Chinese non-ferrous scrap importers largely stayed on the sidelines during June, with a lack of detail surrounding China's renaming of certain scrap metal as renewable materials causing participants to refrain from making any purchases. "Today is the last day of June and nothing new on customs codes and inspection procedures has been released from Chinese customs yet," an industry source said. The...Read More
Asian-Pacific equities and pre-market major western equity index futures were stronger this morning, Tuesday June 30, while base metals prices were for the most part firmer too - this despite Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell saying the US economy faces "extraordinary uncertainty". China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) climbed to 50.9 in June, from 50.3 in May, but Japan's in...Read More
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export slab prices remained stable in the week to Monday June 30 amid scarce offers and generally weak demand globally, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $370-375 per tonne on June 30, unchanged week on week.Mills shipping material from the Black Sea basin preferred to wait and see to asses...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Tuesday June 30, despite the slow pace of demand recovery, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?396.88 ($446.38) per tonne on Tuesday, up by ?,?1.88 per tonne from ?,?395.00 per tonne on June 29.Tuesday's index was based on "wor...Read More
The prices paid for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates were mostly stable this week but demand is still moderate, market sources said on Tuesday June 30.Some steel rebar import deals were heard from Oman during the week, with the price for rebar imports rising in the country, sources said.Domestic rebarLocal mills in the UAE were offering rebar at 1,770-1,774 dirhams ($482-483) per...Read More
Hot-rolled coil import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decreased this week while hot-dipped galvanized coil prices have widened upward, with demand better than in previous weeks, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 30.Some deals for hot-rolled coil (HRC) were heard from India to the UAE.UAEOffer prices for HRC from China were heard in the UAE at $470 per tonne cfr, bu...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has toughened the existing safeguard measures on imports of steel products in the second review of the matter, it said on Tuesday June 30.The reviewed measures will come into force from July 1, 2020, and will remain in place for one year.The EC introduced two general adjustments to the quota system, intended to guarantee an orderly return to the market of all suppliers...Read More
Most major foreign buyers of cut flat steel imports from China in May due to non-competitive prices, but a few buyers of rebar have signed direct supply contracts in large tonnages with Chinese mills. China's major steel exportsFlat steel: 2.46 million tonnes, down by 27.5% year on year, down by 39.6% from April, China Customs data shows. Steel bar: 690,000 tonnes, down by 11.5% year on year and d...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico decreased for most grades over the past week due to the downward trend in international markets and continued weak domestic demand.Some mills in the country were applying price cuts of around 150 pesos ($6.51) for busheling scrap and the movement affected other grades.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Monterre...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from deep-sea scrap purchases in anticipation of lower prices, sources said on Tuesday June 30.Mills in the country booked only two deep-sea cargoes last week, totaling 67,500 tonnes. This was mainly because of weak finished long steel markets and falling prices, according to sources.Turkish...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices have fluctuated at current levels amid increasing Chinese manufacturing PMI, which is helping market sentiment to recover, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $99.43 per tonne, down $0.42 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $102.55 per tonne, up $0.10 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $90.30 per tonne, up...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices across the board stayed relatively flat on Tuesday June 30 due to a lack of trading, Fastmarkets heard. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.46 per tonne, down $0.11 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $122.80 per tonne, down $0.01 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT:...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Tuesday June 30, but importers still had little interest in shipments from India due to an increase in freight rates.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,750 yuan ($525-530) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonnePrices in the domestic market rebounded amid rising futures. A Shanghai-based trader said transactions were largely being concluded at...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices fell further on Tuesday June 30 amid soft demand despite the country's steelmaking hub of Tangshan announcing a new round of restrictions for July.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,510-3,540 yuan ($496-500) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneLocal authorities in Tangshan, in northern China, have ordered some steel mills in the city to restrict their production rat...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trade logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt alloy...Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trade logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt standard...Read More
A new anti-dumping case has been brought by the two dominant silicon metal producers in the United States, petitioning against silicon producers in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.The complainants are Globe Specialty Metals, the New York-based unit of Ferroglobe, and Mississippi Silicon (MS), based in the US state of Mississippi. Together, the pair make the vast majority of...Read More
The roll-out of fifth-generation (5G) networks and their associated infrastructure will provide the minor metals sector with the greatest potential for growth, panelists said in Fastmarkets' recent minor metals webinar. The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have underscored the need for greater bandwidth capacity along with fast and reliable networks, delegates heard. "We can all see that re...Read More
There is significant scope to grow tantalum output outside of Central Africa if prices keep increasing, Dharam Kotecha, director at Halcyon Metals, said during a Fastmarkets webinar this month."When prices for tantalite from Central Africa increase, there are more offers from South American producers," Kotecha said during a panel discussion on opportunities in minor metals post Covid-19 - hosted b...Read More
The European markets for both high- and low-carbon ferro-chrome, delivered, softened in the week ended Friday June 26 in response to weak consumption.Both consumers and producers of ferro-chrome said that they would be reducing their outputs by more than usual during the summer slowdown in 2020, in response to the low economic activity. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price for ferro-chrome...Read More