demand for semi-finished materials slowing down in line with a sharp fall in demand and prices for finished steel products.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel billet, domestic, exw India, at 41,700-41,900 rupees ($562-565) per tonne on November 19...Read More
Sellers of physical copper are holding out for a higher premium for 2022 contracts in the United States.No major deals were reported by the end of the American Copper Council (ACC) fall meeting in Miami, Florida this past week, although there was talk of a US copper premium in the 10-cents-per-lb range.In the US, Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9 cents...Read More
Chinese exporters of ammonium paratungstate (APT) kept their spot offers unchanged in the week to Wednesday November 17 amid slow conditions after foreign buyers took to the sidelines upon noticing weakness in China's domestic market.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for tungsten APT 88.5% WO3 min, fob main ports China was $313-319 per metric tonne unit (mtu) on Wednesday, unchanged from a week...Read More
Chinese nickel sulfate producers face difficult annual contract negotiations for 2022, with upstream miners taking an aggressive stance while downstream battery precursor material producers are hinting at lower demand amid plans to implement integrated operations.The Chinese nickel sulfate price has undergone considerable volatility in 2021, climbing in August to its highest since Fastmarkets bega...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 17 pricing session in China.Key drivers China's spot cobalt metal price fell amid a decline in local futures prices, while downstream demand was curbed by still high spot levels. Cobalt tetroxide prices in China were flat amid limited trading activity. Though most sellers would like...Read More
Chinese nickel sulfate producers face difficult annual contract negotiations for 2022, with upstream miners taking an aggressive stance while downstream battery precursor material producers are hinting at lower demand amid plans to implement integrated operations.The Chinese nickel sulfate price has undergone considerable volatility in 2021, climbing in August to its highest since Fastmarkets bega...Read More
Bangladeshi import steel scrap prices have fallen over the past week despite a continued rise in offer prices for rebar and domestic shipbreaking scrap in the country, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 18.?EUR?Bangladeshi import prices ease downward?EUR?Taiwanese buyers secure containerized scrap at $445-452 per tonne cfr?EUR?Lack of demand for scrap in China due to hot metal being mor...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Southern Europe moved down in the week to Wednesday November 17 due to limited trading activity and competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets.In the meantime, domestic prices in the north of Europe have been fairly stable despite a similar lack of demand.Both Southern and Northern European spot buyers have been avoiding booking significant volumes...Read More
Canada-headquartered Lithium Americas has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement with Argentina-based producer Millennial Lithium to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the latter for approximately $400 million, the company said on Wednesday November 17. On November 1, Millennial Lithium announced that it had received a rival takeover bid from Lithium Americas. As such, Millennial Li...Read More
Base metal futures prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely up at the 5pm close on Thursday November 18, with tin reaching a new all-time high.The three-month tin price closed at $38,453 per tonne, a rise of 1.2% from $37,975 per tonne at the 5pm close on Wednesday. This marks a new all-time high for the soldering metals three-month price, with the previous record being $38,330 on October...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Japanese steel scrap export prices fell again in the week to Thursday November 18, after lower-priced deals to South Korea emerged, sources told Fastmarkets.A major South Korean mill purchased about 30,000 tonnes of Japanese steel scrap at bid prices that it had lodged earlier this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday.On Wednesday, the mill bid at ?49,500 ($432) per tonne fob for H2 scrap,...Read More
Production of key battery raw materials cobalt and nickel will remain tight and will pose challenges to the electrification of transport, panelists said on Monday November 15 during Fastmarkets' International Ferro-alloys Conference in Prague."This year was really the first year that we saw a step change in nickel demand caused by demand from the electric vehicles (EV) sector and we saw nickel con...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
The logistics of a cluster of copper mines in western Canada have been disrupted by extreme weather conditions in the province of British Columbia (BC) this week, Fastmarkets has learnt."All transportation routes, rails and highways, to the interior of the province are closed due to washouts and [land]slides," one Canadian miner source said on Thursday November 18.The province declared a state of...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices increased in the month to Tuesday November 16, supported by a combination of reduced supply and strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Month-on-month comparison prices have recovered by about ?,?10 ($11) per tonne. But market sources said that, taking into account that scrap prices dropped in the second half of October, the recovery since the start of Nove...Read More