Russia lockdown prompts ferro-titanium short-covering

After months of virtual inactivity, supply worries from Russia, a major exporter of ferro-titanium to Europe, have sparked upward movement in European spot prices that may trend higher in the near term, trade sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets' ferro-titanium 70% Ti, max 4.5% Al, ddp Europe price jumped by more than 10% week on week on Wednesday April 1 to $4.50-5.00 per kg from $4.10-4.50 per kg.
The top end of the range had stood at $4.50 per kg since the start of November 2019, with only the bottom end moving 10-20 cents per kg in that time. The price has now recovered to a level last seen on September 18, 2019, when the price range was $4.60-5.00 per kg.
The ferro-titanium industry relies much on imports from Russia, which exports around 1,500-2,000 tonnes per year of the alloy to Europe, which amounts to about 40% of European demand, according to industry sources.

Now a lockdown being rolled out across Russia in response to the Covid-19 virus pandemic is casting doubts about near-term supplies from the...

China's gold holdings to central bank reserves still low

China has broad effect on gold market

Gold stocks mixed after previous week's huge gains

Large TSXV gold multiple driven up by high Artemis weighting

Monetary-driven precious metals outperform major base metals