The Turkish long steel export market remained weak over the past seven days on sluggish demand, while increasing raw materials costs continued to squeeze mill margins, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey remained unchanged at $470-480 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis.Steel producers in Turkey continued to offer re...Read More

RAPAPORT... Phillips has hired Geoffrey Hess as a consultant for itswatch department, to support the division's collaborations, events, sourcingand new business initiatives. Hess - an aficionado of vintage sports watches - was previously the CEOof vintage-timepiece platform Analog/Shift, the auction house said Monday. He was also CEO of Ivanka TrumpFine Jewelry and senior adviser to former New Yor...Read More

Steel billet import prices in Egypt have increased over the past seven days with higher offers and deal prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $470-475 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $465-470 per tonne cfr last week.The rise can be attributed partly to a decree issued by Egypt's ministry of trade an...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters were insisting on higher offer prices on Thursday March 7 despite the slight drop in the domestic spot market, with most sellers feeling little need to export.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,840 yuan ($569-572) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,750-3,770 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneShanghai sellers began the...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to replenish low stock levels by booking more deep-sea scrap at firm prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 7.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo comprising 32,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $322 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $327 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $332 per tonne cfr.This was...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 oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 100,000 tonnes of 65% Fe Iron Ore Carajas, traded at $99.70 per tonne cfr China, laycan February 27-March 8.BHP, Global Ore, 80,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Jimblebar fines, traded at...Read More

"Tshisekedi would be a relatively positive figure for mining investment"SPONSOREDverisk maplecroftAlkane maps own path to world-class critical metals producerSPONSOREDalkane resourcesWestern Atlas drill-ready in NunavutSPONSOREDwestern atlas resourcesGlobal Atomic's 'transformational discovery' changes everythingSPONSOREDglobal atomic corpAt Las Bambas in Peru, outbound coppe...Read More

Iron ore prices rose on Thursday March 7 in line with futures market gains following data releases showing a decline in steel inventories in the market. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.61 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $87.01 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $90.01 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.93 per ton...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsFriedland has been wowing audiences with latest pre-feasibility numbers for a proposed US$1.1 billion, six million tonnes per annum underground mine and plant producing up to 360,000 tonnes of copper a year at Kalula on the Central African Copperbelt. He has also been speaking regularly about...Read More

The seaborne coking coal spot market moved sideways on March 7 following trades that concluded at similar levels compared with previous trades in the week.A cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal cargo changed hands at $210.75 per tonne fob Australia, up $0.75 per tonne from a similar cargo that traded earlier in the week, sources said.Meanwhile, there was talk in the market that rail operation...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker again this morning, Thursday March 7.With the exception of tin that was up by 0.5% and aluminium that was little changed, the rest of the complex were down between 0.2% for lead and 1.4% for nickel. Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,428 per tonne, compared with $6,455 per tonne at Wednesday’s close, while nic...Read More

Domestic stainless steel prices in China maintained their upward trend over the past week on higher nickel prices and strengthening demand.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,100-15,500 yuan ($2,249-2,309) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday February March 6, up 400 yuan per tonne fr...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures turned positive after the European Central Bank announced additional funding for European banks. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 225,000 versus 226,000 last week. Actual was 223,...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped slightly during morning trading on Thursday March 7, with nickel leading the losses. However, copper bucked the trend amid a positive outlook for the red metal.SHFE base metals prices showed slight losses this morning, pressured by the stronger dollar, which was at 96.86 this morning at 10.20am Shanghai time.This compares with the dol...Read More

Global zinc premiums have been little changed over the past week with a worsening Chinese import arbitrage distorting the marketplace for the world's largest base metals consumer, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday March 6. European zinc premiums near October 2010 lowUS markets stable with lead and zinc demand healthyChinese markets suffering from arbitrage window. Northern European zinc premiums stay...Read More

South African state power utility Eskom has received approval for power price increases of 22.7% over the next three years, and on the same day warned of a high risk of load shedding.Eskom, which has 420 billion rand ($29.53 billion) of debt, can increase electricity prices by 9.41% in 2019/20 and by 8.1% and 5.2% respectively in the two subsequent years, according to a decision by South African e...Read More

Stagnant spot activity continued to weigh on the cobalt sulfate price in China, with spot offer prices marching lower in the mid-week assessment on Wednesday March 6 amid persistent selling pressure. Fastmarkets assessed the Chinese cobalt sulfate, basis 20.5% Co market price at 57,000-60,000 yuan ($8,491-8,938) per tonne on March 6, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne or 5.6% from 60,000-64,000 yu...Read More

Fastmarkets summarizes six hot topics that will likely dominate discussions during the 20th Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong on March 10-12.What might weigh on the minor metals markets in 2019? This year's conference kicks off on Sunday March 10 with a minor metals briefing day, and no doubt participants in those respective markets will be eager to discuss whether stocks of metals such a...Read More

Fed up with the hardships of snow and ice in the colder regions of the U.S.? Does spending a few months in Florida, Arizona, or other Sunbelt states every winter sound enticing? If so, the snowbird lifestyle could be just what you're looking for. But before you toss that snow shovel in the trash, there are challenges and additional expenses you should consider. The Upfront Cost...The most obvious...Read More

Today my objective is simple...I want to show you why packing up your portfolio and getting out of the stock market during scary stretches is a really, really bad idea.As you'll see, time in the market is the key, not timing the market.However... I realize this is easier said than done.Therefore, in addition I'll also be giving you a top quality stock that will position your portfolio to profit in...Read More