A nationwide strike from South Africa’s truck drivers will support prices for commodities based in the country, such as 37% manganese ore or UG2 chrome ore, but it would need to continue for more than a couple of weeks, market participants said. The strike began on September 2 in protest of the employment of foreign…
British Steel’s official receiver announced that TSP Projects, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Steel, which entered compulsory liquidation May 22, has been sold to rail transport engineering and consultancy firm SYSTRA Ltd. Based in York UK TSPP provides consultancy, design, engineering and on-site project management services. The sale of TSPP’s shares to SYSTRA Ltd,…
The global market for direct-reduced (DR) iron pellets was under pressure from falling prices for both steel scrap and finished steel products in August, sources told Fastmarkets last week. Fastmarkets lowered its iron ore DR-grade pellet premium, Middle East reference, to $62 per tonne on Friday August 30, from $65 per tonne on July 31.…
CNA reported that Taiwan has extended anti-dumping tariffs on steel makers from China and South Korea for another five years after an investigation found firms from those countries have sold their products at unfairly low prices in the Taiwan market, causing material damage to their Taiwanese counterparts. In an announcement posted by the Customs Administration…
Daily iron ore concentrates output among the 186 Chinese mining companies remained largely unchanged on week over August 16-29 at 519,400 t/d after a robust July, as China’s domestic steel market went into contraction starting August, according to Mysteel’s latest survey on the market. Their daily output was merely 100 tonnes/day or 0.02% higher than…
Treatment charges for zinc and lead (TCs) rose in August with the arbitrage to bring material into China switching markedly to a negative value. TCs for lead concentrates in particular rose sharply, to levels not seen in the past two years. The arbitrage loss to bring refined lead into China hit 1,100-2,300 yuan ($154-321) per…
As the trade war with the United States continues to gather pace, manufacturers in China remain gloomy about their prospects, with the sector activity contracting for the fourth successive month in August. The Official NBS Manufacturing PMI in China dropped to 49.5 in August 2019 from 49.7 in the July 2019 of 49.7. The latest…
The Board of Investments (BOI) has denied the application of Chinese firm Sanjia-Steel Corporation to invest P800 million for the production of reinforcing steel bars (rebars) using coreless electric furnace smelting technology because it will employ obsolete and pollution-causing technologies. In its July 18, 2019 meeting, the BOI Board “resolved to deny Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corporation’s…