Sentiment in the key global scrap markets has turned negative in the week to Friday January 15, with buying activity dipping on expectations of a correction in prices, led by a week-long absence from the markets by Turkish buyers after a prolonged period of soaring prices.Turkish prices drop $20 per tonne before weekendUS export prices up on recent tradesBuyers withdraw from market in Vietnam on e...Read More

The British light iron market hit ?150 per tonne in the week ending Friday January 15, a level last seen almost eight years ago, amid firm fundamentals, reduced supplies coming into yards and strong export demand, trade sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?140-150 ($191-205) per tonne on Friday, up fro...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have gone down sharply on a fresh Baltic Sea cargo deal sold at the end of the week, sources said on Friday January 15.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $460 per tonne cfr on a heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) basis. The cargo composition was not clear at the time of publication.This was compared with the US cargo sold at $485 per tonn...Read More

Scottie Resources provides grab sampling and geophysical survey results from the Domino zone at its Scottie project. Scottie Resources Corp. (SCOT:TSX.V) announced in a news release that results of surficial grab samples from the Domino zone at its Scottie project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle increased the strike length of the mineralized zone to 900 meters and the width to 450 meters.Or...Read More

Outcrop Gold Corp. reported that it recently recorded intercepts measuring 1,486 g/t silver equivalent over 1.2 meters at its Santa Ana property in northern Tolima, Colombia. In a news release, Outcrop Gold Corp. (OCG:TSX.V; MRDDF:OTCPK; MRG1:DB) announced "additional assay results from the El Dorado target on its 100% owned Santa Ana project in north Tolima, Colombia." Outcrop Gold reported that...Read More

Fremont Gold identifies several high-priority targets at its North Carlin gold project in Nevada. Fremont Gold Ltd. (FRE:TSX.V; FRERF:OTCQB; FR2:FSE) announced in a news release that it has begun its drill program at the North Carlin gold project "located at the northern end of Nevada's prolific Carlin Trend, one of the richest gold mining districts in the world."Fremont CEO Blaine Monaghan comme...Read More

Brazilian steel slab export prices tightened upward in the week ended Friday January 15, with producers continuing to seek high prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, narrowed upward to $760-780 per tonne fob on Friday, compared with $750-780 per tonne fob a week earlier.Offers of Brazil-origin slab were heard around $800 per tonne fob for March s...Read More

The Indian domestic secondary billet market price fell by 1,300 rupees ($18) per tonne over the week to January 15 following a bigger fall in prices of finished products such as rebar and a consequent drop in inquiries and cautious buying from billet users, sources said.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel billet domestic, ex-works India at 38,800-39,000 rupees per tonne on 15 January, down by...Read More

The export market for steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was largely quiet on the disparity between offers and bids, with prices under pressure from falling scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 15.CIS export billet prices have lost their upward momentum, affected by a recent drop in international scrap markets as well as lower bids from customers, sou...Read More

What a week! First gold soared to almost $1,960, but then its price (London P.M. Fix) plunged to $1,863 on January 8, as the chart below shows.This is quite strange (and bearish) behavior, given what happened last week. First, there were violent pro-Trump protests in Washington D.C. The rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. During these riots, five people died. Given the chaos in the capital, gold, wh...Read More

Sector expert Michael Ballanger ruminates on how the storming of the U.S. Capitol has affected both America's reputation and the precious metals markets, as well as on the value of "value."The events of this week are dominating the news cycle, with a sitting president days away from being replaced while Congressional and Senatorial leaders debate whether he should be impeached immediatel...Read More

The future is electric for General Motors (GM).This week, the American automaker showed off an air taxi concept via its luxury marque Cadillac at technology conference CES, which it touts as a solution for bypassing traffic jams on the road.The air taxi will utilize electric propulsion powered by a 90 kWh battery that allows the vehicle to travel at around 90km per hour, it said. This follows the...Read More

Chinese automotive output and sales dipped by just 2% in 2020 from a year earlier after a sustained recovery in the second half of the year. Continuous year-on-year growth in December in both sales and output continued to provide support to upstream raw material prices.China produced 25.23 million vehicles in 2020 while sales amounted to 25.31 million units, according to data released by the China...Read More

There was no clear trend for South American flat steel import prices in the week to Friday January 15, with clients in no rush to secure new deals yet amid static or slightly higher new offers from all origins.Market participants reported signs of short selling from some traders and lower offers from privately owned mills in China, while the larger producers were trying to maintain or increase pri...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States slipped from an all-time high to just under $57 per hundredweight ($1,140 per short ton) on Friday January 15, but remain poised to rebound amid tight supply, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $56.92 per cwt ($1,138.40 per ton) on January 15, down by 1.86% from a record high of $58...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States leaped after buyer competition for the mills' limited first-quarter spot tonnage became fierce.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US climbed to $63 per hundredweight ($1,260 per hundredweight) on Thursday January 14, up by 7.69% from $58.50 per cwt ($1,170 per ton) on January 7. The assess...Read More

Brazilian steel slab export prices tightened upward in the week ended Friday January 15, with producers continuing to seek high prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, narrowed upward to $760-780 per tonne fob on Friday, compared with $750-780 per tonne fob a week earlier.Offers of Brazil-origin slab were heard around $800 per tonne fob for March s...Read More

South Africa's chrome ore export tax would boost investment in Zimbabwe's chrome ore industry if it goes ahead, according to a majority of buy-side respondents to a Fastmarkets poll of UG2 market participants on the sector's outlook. Fastmarkets senior analyst Robert Cartman provides his take.What will be the three big focuses in the chrome market in 2021?Respondents from both sides agreed that th...Read More

The zinc price was the hardest hit as most base metals finished below their psychological price levels on Friday January 15, with a high US dollar resulting in further signs of consolidation taking hold at the London Metals Exchange.Zinc's three-month price closed 2% lower on Friday at $2,699 per tonne, compared with Thursday's closing price of $2,757 per tonne, which was also a 0.6% decrease...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob price jumped up on Friday January 15 following a transaction done at $124 per tonne fob Australia on Friday, sources said. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.91 per tonne, up $10.02 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $208.69 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $101.54 per tonne, up $2.74 per tonne...Read More