London Metal Exchange three-month prices for all base metals remained under pressure on Friday September 25, with aluminium the only exception to the general downward trend.The LME three-month aluminium price rose 0.66%, and closed at $1,759.50 per tonne after seeing a turnover of 12,776 lots on Friday.Total LME aluminium stocks stand at 1,477,175 tonnes after registering an outflow of 5,050 tonne...Read More
Mid-grade fines prices made limited movements on limited trading activity but low-grade fines were heard to be popular with the mills again amid shrinking margins, trade sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.21 per tonne, up $0.54 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.74 per tonne, up $0.28 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices were relatively steady on Friday September 25 with no transactions heard, however, market participants expect premium hard coking coal prices to increase gradually and higher hard coking coal and pulverized coal injection (PCI) prices in the cfr market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.81 per tonne, down $0.05 per tonne Premium har...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The Turkish steel producers broke their two-weeks-long silence in the deep-sea scrap markets on Friday September 25, securing two cargo deals, while prices in the major markets were slightly down on limited demand.Turkish mills return to the market for two Baltic Sea cargoesUS East Coast quiet on Turkey's absenceVietnamese buyers book Japanese scrap on dipping offersTaiwanese import prices down on...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums rose in most regions on Friday September 25, with demand strengthening while sectors continued their recovery from Covid-19-related disruptions earlier in the year. The premium in the United States was steady, with fundamentals remaining mostly unchanged.Premiums, demand recover in EuropeStrong demand for aluminium billets across Europe pushed premiums across the region t...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charges/refining charges (TC/RC) index is largely unchanged from a week ago when it rebounded to a month-and-a-half high.Market sources still believe smelter purchases are in the high $40s per tonne/4 cents per lb to the low $50s per tonne/5 cents per lb, with less tendered tonnages available this week.The spot market is less vibrant with Japanese holidays....Read More
Serbia's RTB Bor copper smelter, owned by Chinese miner Zijin, has been suspended for a reconstruction project due to excessive sulfur dioxide emissions, according to local media reports. The suspension came after the Bor city government filed a criminal charge against the Chinese state-owned miner after registering SO2 levels that exceeded limits on three days in a row last week, Serbian Monitor...Read More
France-headquartered international banking group BNP Paribas has said it will end operations at its Geneva commodity trade financing desk just weeks after the closure of its Paris desk in August, according to a statement on Wednesday September 23. The move is part of the ongoing fallout after the bank racked up several large losses in its lending unit this year and is part of a wider move in the b...Read More
Brazilian trade chamber Camex confirmed this week that the country's self-imposed quota for duty-free imports of aluminium had been exhausted, but it was expected to resolve soon upon an additional volume of around 30,000 tonnes, Fastmarkets has learnt.According to Camex data, the volume for which import licenses had been issued reached the full-year 2020 limit of 150,000 tonnes on September 9. Ma...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices began to consolidate during the morning session on Friday September 25 after the broad-based sell off which emerged after Monday's United States equities plunge began to fade and buying pressure re-emerged across the complex. Despite a consistently stronger dollar continuing to trade above 94 this morning, most recently around 94.40, the US doll...Read More
Turkish prices in the domestic market for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil (pre-painted galvanized iron or PPGI) fell in the week to September 25 after buyers retreated. Buyers held back from making purchases to see if price falls would continue, market sources said. Prices were under downward pressure from weakening global prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coa...Read More
The domestic steel hot-rolled coil price in Europe remained firm on Friday September 25 due to a combination of limited supply and a lack of competitive imports offers, rather than booming demand, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?488.02 ($568.97) per tonne on Friday, up by just ?,?0.21 per tonne from ?,...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in Turkish market were flat or lower in the week to Friday September 25, as a result of weak demand and expectations of further declines, sources told Fastmarkets.Some market participants expect a fall in prices due to slower demand, a drop in Chinese prices and a weaker Turkish lira against the United States dollar.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel HRC index export,...Read More
ArcelorMittal has resumed operations at blast furnace No3 at its plant in Bremen, Germany, after six month of downtime, the company told Fastmarkets this week.The decision to relight the furnace was based on the current recovery in steel demand and the need to boost pig iron output due to the relining of a blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Gent in Belgium, the company said.Read More
Poland's steel rebar producers have pushed for new price increases this week on good buying activity, rising raw materials costs and a lack of competitive imports in the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 25.The rebar market in the country moved up this week on fresh offers from domestic mills, encouraged by good buying, rising rolling costs and tighter availability of rebar with...Read More
The Brazil export pig iron market was subdued in the week to Friday September 25 on reduced demand in China. Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil at $360-370 per tonne on Friday, down by $5 per tonne from $365-375 per tonne one week earlier. In the south of Brazil, export offers were reported $370 per tonne fob. Only one supplier, who has...Read More
The price of shredded scrap imported into India continued to move down this week, with trading slow due to poor market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 25.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $ 309.58 per tonne on Friday, down from $317.57 per tonne one week previous.Two deals were heard for shredded this week, one at $3...Read More
The market for UK inter-merchant light iron scrap was stable in the week to Friday September 25, with enough domestic demand and limited availability offsetting a recent drop-off in export demand to traditional destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, industry sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inte...Read More