Some of our favorite metal sourcing challenges involve off-the-beaten-path requests for price intelligence regarding “opaque metals.” This term refers to metals that no known exchange-traded price firm or price reporting agency (e.g. MetalMiner and our competitors) publishes. We like to think MetalMiner continues to add price data across a broad range of “obscure” metals. This […]
Category: Commodities
Teck Resources Withdraws Plan to Split Metal and Coal Businesses
Canadian mining group Teck Resources recently withdrew its proposal to separate its metals and coal companies into two separate assets. The Vancouver-headquartered company announced its plans not to proceed with a vote to divide the business into two separate companies, Teck Resources and Elk Valley Resources, at its April 26 annual and special shareholders meeting. […]
Automotive MMI: Vehicle Sales Up, Steel Prices Dropping
April saw a welcome boost in sales within the U.S. automobile market. New vehicle inventories are now in healthy shape. However, interest rates are still high, as are new vehicle prices. Moreover, the Automotive MMI index still has several factors working against it. Steel prices, notable HDG traded not only sideways, but completely flat. In […]
Raw Steels MMI: U.S. Steel Prices Slide as Construction Sector Poses Long-Term Risk
The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) moved down from April to May as all its components declined. After sharp upside movement during March, flat rolled steel prices saw their four-month uptrend falter throughout April. Meanwhile, hot rolled coil prices had risen over 82% from the beginning of the early December uptrend until prices peaked […]
Tata Steel Trials Injecting Hydrogen Gas into Blast Furnace to Cut Carbon Emissions
India’s steel giant, Tata Steel, recently announced it had successful injected hydrogen into one of its blast furnaces. Many tout it as the world’s first such experiment by a steelmaker on so vast a scale. The goal of such a process is to potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions by replacing up to 20% of the […]
Rare Earths MMI: Prices Plummet as Rare Earth Demand Drops
The Rare Earths MMI (Monthly Metals Index) suffered yet another significant drop month-over-month. Overall, the index fell 15.81%. These massive drops in prices are the result of several factors. One of the the biggest culprits is rising supply and falling demand. Prices for rare earth metals have also decreased due to new mining initiatives cropping […]
What’s Behind Declining Steel Prices in Northern Europe?
Hot rolled coil steel prices in northern Europe began declining over the past month. Sources told MetalMiner on April 25 that the downtrend was largely due to lower demand and aggressive import offers. One trader mentioned that North European mills are now offering €820 ($900) per metric ton EXW for August rolling and September delivery. […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Cobalt
The cobalt price index fell below $26,000 per tonne as of April 2023, its lowest level since 2019. Indeed, while cobalt demand remains largely steady, there has been a significant increase in supply. Meanwhile, analysts expect the demand for refined cobalt, frequently used in rechargeable batteries, to increase by 8% to 205,000 tonnes by 2023. […]
Chile’s Nationalization of the Lithium Industry Could Impact Lithium Prices
In the 1960s, revolutionary and often left-wing populists took control of foreign mining company assets “for the people” through “resource nationalism.” They proceeded to destroy inherent values and even plundered coffers to use for corrupt ends. Some nationalization efforts, like Chile’s, ended in the formation of Codelco, a world-class mining entity. However, far too many others did […]
China’s Yunnan Province Cuts Aluminum Production
A new question mark hangs over the fate of Chinese aluminum production for the rest of 2023. In March, China’s primary aluminum output increased by 3% compared to the same period in the previous year. However, the increase occurred at a slower pace than in previous months. While this did bring some cheer, the future […]
