HOTLINE: Privat and confidential

On Tuesday, Hotline was highly excited to learn that a veteran chrome market participant from a large European steel mill had announced a surprise move to Ukrainian manganese alloys producer Privat, via networking website Linkedin.

On Tuesday, Hotline was highly excited to learn that a veteran chrome market participant from a large European steel mill had announced a surprise move to Ukrainian manganese alloys producer Privat, via networking website Linkedin.

News travels fast in chrome and no one likes to concede ignorance, so within minutes, sources were claiming to have the same knowledge and were offering theories as to why the move might make sense to that individual.

It was another twelve hours before a sharp-witted senior ferro-alloys trader at a major firm pointed out that the veteran had indeed left the mill, but may have simply been indicating, in German, that his next move was private.

His Linkedin profile has since been updated to reflect that. 

editorial@metalbulletin.com

What to read next
The publication of the following prices was delayed on Tuesday April 30 due to technical issues. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Fastmarkets launches MB-NI-0256 nickel low-carbon briquette premium, cif global, $/tonne, on Wednesday May 1.
Fastmarkets will amend its MB-STE-0092 steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Poland, zloty/tonne price assessment on Friday May 3.
Just under two weeks ago, the chair of BHP made a phone call to his counterpart at mining peer Anglo American and set in motion a flurry of activity designed to create the largest copper producer in the world
Ferrous scrap could serve as a linchpin in decarbonizing both the steel and shipping sectors in South Korea, particularly in the short term, while waiting for emerging technologies such as hydrogen-based direct-reduced iron to be commercialized, Fastmarkets heard at a seminar on green steel and circularity
The suspension of South32’s manganese ore operations at Groote Eylandt Mining Co (GEMCO) in Australia has been changing demand patterns among manganese ore buyers in Asia and this will benefit other manganese ore miners, market participants said on Wednesday April 24