The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Friday February 21, with its price action now testing support at $12,500 per tonne, while a 14,000-tonne fresh cancelation failed to bolster copper's futures price.Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,575 per tonne, down some $165 per tonne from Thursday's closing price of $12,670 per to...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rose on Friday February 21 amid strengthening futures and higher demand, which left some with the impression that the market had bottomed out.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,420-3,450 yuan ($487-491) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,350-3,380 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne DomesticMore end users have started working, though so far they...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets in the week to Friday February 21 and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
The equity markets barometer suggests concerns over the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have picked up again over the past 24 hours, with Asian equities weaker this morning, Friday February 21, as are most of the metals.We said on Thursday that markets were focused on coronavirus developments more so than the impact to supply chains, but it seems that traders are now getting m...Read More
Taiwanese ferrous scrap buyers were scrambling for both containerized and bulk cargoes from the United States and Japan due to materials being diverted to other countries in light of the low prices there.The higher freight costs faced by shippers have also reduced the quantities being offered by sellers.Meanwhile, Vietnamese buyers were not active in the market this week, looking to delay purchase...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 20 that are worth another look.US-based metallurgical coal producer Warrior Met Coal has announced plans to develop a hard coking coal project in Alabama with a capacity of 3.9-million-tonnes per year, through an investment of around $550-600 million over the next five years.Alcoa Corp has been certified by the Aluminium...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday February 20, falling by more than 1% but holding above the nearby support level, while nickel failed to reduce its losses despite low turnover.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,112 per tonne in the afternoon, with daily trading volumes the second-highest across the base-metals complex...Read More
Alumina prices on an fob Australia basis have gone up over the past week due to a high-priced deal for material destined for China, but market participants were still searching for clarity on market conditions on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets calculated the daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $289.84 per tonne on Thursday, up from $281.69 per tonne a week earlier.It was now at its highest le...Read More
Alumina prices on an fob Australia basis have gone up over the past week due to a high-priced deal for material destined for China, but market participants were still searching for clarity on market conditions on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets calculated the daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $289.84 per tonne on Thursday, up from $281.69 per tonne a week earlier.It was now at its highest le...Read More
Copper output by global miner Anglo American was down slightly in 2019, which the company attributed to the year being one of the driest on record in Chile, it said on Thursday February 20.Output of the red metal dropped by 5% year-on-year to 638,000 tonnes, compared with 668,300 tonnes a year earlier, according to Anglo's 2019 results statement.Production by the Los Bronces copper asset shrank by...Read More
Alcoa Corp has been certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) to market products under ASI's chain of custody standard. It marks another step in the drive by the company toward sustainable manufacturing practices and is in line with its strategic goal of becoming the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) among the world's major aluminium smelters over the next five years.In October...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices remained largely unchanged on Thursday February 20, despite the market going quiet after this week's buying spree, sources told Fastmarkets. Steel mills in the country have booked at least six deep-sea cargoes so far this week, totaling around 180,000 tonnes. The most recent deals put the price for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $279 per tonne c...Read More
Equity markets remain buoyant in Asia, but pre-market western equity indices have started to weaken, while metals are mixed this morning, Thursday February 20.It seems as though equities are focused on how well the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is being contained, while the metals are taking a more cautious stance as they wait for the market to assess the impact on supply and demand. Indeed, given...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?481.07 ($519.45) per tonne on Thursday February 20, down by ?,?0.18 per tonne from ?,?481.25 per tonne on February 19.The index was calculated based...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Thursday February 20 amid optimism attributed to the progress of work resumption in downstream markets in the wake of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,490-3,510 yuan ($499-502) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,270-3,300 yuan per tonne, up 40-70 yuan per tonneWhile sellers in Shanghai...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) increased in Northern Europe over the past week, supported by strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?570-600 ($615-648) per tonne ex-works on February 19, compared with ?,?560-600 per tonne ex-works a week earlier. Starting from the year beginning the asse...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices have increased over the past week on further weakness of the country's lira, rising scrap costs and improving demand that was itself triggered by the upturn in prices, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,150-3,190 lira ($518-525) per tonne on Thursday, up from the...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have continued to increase in line with rising scrap costs although demand, especially for rebar, was still not strong enough for the mills, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $430-440 per tonne on an actual weight basis, up from last week...Read More
Dexin Steel Indonesia will fire up its first blast furnace on Friday February 21, an industry source told Fastmarkets.Owned by China's Delong Holdings, the mill in Central Sulawesi province's Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, will have a total production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices remained largely unchanged on Thursday February 20, despite the market going quiet after this week's buying spree, sources told Fastmarkets. Steel mills in the country have booked at least six deep-sea cargoes so far this week, totaling around 180,000 tonnes. The most recent deals put the price for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $279 per tonne c...Read More