Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 8.52% year on year in September amid a surge in imports and an increase in long steel demand, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said.Consumption totaled 2.20 million tonnes in September, up from 2.03 million tonnes in the corresponding month last year, the association said on Friday October 15.Growth was more pronounced for long stee...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More
Giuseppe Pasini, chairman of Italy's Feralpi Group, one of the leading long steel manufacturers in the European Union, spoke with Fastmarkets' Julia Bolotova about the challenges facing the European steel sector and Feralpi's strategy in light of the EU's ambitious greenhouse emissions reduction goals and global trade restrictions.Energy crisis in EuropeThe recent jump in electricity and gas price...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for December shipment at the start of the week, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday October 18.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, consist of 6,500 tonnes HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $512 per tonne cfr. Market participants were unsure of the premium for this transaction over HMS 1&2 (80:20),...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have increased during the week to Monday October 18 in line with rising imported scrap values, market participants said.Turkish steelmakers have been paying higher prices for deep-sea scrap in recent weeks due to limited supply and firm demand.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) United States origin, cfr Turkey was $489.99 per tonne on Mo...Read More
Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese steel group Jiangsu Shagang to explore low-carbon steelmaking solutions, the former said on Monday October 18.The companies intend to develop feasibility studies on using products such as higher-purity iron ore, which has a lower carbon footprint, in the iron-making process, and cooperation on Tecnored facilitie...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices increased slightly on Monday October 18. And the number of trucks for transporting Mongolian coal is expected to increase, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $612.56 per tonne, up by $1.46 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, up by $3.39 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $400.30 per tonne, up by $0.6...Read More
Iron ore prices were mostly down a bit on Monday October 18 with limited liquidity amid weak steel demand, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.32 per tonne,down $0.90 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $125.97 per tonne,down $0.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $94.47 per tonne, up $0.18 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines,...Read More
A summary of Rio Tinto's third-quarter production and shipment results, released by the company on Friday October 15. In brief Pilbara iron ore production (100% basis) in the third quarter of 2021 was 4% lower year on year due to heritage management, brownfield mine replacement tie-ins and project completion delays.Iron ore shipments from Pilbara increased by 2% year on year in the third quarter d...Read More
Seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet prices rose in the week ended Friday October 15, benefitting from an uptrend in futures and increased buying interest ahead of upcoming sintering restrictions, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indicesPellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $46 per tonne, up $4.10 per tonne66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $149.31 per tonne, up $10.80...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China retreated on Monday October 18 with the latest economic data sparking concerns over demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai) was 5,700-5,800 yuan ($886-901) per tonne, down by 30-60 yuan per tonne.Offers for spot HRC in Shanghai slipped to lows of 5,700-5,720 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, with the most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Ex...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly rose during morning trading on Monday October 18, due to continued fears of supply tightness.Copper has hit a high of $10,452 per tonne already this morning. The three-month copper price was last at $10,292.50 per tonne, up slightly from $10,281 per tonne at Friday's close. Available stocks on the LME hit their lowest since 1974 per tonne on F...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday October 18 following the release of data by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showing a decrease in new housing starts.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,730-5,770 yuan ($890-896) per tonne, down by 30-40 yuan per tonneThe construction area of newly started houses came to 1.53 billion square meters in the first three quarters of 2021, down by 4.5%...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally up strongly this morning, Monday October 18, with energy shortages and high energy prices continuing to affect supply. The market seems to be ignoring, for now, the weaker economic data out of China.China's gross domestic product climbed 4.9% in the third quarter, down from 7.9% in the second quarter.Autom...Read More
Senior traders Mart?-n N????ez and Candida Owens have joined UK-based commodity trading house MtalX.They will expand MtalX's minor metals and ferro-alloys footprint, the company told Fastmarkets. The London-based traders will focus on magnesium, silicon, antimony, cobalt, noble alloys and bulk alloys as...Read More
The antimony metal and trioxide markets remained tight, with China's environmental checks the main factor pushing the prices up; some market players hope that smelters in Hunan, China, could reopen at the end of October, easing supply.Price movesThe Chinese antimony price steadily moved up in September due to tight domestic supply. Most producers suspended operations due to a shortage of raw mater...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 transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 26.45-27.15...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade,...Read More
Manganese ore prices at Chinese ports rose markedly in the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved demand outlook and easing production headwinds in some major alloy-producing regions.The price differential between low-grade and high-grade manganese ore grew to 8.50 yuan ($1.32) per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, the widest since Fastmarkets started assessing the markets in January 201...Read More
Base metals prices continued to soar higher this morning, Tuesday October 19, with cash prices rising at an even faster pace while shorts are squeezed. Cash copper prices on the London Metal Exchange were evaluated on Monday evening at $1,103.50 per tonne.* All of the LME base metals’ cash/three-month spreads, except that for aluminium, are in backwardation.* Risk appetite is fairly upbeat de...Read More