Chinese copper smelters are looking to buy concentrates for the fourth quarter of this year, citing better availability of spot materials. China's Copper Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) set the fourth-quarter base price for treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at $70 per tonne/ 7 cents per lb on Wednesday September 29, sources told Fastmarkets. The price floor...Read More
Steel rebar prices in Southern Europe continued to slide during the week to Wednesday September 29 amid slow buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?725-740 ($841-865) per tonne on Wednesday, down by ?,?5-30 per tonne from ?,?730-770 per tonne last week.ItalyRebar demand in Italy has been weak du...Read More
The export billet price from the Commonwealth of Independent States strengthened on Wednesday September 29 with a fresh Black Sea cargo reported sold to China.A 40,000-tonne lot of Ukraine-origin billet was sold to China at $705 per tonne cfr on Wednesday, a source on the seller side told Fastmarkets. Market participants estimate that the price nets back to $600-605 per tonne fob Black Sea, consid...Read More
ArcelorMittal has secured a ?,?280 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for research and innovation to support its decarbonization objectives, the steelmaker said.The loan will enable the company to expand its research and development (R&D) activities significantly in the field of decarbonization as well as related capital expenditure, it said on September 27.Investment spendi...Read More
Japan's August production and sales of Toyota's new vehicles, including those of its subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors, fell on a monthly basis amid the severe shortage of semiconductor chips and raw materials, which have disrupted supply chains this year.Toyota's Japan August production of new vehicles fell by 39.3% and 11.4% on a monthly and yearly basis respectively, to 244,342 vehicles. To...Read More
Turkish steel mills stepped away from the deep-sea scrap import market after booking a number of cargoes earlier in the week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 29.Steelmakers booked at least three deep-sea cargoes earlier this week. A steel mill paid $426 per tonne cfr for Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), while another steel mill paid $434 per tonne for the same material from Venezuela...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe softened in the week to Wednesday September 29, ahead of the renewal of European Union import quotas, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,300-1,330 ($1,519-1,554)per tonne on Wednesday September 29, down from ?,?1,350-1,400 per tonne on Wednesday September 2...Read More
Export slab prices from Iran continued to decrease in the week to Wednesday September 29 amid weakening customer markets.Southeast Asia and China are currently the main destinations for Iran-origin slab.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index export, fob main port China, was $ 910 per tonne on September 29, unchanged day on day but down by $15 per tonne week on week.In such conditions...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe softened in the week to Wednesday September 29, ahead of the renewal of European Union import quotas, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,300-1,330 ($1,519-1,554)per tonne on Wednesday September 29, down from ?,?1,350-1,400 per tonne on Wednesday September 2...Read More
The Brazilian steel industry intends to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in order to lower the country's carbon footprint, the steelmakers' association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said on Wednesday September 29.The methods to cut emission will include developing a strong local carbon credit market and moving forward with higher scrap and charcoal usage, as well as improving...Read More
German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has introduced carbon surcharges for steel products following anticipated changes in pricing methods in the European industry, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 29.Thyssenkrupp's carbon surcharge for hot-rolled coil is ?,?22.78 ($26.62) per tonne, two German traders said. The company has also notified its customers that the current cost of e...Read More
European buyers held back from hot-rolled coil purchases due to expectations of a decline in domestic prices and massive import volumes being released in the European Union after Friday October 1, sources told Fastmarkets on September 29. Low import offers that have emerged in Europe have also contributed to negative sentiment in the market. The latest offers of HRC have been heard at ?,?800-900 (...Read More
The US nickel briquette price hit a new all-time high; premiums in Asia and Europe remain unchanged. China premiums stable ahead of Chinese National Holidays US briquette hits new all-time high amid extreme shortage European premiums remain flat Shanghai premiums stable ahead of holidays The premiums on nickel cathodes imported into China remained stable in the week to Tuesday September 28,...Read More
Limited supplies of cobalt hydroxide on the spot market and rising feedstock prices have revived interest in cobalt briquettes among refineries looking to secure near-term supplies of raw materials.In the week to Friday September 24, several tens of tonnes cobalt briquettes were purchased in the spot market by cobalt salts refineries, after barely any had changed hands in previous weeks, trader so...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed on the morning of Wednesday September 29 while they consolidated against a backdrop of numerous headwinds. Uncertainty has picked up regarding how high US treasury yields and the dollar will go and what will the fallout be if China's Evergrande starts defaulting on foreign-owned debt. China's power rationing set to hit metal production and manufacturing, and in turn s...Read More
China's spot domestic ferro-chrome market jumped in the week ending Tuesday September 28 due to a supply shortage amid production disruptions.Fastmarkets assessed ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China at 11,100-11,500 yuan per tonne on Tuesday, up 1,100-1,200 yuan from 10,000-10,300 yuan per tonne on September 21. Last week, the assessment was rolled over from the previous week due t...Read More
Prices in the Indian import steel scrap market have dropped in recent days amid continued weak demand in the country, while power shortages are constraining Chinese scrap demand, market sources told Fastmarkets.Weak demand in India continues to pressure pricesChina's restrictions on power usage depress buying interests furtherTaiwan secures containerized scrap cargoes at $465 per tonne cfrIndiaPri...Read More
The US nickel briquette price hit a new all-time high; premiums in Asia and Europe remain unchanged. China premiums stable ahead of Chinese National Holidays US briquette hits new all-time high amid extreme shortage European premiums remain flat Shanghai premiums stable ahead of holidays The premiums on nickel cathodes imported into China remained stable in the week to Tuesday September 28,...Read More
China's power-cut policy has caused disruption in the battery raw materials supply chain and has brought uncertainty to the price of materials like nickel and cobalt, sources told Fastmarkets.The country started introducing power-consumption limits in some provinces in July 2021 due to power shortages following its carbon-reduction policy, and the curbs have been extended into more provinces and h...Read More
Nickel was almost at a four-month low, while all prices on the London Metal Exchange declined on Wednesday September 29, pushed down by the continued uncertainty over demand given high energy prices and a US Dollar Index that was at its highest since November 2020.The US Dollar Index reached 94.28 on Wednesday, a near-one-year high and a 1.9% increase from 92.50 at the start of September. The...Read More