Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.

After strong gains on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday January 12, when prices closed up with gains averaging 1.8%, prices were for the most part little changed this morning, with nickel the main mover.

After further weakness in the base metals on Monday January 11, that saw the complex close down by an average of 1.5%, prices were up across the board on the London Metal Exchange this morning but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange base metals prices were down across the board while they followed yesterday’s performance on the LME.

Mining and metals producer Assmang has declared force majeure on its medium-carbon ferro-manganese production in South Africa, a source told Fastmarkets this week.

Manufacturers in the United States have been materially injured by imports of pre-stressed concrete (PC) steel wire strand from Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined.

China's looming presence as a new buyer in the Asian seaborne scrap market has sparked concerns of tight supply in the region, including in Taiwan, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Base metals prices were pausing and precious metals were mainly on a back footing this morning, Friday January 8, with sentiment generally bullish on the prospects for greater fiscal spending out of the United States when Joe Biden becomes the president in a few weeks’ time.

Confirmed purchasing activity and extraordinarily volatile raw material costs have propelled hot-rolled coil prices in the United States past $54 per hundredweight.

US-headquartered lithium producer Albemarle Corp will double lithium carbonate output at its brine-sourced production facility, Silver Peak, based in Nevada, it said on Thursday January 7.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rebounded on Wednesday January 6, but talk of lower deals remained in the market.