Turkish steel mills ended the working week with five deep-sea cargoes due to improving steel demand, market participants said on Friday October 8.Prices increases have triggered demand for billet and long steel products in the week to October 8, leading Turkish mills to book more deep-sea cargoes for November shipments.Three deals were heard on Thursday October 7.A steel mill in the Iskenderun reg...Read More
Brazil's domestic hot-rolled coil prices have declined in October, with some producers heard giving discounts amid pressure from distributors and clients, although the movement was not yet widespread in the market.Two steel producers were offering material above the market average but are now granting discounts due to the difficult market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assess...Read More
Rebar prices in Poland continue to fall due to weak buying interest but the downtrend is likely to reverse in October, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 8.Trading activity in the local rebar market remained subdued over the past week, with distributors still refraining from purchasing amid expectations of lower prices."End-user demand is not so bad - only distributors don't buy anything,"...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 8.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Friday October 8 on increased demand after the week-long holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,910-5,950 yuan ($916-923) per tonne, up by 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): weekly assessment: 5,800-5,850 yuan per tonne, up by 100-110 yuan per tonneEnd-user demand was strong during the...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
Fastmarkets analyst William Adams and reporter Alexander Cook size up the cobalt market ahead of LME Week, which begins Monday October 11.Cobalt got off to a quick start in 2021 due to strong demand growth from the electric vehicle (EV) sector, restocking and because of a constrained supply chain out of Africa. After starting the year at $15.30 per lb, Fastmarkets' benchmark standard grade cobalt...Read More
South American flat steel import prices were mostly stable or moved slightly in the week to Friday October 8 amid China's National Day holiday and few offers from other origins.There was no activity from China during the October 1-7 period due to week-long national holiday there, which paved the way for material from other countries to be offered to South American clients. However, with the market...Read More
Trading activity in the United States' pig iron import market was low in the week to Friday October 8 due to uncertainty about the direction of prices.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $540 per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by $10 from $530-540 per tonne a week earlier. The only deal in the...Read More
Most base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed higher day on day in Friday's session.The three-month nickel price led the base metals complex, closing at $19,221 per tonne, up by more than 5% on Friday compared with Thursday's close at $18,264 per tonne."We view the recent price weakness in LME nickel as a buying opportunity and...Read More
Trading activity in the United States' pig iron import market was low in the week to Friday October 8 due to uncertainty about the direction of prices.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $540 per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by $10 from $530-540 per tonne a week earlier. The only deal in the...Read More
The Brazilian automotive association, Anfavea, has cut its forecast for production and sales in 2021, due to a shortage of semiconductors and logistics issues.Vehicle production is now expected to reach between 2.13-2.22 million units this year, an increase of 6-10% from the 2.01 million units produced in 2020, the association said on Wednesday October 6.The new forecast is 10-13% lower than the a...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices increased in the week ended October 8 in response to improving downstream demand for billet and rebar.Turkish mills pay higher prices on improving downstream demandUnited States sells a bulk cargo to Turkey at a $5-per-tonne increaseVietnamese buyers opt for bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) cargoes from US, AustraliaTaiwanese buyers continue to purchase containerized cargoesIndian...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Friday October 8, with market participants in China returning after the Golden Week holiday.Nickel prices rebounded well this morning, with the three-month price hitting a high of $19,090 per tonne this morning.It was most recently trading at $18,855 per tonne, up $591 per tonne from Thursday's close. "[Th...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices mostly increased after the National Day holiday in China, while China's coking coal-producing hub Shanxi province was hit by heavy rains, causing production halts at mines.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $609.79 per tonne, up $6.51 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, down $0.08 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBC...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 8.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Surging spot spodumene prices following aggressive bids in the latest Pilbara Minerals' spodumene concentrate auction has elevated negotiated prices for fourth-quarter term contracts, market sources told Fastmarkets.Bids for SC 5.5% units reached a high of $2,240 per dry metric tonne (dmt), fob Hedland, during the Australian miner's second spodumene auction on its Battery Metals Exchange on Tuesda...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 7 that are worth another look.Steel producer Feralpi Group is to invest ?,?100 million ($115 million) in renewable power at its Italian sites, it announced on Thursday October 7.Vale has resumed activities at its On??a...Read More
Turkey and Russia have exhausted their permitted import quota allowances for certain long steel products within just days of renewal, Fastmarkets has observed from European Commission data.The import market for long steel products in the European Union has remained strained because of safeguard measures. The fourth-quarter quota for steel imports into the EU came into effect on October 1 and will...Read More
Deliverable base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses all increased in the week to Friday October 8, according to the exchange's weekly report.Due to China's National Day holiday on October 1-7, there was just one trade day this week.Tin, nickel, and copper stocks all increased significantly, with tin climbing the most in percentage terms.On Friday, the tin stockpile me...Read More