The price paid for pig iron exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) rose in the week to Thursday October 29 on a new sale to the United States and Asia amid low availability, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $355-360 per tonne on October 29, up from $350-353 per tonne a week earlier.A sale of...Read More
A summary of Glencore's 2020 third-quarter production report for the coal sector, released on Friday October 30, where the company maintained its 2020 full-year production guidance except coal, which was adjusted for the extended strike at the Cerrejon mine.In brief The company's year-to-date (YTD) coal production of 83.5 million tonnes was 20.5 million tonnes or 20% lower than the comparable prio...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will finalize the last stage in the relaxation of its queue-based rent capping (QBRC) rule on Sunday November 1, when the rule moves to 80 days full rent.The threshold has been extended under a phased implementation over the past nine months. It began on February 1, 2020, when the rule moved to 50 days full rent, from the original rule of 30 days full rent and 20 days hal...Read More
Stock levels of all base metals except lead dipped in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses in the week to Friday October 30, with copper dominating the declines in percentage terms.Copper stocks were assessed at 139,657 tonnes over the week, a decline of 15,849 tonnes, or 10.2%, from a week earlier, with the largest outflow of 4,398 tonnes from the Zhongchu Wuxi warehouse...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged up on Friday October 30 after a transaction of premium hard coking coal was done at a price slightly higher than yesterday, sources said, adding that the fob market had gained some support.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.94 per tonne, up $0.20 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $135.80 per tonne, up $0.54 per...Read More
Iron ore futures and seaborne prices both rebounded on Friday October 30, supported by growing demand for steel, although trading activity in the physical market remained limited, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.49 per tonne, up $1.49 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.66 per tonne, up $0.82 per tonne58% Fe fines high-gr...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were mostly trading down in the morning session on Friday October 30 with the complex subject to selling pressure amid the uncertainty over further Covid-19 lockdowns."We are expecting LME base metals prices to run into further selling in the short term. The upward momentum seen in early October has run its course and is beginning to give way to...Read More
Ferro-titanium's price rise in the United States has halted after six weeks of increases, although prices continued to gain in Europe this past week.Both markets rose on the same supply shortage, for ferro-titanium and especially for the scrap from which it is entirely made. Additionally, meanwhile, demand from steel consumers improved.With the historic scrap shortage worsening, some sellers to th...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday October 30.China Weakening portside ore prices and historically high port inventories continued to put downward pressure on the market for low-grade seaborne manganese ore. The market for higher grade ore ticked down now that contract negotiations are underway with sellers looking to uphold their...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday October 30.China Export prices held steady after rising by 2.2% in the previous two weeks. Some suppliers expected the upward trajectory to resume in the near future with a tightening of material supply at hand. But liquidity has been light, with overseas consumers driven away by the...Read More
South Korean consumers are staying away from imports of heavy steel scrap due to rising offer prices from Japan and an adequate local supply of material, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 30.Offers from Japan for H2 heavy scrap were ?30,500-31,000 ($292-297) per tonne cfr South Korea this week, while Korean mills will only consider prices for ?27,500-28,000 per tonne fob Jap...Read More
China's spot refining charge (RC) for blister copper increased over October on lower buying appetite due to an expected inflow of scrap now that recyclable copper raw materials can be imported into the country from next week, sources said on October 30.Fastmarkets assessed the copper blister 98-99% RC spot, cif China at $150-160 per tonne on October 30, narrowing higher on the low end from $140-16...Read More
Vietnamese buyers continued to source American scrap due to its narrow spread over Japanese materials in the week to Friday October 30, although many market participants have been increasingly tight-lipped over market activity. There was a transaction heard at $315 per tonne cfr Vietnam for a deep-sea cargo from the United States' West Coast in the early part of the week. Details could not be asce...Read More
Scrap buyers in Taiwan are opting to use more domestic ferrous scrap for charging their electric-arc furnaces instead of purchasing costlier imported cargoes, industry sources said.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $282-283 per tonne on Friday October 30, unchanged from the previous day and up...Read More
The European Commission has set safeguard quota volumes for steel products imported from the United Kingdom starting from January 1, 2021. The EC announced the quotas on Friday October 30. These will apply to several steel products, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanizing coil originating from the UK. Any volumes sold exceeding the quotas will be subject to 25% duty. "Pur...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 29 that are worth another look.Italian trade unions Uilm and Fiom-Cgil have called for steelworkers at ArcelorMittal Italia to go on strike on November 5 because they have not been given any clear...Read More
The three-month price of tin on the London Metal Exchange lagged behind at the close of trading on Thursday October 29, showing the greatest daily losses at 1.1% and slipping below nearby support levels.Meanwhile, a large cancelation in the morning meant that LME lead futures remained elevated over the day.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $17,822 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, falling f...Read More