Slab export prices from Brazil declined in the week to Friday October 15, with offers and bids consolidating at lower levels, but market participants expected prices to have reached a bottom with no further room to drop.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was at $740-760 per tonne on Friday, down by $20 from $760-780 per tonne on October 8.Demand remain...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the south of Brazil went up during the week to Friday October 15 because of new sales, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $500 per tonne on Friday, up from $480-485 per tonne a week earlier.Two sales were heard at...Read More
Most prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down during the week ended Friday October 15, with Brazilian mills lowering their offers, Russian sellers pressuring the market downward and Chinese material still scarce in the region.While some offers from China emerged at higher levels, following a week-long holiday in the Asian country, reduced export availability to S...Read More
Prices in the United States' pig iron import market went up during the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved global market mood, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $545-550 per tonne on Friday, up from $540 per tonne a week earlier.Offers of Russia-origin...Read More
Record-high coking coal prices have been pressuring steelmakers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), mainly in Ukraine, because of a dependence on imports, sources told Fastmarkets.Global coking coal prices have been trending upward since October 2020, when the Chinese government imposed a ban on Australian materials.Fastmarkets' index for premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang -...Read More
The entirety of copper's London Metal Exchange forward curve ended the day in a backwardated state on October 15, with fears of supply tightness taking over metals across the board. Zinc reached its highest prices in over a decade while tin climbed to new all-time highs. Copper's benchmark cash/three-month spread on LMESelect - the Exchange's electronic platform - touched a $350-per-tonne b...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices stayed largely stable in the cfr China market but decreased in the fob market on Friday October 15, amid weak offers and bids.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) increased in both the cfr China and fob Australia market in the week to October 15 due to supply tightness in both markets, market sources said on Friday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking c...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange reached a 14-year high of $3,750 per tonne on Friday October 15, with prices and premiums spiking amid concerns over supply in Europe and the United States.Friday's price represents its highest level since 2007 and a 16.4% increase from the start of the week, with the contract closing at $3,222 per tonne on Monday. "The threat of further prod...Read More
Higher demand in key consumer markets led to a jump in steel scrap prices across all major markets in the week to Friday October 15, sources have told Fastmarkets.?EUR?Turkey import prices spike amid limited supply, firm demand?EUR?Further price increases expected in US export market?EUR?High prices dissuade Vietnam buyers from more deals?EUR?China scrap demand recovers amid less stringent power r...Read More
The price of stainless steel in Europe was stable this week but mills were expected to try to push through increases because of higher energy costs, despite the fact that demand has slowed in recent weeks, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 15.An Italian mill was said to be hoping to implement a ?,?20 ($23) per tonne energy surcharge in order to recoup some of its expenditure on rising energy cos...Read More
The entirety of copper's London Metal Exchange forward curve ended the day in a backwardated state on October 15, with fears of supply tightness taking over metals across the board. Zinc reached its highest prices in over a decade while tin climbed to new all-time highs. Copper's benchmark cash/three-month spread on LMESelect - the Exchange's electronic platform - touched a $350-per-tonne b...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' European secondary aluminium pricing session on Friday October 15.Key drivers:Prices for secondary aluminium ingots of DIN226 grade hit a record high on Friday October 15, the highest price reported for the grade since Fastmarkets began pricing it in 2002, and a 7.6% increase from the previous week.Record high prices for scrap, silicon and magnesium contributed to the up...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 15.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) edged down this week, with few inquiries for spot tonnages, sources said on Friday October 15.TCs for smelters remain in the low-to-mid $60s, a level still well below the Chinese pricing floor of $70 per tonne/7 cents per lb.As for trader purchases, a tender for Escondida concentrate...Read More
Market participants in the bauxite industry in China, both metallurgical and non-metallurgical grades, have downplayed the effect of heavy rainfall in Shanxi earlier this month despite a temporary closure of alumina operation lines. But sources expressed concerns over operations in the coming winter because of the traditional environmental regulations and energy shortages.Heavy downpours started i...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange reached a 14-year high of $3,750 per tonne on Friday October 15, with prices and premiums spiking amid concerns over supply in Europe and the United States.Friday's price represents its highest level since 2007 and a 16.4% increase from the start of the week, with the contract closing at $3,222 per tonne on Monday. "The threat of further prod...Read More
A summary of global mining company Rio Tinto's third-quarter production results.In brief: Aluminium production was 3% lower than in the third quarter of 2020 due to strike action at the Kitimat smelter. On October 2, Rio Tinto reached a new Collective Labor Agreement for its British Columbia operations, which includes the Kitimat smelter and the Kemano hydropower facility. The smelter will steadil...Read More
Inventory changes of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses were mixed during the week to Friday October 15, with zinc gaining the most in percentage terms at 16% and copper declining by 20.1%.Zinc inventories stood at 71,444 tonnes on Friday, an increase of 9,854 tonnes from 61,590 tonnes a week ago, according to the exchange's weekly report.The largest inflows came into warehouses o...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States dropped below $96 per hundredweight ($1,920 per short ton) for the first time since August, with rising inventories putting downward pressure on prices, according to market sources.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $95.47 per cwt ($1,909.40 per ton) on Friday October 15, down by 0.85% from $96.29 per cwt on Thu...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States mostly held steady after market participants said 2020-21's unprecedented availability crisis is over and inventories are sufficient enough to cease the panic buying. "Mills' spot numbers are still stagnant," one southern distributor said. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US was unchanged at $...Read More