Fastmarkets is prosing to launch three new Bangladesh ferrous scrap import prices to widen the coverage of the growing South Asian market.

Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa is currently loading the country’s first ever shipment of steel billet to China, according to a company official.

Fastmarkets has made corrections to its daily calculations of nickel and copper physical metal arbitrage into China, after input errors led to inaccurate figures being published.

The steel markets, and specifically hot-rolled coil, have been buffeted by dynamics inside and outside the market. Section 232 tariffs, challenges in the automotive sector, recessionary forces, the significance of HRC and No 1 busheling prices, and blast furnace restarts and mini-mill steel capacity are combining to create volatility that is compelling decision-makers to watch this market closely.

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets’ team of analysts are ready to view.

Fastmarkets proposes to amend the specification of its spodumene 5-6% cif China price and discontinue its 5-6% fob Australia and 7-7.5% cif China prices.

The Madras High Court of India has rejected Vedanta's plea to restart its Tuticorin copper complex, which has been closed since 2018.

Domestic prices for vanadium products in China in mid-August were showing little change since mid- to late-July this year, with alloy suppliers struggling to hold prices firm amid comparatively stable prices for vanadium pentoxide (V2O5).

Rio Tinto has further cut its 2020 production guidance for refined copper, by about 16%, after delays to the restart of the smelter at its Kennecott mine in Utah in the United States, the company said this week.

Most of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating this morning, Wednesday August 19, after the majority of them extended gains on Tuesday; the exceptions were aluminium and tin, while copper was where the main action was this morning.